“Kendall is doing well,” Lucas heard himself saying, the words unplanned. He hadn’t intended to give Julian any information on the woman he’d used for financial gain.
Julian let out a long, relieved breath. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. That’s all you’re getting from me. Not another piece of information, so don’t ask. Don’t snoop around. And for the love of God, don’t provoke Kade.”
“You guys are lucky to have held on to your friendship all these years,” Julian said.
Lucas merely nodded. The other man obviously had more than his share of regrets. Anything Lucas said would only rub salt in a still very open wound. And despite the lawsuit and their rocky past, it wasn’t in Lucas’ nature to want to hurt the man on purpose.
He wrapped things up with Julian, uncomfortable that he couldn’t tell Kade the man was out of his or Kendall’s life.
He headed home, satisfied he’d at least put Julian on notice. It was all he could do.
He hoped Maxie would be up waiting for him, but at the very least, he knew she’d be in his bed. More than progress, he thought. The beginning of a life together.
He walked into the apartment, surprised when Maxie practically greeted him at the door. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Mostly better. But forget about that. I thought you’d never get home, and I didn’t want to call and ask you to leave your meeting with Julian.” She bounced up and down in obvious excitement.
“What’s going on?” He tossed his keys aside and kicked off his shoes.
“This!” She held out a tiny blue drive. “Look what I found!”
“Holy shit, is that Bernardi’s?”
“Well, I didn’t check it because I don’t have the right computer, but what else would the bastard have hidden in the arm of my baby mobile?” She raised an eyebrow as if daring him to doubt her conclusion.
He plucked the drive from her hand. “I’m sure you’re right. But let’s find out for certain.” Heart pounding with the possibility that the nightmare could be over, he headed to his office and turned on his computer.
He inserted a card reader and put the USB drive in. He clicked a few buttons and brought up the information on the drive. Names and numbers came up on the screen.
“It’s a string of symbols and numbers,” Lucas said and ejected the drive. “That’s all we need to know. No confessions here that we need to feel guilty about. The bastard can have his drive and get out of our lives.”
“Thank God,” she murmured.
“Considering he’s been hanging around, it shouldn’t be too hard for me to do a handoff tomorrow.” Lucas palmed the small item in his hand.
She cleared her throat, and he looked up, meeting her gaze. “For who to do a handoff tomorrow?” she pointedly asked, her gaze serious and intent on his.
He caught on to her meaning immediately. And though he didn’t like the idea of bringing her with him to meet with Bernardi, he understood. She had the biggest stake in this situation. Bernardi had come to her directly. And she had a right to handle things in her own life.
So as much as he’d rather be the big bad protector, he pushed back those caveman instincts. “We will do the hand-off,” he amended.
A bright smile took hold of her face.
“How the hell did you find it?” he asked.
She drew in a deep breath. “I was thinking about where I am in life, and how I was feeling… and I decided it was time to get rid of the box of baby things.”
He’d seen her reaction to the box and knew how much the items inside meant to her, what they represented, both in terms of pain and lost hope. He admired her bravery and didn’t want to push for answers as to why. It was enough for him that she was ready to move on.
“I wanted to look through them one more time. And when I picked up the mobile, the arm fell off and the drive fell out. It was just that simple. Keith must have figured I’d never open the box or look inside. Can you imagine how unfeeling and callous he had to be to hide something in a box of precious things?” She shook her head, her disbelief as strong as his.
“I don’t think we’ll ever understand anything my brother did.”
She nodded. “I think if the day came when I did, I’d scare myself.”
He laughed. “Well, tomorrow we can send Bernardi on his way. Tonight, we celebrate.”