Page 41 of Reconciling the Consequences

Kara nodded back even though she still felt uneasy. There was something more going on with her friend, but Stephanie didn’t want to share, so Kara would have to let her handle it on her own.

AfterKaraandKevinleft Stephanie at The Squirrel Cage, Kara called Johnny from Kevin’s phone and asked him if Derrick was nearby. Once she had both men on the phone, she explained to them what she was up to. “Kevin said his brother could help. I need to make sure my laptop and cell phone don’t have any kind of tracking software that my father is using.”

“You think he’d go that far?” Johnny asked.

“I honestly don’t know anymore. I feel like I don’t know anything about my father.” She sighed, feeling upset and overwhelmed.

Kevin reached out and squeezed her thigh, leaving his hand there as he drove her car.

“OK, baby girl,” Derrick said. “You do what you gotta do. You guys headed there now?”

“Yeah,” Kara answered. “We’re already up this way. We’re just gonna head into the city and meet Jack at his place.”

“Alright, Princess,” Johnny agreed. “You guys stay safe.”

“We will. I’ll check in later,” Kara agreed before she hung up. It felt weird not ending the call withI love you, but she hadn’t told Derrick or Kevin yet, and she wanted to tell them herself. Johnny agreed and understood. It was only a matter of time before she told them—the feelings were already there, just not spoken aloud.

The drive from Rockwell into Chicago was slow. It was a Wednesday evening, though, and they were going against traffic, trying to get into the city, while everyone else was trying to get out of it, so it wasn’t horrible.

Kara’s brows rose as they pulled into the driveway of Jack Adams’s home in Buena Park on the north side of Chicago. It was practically a mansion in the city. Scratch that, she thought, there was no practically—it WAS a mansion.

Kevin pulled her MKX into the long brick driveway that ran down the side of the house. “This is unreal,” Kara muttered, looking around the neighborhood as they got out of her car. The house had to sit on four or five lots.

Kevin chuckled. “Be sure to tell Jack how much you love it. It’s his pride and joy. It apparently was built by some prominent architect back in the day for some jewelry tycoon or something,” he explained.

Kara could only nod in awe as she looked around; it was spectacular. “It’s fucking amazing,” she murmured.

“Well thank you, I think so as well.” A male voice spoke from behind her as she was taking in the backyard.

Kara turned to find a man in a suit who looked very much like Kevin. A little younger and leaner, but still very much as attractive and with the same black hair and brown eyes. There was no mistaking they were related; he had a mischievous air about him and the smirk to match.

“Hey brother.” Kevin grinned and walked up to his younger brother, hugging him tight.

“Hey bro.” Jack grinned as he hugged him back, no posturing between the two of them, just a good hug between brothers.

When they pulled apart, Kevin held his hand out to Kara. She went to him, and Jack grinned and held his left hand out to her, having noticed the cast. “Jack Adams,” Jack introduced himself.

“Kara Carmichael.” Kara grinned, shaking his hand firmly. She was a lawyer after all.

“As in the pretentious law firm?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow as he dropped her hand.

“The one and only.” Kara nodded as Kevin wrapped an arm around her waist and tucked her against his side.

Jack chuckled and scratched an eyebrow with his middle finger, his watch glinting in the light coming from the coach light on the garage. “And you need my help?” he questioned.

Kara nodded, but Kevin spoke before she could. “Can we talk inside?” he asked his brother.

“Of course.” Jack nodded.

Kara quickly opened the back door of her MKX and pulled the laptop and cell phone out from under the seat. She handed them over to Jack and followed him inside.

Jack switched to business mode almost immediately, and it would have been comical had she not been nervous as to what he was going to find on her devices.

He led them through the back door and into an amazing chef’s kitchen. She barely got a chance to look around before he headed through a door and down the steps to the basement.

Kevin grabbed her hand and followed after his brother.

Hours later, Kara sighed. She was exhausted. Jack was still going through everything. He had quickly found that she had been right to be concerned. There was tracking and listening software on both her phone and laptop.

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