Elegant Sins - Stasia Black Page 0,78

about?”

I approached closer to the reeling men, prepared to drag my father out of the warehouse if I had to. “I just got a call tipping me off to what’s about to go down. We need to get the fuck out of here and not accept the shipment. We need to act like we have no involvement in what’s arriving. Say it’s not ours. We had no idea it was arriving. Basically, say whatever we need to say, but we sure as hell can’t be here when it arrives.”

I leaned in closer. “We can deal with the aftermath later, but we need to leave before we all get arrested. No doubt the Feds are on their way, if they aren’t already surrounding us.” I looked over my shoulder, already paranoid they’d be almost on top of us any second now.

“That’s impossible. No way could they know,” my father said smugly as he crossed his arms against his chest.

“And what if they do? Are you ready to make that gamble? You want to go to jail? I sure as fuck don’t,” I said, feeling as if the timer of a bomb was dangerously close to going off.

“Why would you get an anonymous call and not me?” my father asked.

I struggled not to roll my eyes and start a tirade of curse words directed at the man for his stupidity. “How the hell am I supposed to know that? But we’re wasting time standing here.”

My father looked toward his men for answers. “How could this have happened?” He looked back at me. “How sure are you that the info you got is good?”

“Sure enough that I’m here saving your ass.”

One of my father’s men ran toward a window and looked outside. “It’s too dark out there to see if we’re being watched or surrounded.”

Another man spoke up. “Sir, I think the risk is too high. If Montgomery is right, and the police are out there, they can’t arrest us if we’ve done nothing wrong yet. I suggest we leave, regroup, and get our lawyers on this.”

My father nodded, but he looked pissed, glaring at me like it was my fault. “Fine, let’s get out of here.”

He motioned for his men to follow him but paused as he walked directly in front of me. He poked his finger hard into my chest. “You better be right about this. You’re about to cost me a lot of fucking money if you’re wrong.”

“You’re welcome,” I said through gritted teeth as I turned on my heels and charged out of the warehouse determined to never get this close to dirty dealings ever again.

23

Montgomery

It was as if the clocks had turned back time. I stood in the ballroom wearing the same tux I had worn the first night of the choosing. Grace stood beside me in her blue ballgown and her string of pearls. We were alone, but I knew it wouldn’t be for long.

Tonight, was the final ceremony. We’d reached the end.

I had made it back just in time. I couldn’t believe it, but I’d managed to pull it off. I’d seen flashing police lights in my rearview mirror on my way out of the marina.

Once I had left the warehouse, I had no idea if the Feds allowed my father and his men to leave without issue. I hadn’t heard from him and had hoped there wasn’t any fallout afterwards. But none of that mattered anymore.

Now I was standing here with Grace. And it would soon be over.

“Can you hear my heart beating? I swear it’s so loud you can if you listen closely,” Grace said in a hushed voice. She’d astounded me when I’d returned earlier. She hadn’t been angry, especially after I explained everything. She was supportive, only asking questions about how it had gone and expressing concern about how I was doing.

It was funny. So many in my circle would take one look at her background and think she wasn’t good enough for me, but I’d begun to so clearly see it was the other way around. I would have to work my tail off to ever be good enough to deserve her.

“It’s going to be okay. Just try to stay calm,” I reassured.

“Is it? Is it possible to ever be okay again?”

I didn’t respond because I didn’t have an answer to that question.

“Montgomery?” she asked in a tiny voice. “If you could do this all over again, knowing what you know now, would you have chosen me?”

“No,” I answered automatically. “I