Page 88 of Silent Partner (Pine Falls 3)

Brant held on as if he refused to ever let go. “Kinsley, I’m so sorry. You are the last person I ever wanted to hurt. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you from the Copelands. They have nothing left to hold over my head, and the gloves are coming off. Jill will pay for what she has done to you and our families.” He said Jill’s name with such vitriol it sent a shiver down my spine.

I had no idea how he would make her pay, but there was no doubt in my mind that he would make sure she did. But what good would it do? While Jill frightened me, I didn’t need protection from her.

“Who will protect my heart from you?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

I showed up to work on Sunday so early the sun wasn’t up yet. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I looked like it too. There was no concealer strong enough to hide the bags under my eyes from both crying and a severe lack of sleep. But, I couldn’t in good conscience call in sick again. Besides, I needed a break from my grandparents staring at me like I might implode at any moment. At least at work, no one knew that the man I loved had slept with my sister and gotten her pregnant. No matter how many times I said it or thought it, I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. My heart was another story. Imagine getting your finger caught in a meat grinder. That about summed it up.

I pulled into my usual parking spot, and waves of nervous vomit-inducing energy washed over me. Less than forty-eight hours ago, my life had changed forever in this very place. Jill had not only pulled the rug out from under me, but she’d given me a huge dose of paranoia. Could it really be considered paranoid when you knew someone had been following you? I’d brought pepper spray with me just in case. And Grandpa had insisted I take his phone until I could get a new one. I wasn’t in any hurry. Not having a phone meant no one could call me. That included Brant, who had kept calling my grandma to check on me. It was brave of him, as Grandma wasn’t all that keen on him right now. While she completely understood Dani’s side and even had great compassion for her, Brant, not so much. She was angry at him for not being man enough to choose me in the first place. I had to say, I felt the same way.

When I got out of the car, I probably looked like a freak with my pepper spray out at the ready and my head turning every which way, while I hurried toward the employee door. The footprints I left in the light dusting of snow looked like I had done a line dance. I even yelled out, “Anyone there?” When no one answered—not like they would, because that was kind of the point—I punched in the security code and opened the door. But not before saying out loud, “I hope you got some good pictures.” That wasn’t true, but saying it gave me a little power.

Once inside, I shut the door, locked it, and quickly went about turning on all the lights in the restaurant. I looked like a madwoman running around. Okay, it wasn’t that I only looked like one—I was a madwoman. Could anyone blame me? The predicament I found myself in would drive anyone insane, right? If only I could hate Brant, it would make this a whole lot simpler. But I loved him, and I didn’t see that ever going away. And Dani was my sister and best friend, and I didn’t want that to go away either. However, I didn’t know how we were going to repair the damage to our relationship. Could we ever be close again, like the snow angels we had made long ago? I mean, how could I ever be in the same room with them again? I would always be thinking of how intimately they knew each other. Brant said he would never compare us, but how could he not? And surely, I wouldn’t live up. I never did.

I rubbed my pounding head. I had to stop thinking about it. Much easier said than done. I might need a lobotomy to make that possible. Was that considered elective surgery? Or did I need a doctor’s referral? Because I bet I could find a doctor to side with me on this one after he or she heard my story. In fact, I might get same-day service. If only it were that easy.

After I lit the place up, I locked myself in my office. Like the crazy person I was being turned into, I searched the room for any hidden cameras. I had no idea how far Jill would go. And it was obvious that Dani was afraid of the Copelands. All the Hollands were, from the sound of it. I mean, they were selling a company that had been in their family for years. What did John do? I wondered. Or did I really want to know? All I had to do was ask Brant, but I wasn’t sure I could handle any more sordid information. I was already imagining all sorts of things. Brant had said John may go to prison, and if he had blood on his hands like Jill said, that made for some very ugly possibilities. And Sheridan had left him, which said something in and of itself.

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