Chapter 39

JOEY

I'm not sure I could have fucked things up any harder if I tried. At least I gave it my all. Go big or go home, right?

The first thing I do after Lynn walks out of my door is chug a beer. Then I remember I'm not an idiot frat boy who thinks alcohol is the answer to every problem, and I turn on a ball game instead. It only takes one inning for me to break down and text Lynn.

Me:

I know you're angry. Thank you for explaining things.

Me:

I'm truly sorry I hurt you. I'm begging you to give me another chance.

I drop my phone on the couch and try to focus on the game. It doesn't work, so I pick up the phone again. No reply.

Me:

I'll give you space tonight, but can we please talk tomorrow?

Another inning and no response. At this point, I'm rethinking the whole alcohol solution—until I remember the only thing worse than waking up heartbroken is waking up heartbroken with a hangover. That's when I do something I'd typically advise myself against and call Liv.

"I fucked up" is the first thing I say.

Instead of a response from my cousin, I hear her muffled voice shouting, "Brett! Put your therapist cap on and get in here, STAT!"

Terrific.

I talk the entire thing out with Liv and Brett, refusing their bizarre offer of help from their friendly neighborhood hacker named Ollie. Honestly, this situation has had enough people thrown into it as it is. I do, however, take their advice on a few things, and we devise a plan that I'm hoping might work.

I finally fall asleep at two in the morning in the most pathetic manner possible—listening to the Counting Crows and hugging a pillow. Good fucking god.

First thing the next morning, I call the Mintz Gallery and get Guy Taylor's number, reminding the associate of my recent visit and pretending I misplaced the information. After phoning Guy, I call Blue Bigfoot Brewery, where Carter answers the phone. I communicate my plan and give him an earful he likely won't forget anytime soon.

Then I'm off to Raleigh for the day.

Lynn still hasn't texted me back, which isn't surprising since she's at work at Ardent Park today. I considered stopping by and kidnapping her to take her with me, but I know this internship is important to her. She not only would hate me for making her miss a day, but she'd have my hide for exposing our intimate connection. So, I decide it's best for her to stay where she is. She'll have her chance to kick ass once I'm back.

When Guy texts me the name of a café midway through my drive, I start believing I might actually pull this off.

I park in front of the café a half hour early, having left with plenty of time to figure in possible traffic. The hostess seats me at a table for two on the outdoor patio flanking the sidewalk, and I sip my water while anxiously awaiting Guy's arrival. Every instinct I have about this man tells me he's a reasonable human being who simply loves collecting art. Which is why I'm trusting he'll agree to my plan to help Lynn bust this Eddie Dante, whoever the hell he is.

I rehearse my prepared speech in my head, knowing I've only got one shot at this. Mr. Taylor thinks he's meeting me for a friendly chat about art, so I need to tread carefully if I don't want him running to the cops.

As I'm sipping my water and running through my lines, I sense a presence to my right on the sidewalk. When I glance over, I see the vaguely familiar face of a man in his mid-thirties wearing a suit. He's smiling at me and pointing.

"You're Joey Martel," he says.

I relax, realizing it's a fan, not some person from my past. I reach my hand out to shake his. "Yeah. Nice to meet you."

He tilts his head. "Actually, we've met before. Jeremy Rossi. I'm a friend of Lynn Brooks. Well, the whole family, in fact. I can't believe I didn't recognize you then." His face finally registers, and I stand to make up for my lapse in memory.

"Of course. Sorry. I'm a little distracted. Good to see you again."

"No problem," Jeremy says with a good-natured shrug. "What brings you to Raleigh?"

"Just meeting somebody for lunch. Business." Part of me is still suspicious of his intentions toward Lynn, but he appears genuinely pleased to run into me, so I force myself to make conversation even though all I want to do is focus on what I'm going to say to Guy. "You?"

He hooks a thumb behind him. "I work around the corner. State legislature."

"Ah. Got it. Sounds…swanky." I have no clue what the fuck I'm saying at this point, but I'm relieved to no end when Jeremy gives me a nod.

"I'll leave you to your lunch. Gotta grab a bite of my own before my full afternoon." He walks away, and I sink back into my chair to resume rehearsals in my head—which is why I don't notice a nicely dressed older man approach my table.

"Mr. Martel?" the man inquires.

I stand again, forcing a casual manner to hide my nerves. "Mr. Taylor. Thank you for meeting me."

"My pleasure." His smile is warm. I can do this. No sweat. But before I can go with my rehearsed opening line, he says something that has me wondering if I should get my hearing checked.

"I see you've already made Mr. Dante's acquaintance."

My brow furrows. "I'm sorry. What?"

He points to the sidewalk, but when I look over, no one is there. Shit. Is he… having a senior moment?

But, no. I'm definitely mistaken. I know this when his next words are, "The gentleman you were just talking to. Mr. Eddie Dante."

My ears start ringing as I look behind me to see Jeremy's back as he strides confidently down the sidewalk.

Holy. Shit.

* * *

"Lynn,I need to talk to you. Right now," I practically shout as I leave her a voicemail while tearing out of my parking spot. "This isn't about you and me. It's about Eddie Dante. Call me back as soon as you hear this. I'll try again in a few minutes."

I click the end-call button as I speed through a yellow light on my way to the highway. I need to get my ass back to Asheville, traffic rules be damned.

