AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After she birdied—one under par—the first and second holes, Gabe began to look nervous.
By the time we arrived at the last hole, Gabe was sweating over losing his precious car to Finley. She’d stayed somewhat even with him, shocking him that she was so much better than he thought but not shattering his confidence. What fun would there be in that? She even let him get a few strokes behind her for a couple of holes. However, on the seventeenth hole, she eagled—two under par—and Gabe got a bogey—one over par—putting Finley in the lead since Gabe now had three more strokes than her.
Gabe had been throwing me suspicious glances for several holes, and the guys who were about to lose to Rhys were fidgeting nervously. “Who taught you to golf, Fin?”
“I’ve been playing since I was little. Had a few private lessons over the years.”
I couldn’t hold back my snort of amusement, and he glanced back and forth between Finley and me but didn’t say anything else. Finley had been taking private lessons for nearly five years.
Finley stepped into the tee box—she used the men’s, which made me even more fucking proud of my awesome niece. Everyone except Rhys and I gaped as they watched her swing her driver and then stared at her ball as it sailed straight down the fairway, landing on the fringe.
Gabe’s shoulders fell. He knew that even if Finley was just outside the green, he was screwed unless she seriously botched her putting.
He teed off next, and his ball landed a few feet from the flag cup, not too far from hers. The rest of us gave up and told them to play on, eager to see who won.
Finley ended up at par, and Gabe earned a birdie, but it wasn’t enough to put her number of strokes higher than his.
Gabe looked as if he might cry, and I couldn’t help chuckling even though I felt a tad guilty about playing him.
“Don’t worry, cuz,” Finley told him with a grin as she patted his arm. “I’m willing to swap out my prize if you want.”
He shook his head. “You won, Fin. I have to pay up.”
“Seriously, Gabe. I live in New York City. What am I gonna do with a million-dollar classic car besides pay a ridiculous amount of money to store it somewhere safe? I was just messing with you.”
Gabe eyed me suspiciously, then looked back at Finley. “Lennox put you up to this, didn’t he? He’s the one who taught you to play?”
“And the instructors he talked my dad into paying for,” she added with a grin.
He shook his head and glowered at me, then turned back to his cousin. “How about I just give you the equivalent of the car's worth, and then you can spend it on whatever you want?” She rolled her eyes, and he sighed. “Yeah, dumb suggestion.”
Finley had a trust fund with over a hundred million dollars in it that she hadn’t touched, preferring to live off her own earnings. Taking Gabe’s money would just add to the stash she refused to use.
“We’ll figure something out, Gabe,” she said with a chuckle. “How about we just focus on your wedding now?”
Her comment brought the events of yesterday and this morning screaming back to the forefront of my mind. My shit mood returned, but I was grateful that I’d been able to focus on something else for a few hours. Otherwise, I might have called Jonah another ten times, and he probably would have told me to fuck off and find someone else to help me.
My mood turned worse when I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw that I had no texts, calls, or emails.Fucking hell.
7
LENNOX
By the following morning, I was fuming that I hadn’t heard back from Jonah. The man could find anything and anyone. It might have taken more time if she were some kind of elusive criminal, but it seemed highly unlikely that Brielle fell into that category. I sent him a text the following day and received a reply saying he’d hit a snag and would get back to me as soon as possible.
I had no fucking idea what “snag” meant, but Jonah wasn’t someone who could be forced, bullied, or bought. He’d call me when he was ready, and nothing I could say or do would change that.
My sister and her husband dragged me from my room a couple of times, but I was shit company. I mostly distracted myself with work, staying holed up until the day of the rehearsal dinner.
I’d just finished knotting my tie when my cell phone began to ring. Picking it up from the nightstand where it was charging, I saw it was Jonah calling. I nearly ripped the cord out of the wall in my haste to answer it.
“It’s about fucking time, Carrington,” I snarled.
“Watch your tone, Lennox,” he growled right back.
“Did you find her?”
Jonah was silent long enough to make me nervous, and I paced around the room to keep from shouting at him again.
