Page 54 of The Mastermind

“I wanted to be helpful and was moving a candle into the dining room from the library when I tripped over Mochi. The candle fell out of my hands and hit the bookcase.” She paused and inhaled a deep breath. “The flames grew like a monster. It was my fault, Remi. I shouldn’t have moved it. If I had just left it, my dad and Mochi would still be alive today.” She choked on her words and sobbed uncontrollably against my chest, soaking my shirt.

Stroking her hair, I tried to soothe her, then reached for the box of tissues on the side table and pulled one out for her.

“Thank you.” She took it, blew her nose, and noticed the stain on my shirt. “Oh God! I’m so embarrassed. Sorry.” She tried to clean it with a new tissue.

“Don’t worry about it.” I liked witnessing this raw emotion in her.

She pursed her lips. “I’ll get you a new one.”

I was going to tell her that my dry cleaners could easily remove tear stains from my shirt, but her stomach growled.

“Ready for an early dinner?”

I called in an order to the Burrito Shack and had it delivered. As I expected, she loved both the chicken and pork burritos. She looked exhausted after our casual dinner, so I tucked her into bed.

“I’ll be back tomorrow to check up on you. You’re taking two weeks off to recover. That’s an order.”

“What?” She bolted back up to a sitting position. “There are extensive projects waiting to be delivered. I can’t abandon them.”

“You’re not. You work with a team, and I expect the team to take on the workload when someone is unable to do so. Whether or not you believe it, this event takes a toll on your mental health. You need time to adjust, to rest.” I didn’t want to frighten her, only to be aware of the situation. “The police are still looking for Lawrence and Teresa. It’s best that you stay home for now, okay?”

“Okay.” She released a sigh and fell back into bed. “Thank you for everything.”

I waited until she fell asleep before I left. Her door self-locked, which was a good thing. As I exited her building, I noticed two cameras at the front entrance. I wandered to the back of the building and found another. I texted my PI and had him hack the system, so I could have access to who came in and out of her apartment building.

I had to cover my bases because Audri wasn’t just family to me. She had wiggled into my heart and become part of me.

I want to walk in the dark with you.

My Sexy Dot didn’t know what her confession had done to me. Her honesty shattered me, breaking apart the comfortable version of myself I knew so well. She inspired me to become someone better. I didn’t know if I could do it, but right now, I wanted to try.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

REMINGTON

On the driveback to my hotel, I got a call from the man who owed me a favor.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“The favor you requested is irrelevant now.”

My brows furrowed. “Explain.”

“They died in a car accident before I could get to them. It’s on the news. I just wanted to let you know it wasn’t my work. My style means complete disappearance. Never to be found. This accident is too convenient, given the timing.”

“Thank you. I’ll take it from here.” Questions sparked in my mind.

I rushed into my suite and turned on the TV. “Breaking News” flashed on the screen.

Playboy bachelor and his girlfriend dead.

I turned up the volume and listened to the news anchor.

“Lawrence Lafayette, son of George and Susan Lafayette, and Teresa Caron died in a car accident this evening. They had beenwanted for their connection to a horrific attack thatleft a coworker hospitalized, thousands of dollars in damages, including a dead cat …”

I didn’t remember seeing a cat at the scene, but I hadn’t been paying attention to anything except Audri.

Apparently, Lawrence and Teresa had lost control of an SUV they’d been driving and hit a tree. Images from the crash scene showed the police gathering suitcases. Where had they been heading? My guess was they had planned to escape the country.

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