Fucking Jeremy! A fox in the Brooks family henhouse. I slam my palm on the steering wheel before reminding myself I'll do nobody any good if I die on the way there.

My plan had been a good one. At least Liv and Brett thought so. I was going to lay the situation out for Guy Taylor and lean on his sympathies for a family trying to right wrongs and honor their dad. Once I got his cooperation, I planned to organize some kind of sting operation where Lynn could confront Eddie in a controlled environment with me, Guy, and the gallery dude all present. The gallery has a metal detector, so Guy would ask Dante to meet us there on the pretense that he had some gift for him. Then Lynn could enter and press him for any connection to The Diamond Group. With the threat of police involvement, hopefully he'd spill anything he had. And there would be no chance of him having a weapon with the metal detector, so she'd be as safe as I could make her. I've already told Carter as much, except for leaving out some details and thus precluding him from taking over my plan.

Obviously, the second Guy connected the dots for me between Larry's theft and Jeremy, I abandoned my plan, not even spilling one word about Larry or the theft to Guy. There were bigger things to take care of first.

I make it to Asheville in three hours flat, having called Lynn several more times with no answer. So, I drive straight to Ardent Park and come to a screeching halt in the players' parking lot before racing inside to the medical hall. That's when I force myself to stop and take a breath.

Lynn won't thank me one bit if I blow our connection wide open, no matter how urgent the situation is, so I simmer my ass down and count to ten. On eleven, I calmly open the door and force my feet to take slow, even steps.

"Hey, Joey! I thought you weren't coming in today?" Nora greets me from her desk.

"I wasn't, but I was hoping to have a word with Lynn. I need to ask a favor."

Nora looks to the other side of the room, where Lynn emerges from a side door to face me. Her stance is neutral, but her eyes are on fire.

I paste on a smile for Nora. "It'll just take a sec. Lynn, can I have a quick word?"

"Sure." Her response comes out a little too sharp to be convincing, but Nora doesn't appear to notice as she drops her eyes back down to her laptop. "What's up?" Lynn asks, stabbing me with daggers from her gold-flecked irises.

However, as soon as we're out in the hallway with the door closed behind us, she loses all casual pretenses. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't get my voicemails," I state the obvious.

"I'm at work," is, understandably, her response.

I glance around the hall, and despite not seeing anyone, I pull her into an alcove away from any possible prying eyes. "I just got back from Raleigh, and I had to find you immediately. Eddie Dante is your family's friend, Jeremy Rossi."

"Joey, I don't have time for jokes." She tries turning to walk away, but I grab her shoulders, desperate for her to listen.

"Lynn, I'm being one hundred percent serious. Guy Taylor identified him. It's Jeremy."

She tilts her head but continues not to hear what I'm saying. "You went to Raleigh and met Guy? Without me?" If the situation weren't so urgent, I might feel guilty for the injured expression on her face.

"You're not hearing me," I say through gritted teeth as I release her shoulders. "Jeremy is Eddie Dante. Guy pointed him out to me."

"What are you talking about? You only met Jeremy once, and that was a year ago. You probably don't even remember what he looks like. Wait. Did you talk to Eddie too?"

How is she not hearing me? "I was waiting to meet Guy, and Jeremy walked by. He reintroduced himself to me before Guy showed up. When Guy sat down a minute later, he pointed Jeremy out to me. I promise I'm not making this up. Jeremy is Eddie."

Her skeptical expression begins to fall, replaced by confusion. "Are you being serious?"

Finally! If I weren't so in love with this woman, I'd probably strangle her. "I've never been more serious in my life. Jeremy broke in and stole Larry from you. And who knows what else he's done." I had the entire drive home to think about it, and I can't make heads or tails of anything anymore. I only know that Jeremy has been up to no good taking advantage of his relationship with the Brookses.

"But why?" Lynn's confusion is now mixed with pain, and I want to take it away. I want to pull her into my arms and sweep away anything that could hurt her. But that's not my job.

My job as someone who loves her is to give her the facts and then support her in any way I can. So I shake my head, about to tell her I haven't the slightest clue. But her mouth drops open before I can.

"Oh my god! He lost his job because Carter busted their boss. Do you think…?" She trails off before gasping again. "The timeline fits for both the fire and Larry. Not Miller's car crash, but I suppose that was just Miller being Miller, like everybody said. This isn't about The Diamond Group at all."

"What do you want to do? I'm here to support you, no matter what you decide. If you let me, that is."

She's staring at the wall behind me, her mind probably running a hundred miles an hour, so I'm not sure she heard me.

But I'm shocked when her only response is, "I need to get back to work."

"What?"

She shakes her head as if to clear it before meeting my eyes again. "I need to think, and I'll do that best if I keep my hands busy."

"Okay." I nod. "Will you call me when you're done for the day?" I don't realize I'm holding my breath until she nods, and it comes rushing from my lungs.

"I gotta run," she says, turning to go. But before she gets more than five steps, she turns again. "Jeremy doesn't know you busted him, right?"

I shake my head. "He has no idea. And Guy doesn't know Larry was stolen either."

She nods and starts to turn back to the clinic again but pauses at the last second. "Thanks, Joey." And then she's gone, the door closing behind her.

That could have gone a lot worse, all things considered. But I still can't help wishing she'd called me Ace.