Kiss by Kiss (Riggins Brothers #3) - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,80
time to time.”
“Let’s bring her in, shall we?” Owen suggests.
Martin wipes his brow and presses the intercom button on his phone. “Lucy, could you join us, please?” He doesn’t wait for her to reply. A few minutes later, his office door opens, and Lucy hesitantly steps in.
That same eerie feeling I got when she greeted us, the way she looked at me, prickles my awareness. “Yes, Mr. Hamilton?”
“Lucy, can you tell me if you recognize this woman?”
“I’ve never seen her before,” she replies, and then her eyes widen.
Busted!
“Can you tell me why you approved a signature on an account without verifying identity?”
“I—” She opens and closes her mouth.
“We know it was you,” Owen tells her. “It was your account. You just admitted to not knowing who she is. You’ve backed yourself into a corner.”
“You stole from him!” she shouts, pointing her finger at me. “He loves me, and we want to get married, but we can’t because you stole from him. He was just taking back what was his.”
“Who?” I ask calmly.
“Elijah. My fiancé.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. Not just a low chuckle, but a full-out head-thrown-back, deep-from-your-gut laugh. No one says a word until I’m able to gain composure. “Oh, Lucy.” I shake my head. “He’s a con artist. A bully.”
“No. You’re wrong.” She’s quick to defend him, and suddenly my laughter is overshadowed by pain. Hers and mine.
“Let me guess. He loves you and wants you to be your best self. That’s why he nags you about what you eat, what you wear, and how you wear your hair. He tells you that you’re the most important person in his life, then tells you that you’re a disgrace in your current state.” Her eyes well with tears, and that’s all I need to know. Elijah is never going to change. Men like him rarely do. “Lucy, I was you. I believed his lies and took his abuse. He tore me down to nothing and left me there. Just like he left me at the church on the day of our wedding.” A sob breaks free from her chest, but the final piece of the hole he left in mine heals.
“No.” She’s shaking her head.
“Do you realize what you’ve done?” I ask her. “You’ve committed a crime. Fraud for him.”
Panic crosses her features as her eyes dart to Martin, then to the door. Owen moves to stand in front of it, blocking her exit. “Martin,” Grant speaks up. “You have a choice to make.”
Martin nods and picks up his phone. “Can you send up security?” he asks whoever is on the other end.
“No. You can’t do this. Please, no. Let me call Elijah. He’ll tell you that she’s lying.”
“What did you do with the money, Lucy?” Martin asks her, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“We have an account here together. We’re using it for our wedding. It’s his money,” she cries.
Martin rolls his eyes and turns to his computer. His fingers tap against the keyboard. Whatever he sees has him shaking his head. “This account?” he asks, turning his screen so that we can all see it too has a negative balance.
“What?” Lucy whispers. “That’s not right. It can’t be.”
“You’ve been played,” Grant tells her.
“And you’re going to jail,” Martin adds. “You do realize that the bank is responsible for this fiasco that you’ve created? The money you stole from Ms. Steele has to be returned.”
“I-I don’t have that kind of money,” she says as there’s a knock at the door.
“Security,” a deep voice announces.
Owen steps back and allows them to enter. Not only is security entering the room, but the Nashville Police are right behind them. I called in a favor to a friend of mine, asked him and his partner to hang out in the lobby. I wasn’t sure what we were getting into, but I knew that if we needed them, I wanted them close. Martin explains the situation, and Lucy is quickly read her rights and taken out in handcuffs. Part of me wants to stop them to tell them that she didn’t know any better, but she did. She knew right from wrong. She knew she was forging my name on a document. No matter how many times Elijah tore me down, I never broke the law for him, and I never would have. My moral compass wouldn’t allow it.
Lucy is crying uncontrollably as she’s escorted out of the office. The room is silent until we can no longer hear her cries.