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God, no wonder she’d thought they looked so much more brilliant after she got them home than they had when she first picked them out at the craft store.
“I rented a car and drove outside the city for a meeting, but I never had that shopping bag out of the car. When I returned the car, everything had fallen out of the bag to the floor, and the stones I bought were scattered on the back driver’s-side floorboard. ”
Timothy jerked his head around to glare at her then.
“A rental car?” he questioned her, his tone icy.
Piper nodded slowly. “It was a rental. ”
“What was the name of the agency?” Tim asked.
“Riley’s Rentals. ”
Tim nodded slowly before lifting his gaze to Dawg’s. “That’s Genoa property. ”
Genoa property.
Piper had heard of the Genoa family and the Mackays’ run-in with them six years ago, just before Piper and her family were brought to Somerset.
The crime family had first butted heads with the Mackays when a family member, the niece of head of the family Rudy Genoa, had come for vengeance against John Walker Jr. and his lover, Sierra Lucas, for a broken engagement.
Marlena and her associate, Gerard Andrews, had been responsible for the half million dollars Rudy Genoa had advanced them to ensure Marlena caught John Walker’s attention and kept it.
Expensive clothes, salons, and an apartment on Park Avenue. She’d been plucked, polished, and perfected—until the night John had learned she was also fucking his friend and fellow attorney, Gerard Andrews. The same man who had assured the Genoa family that if John married Marlena and had a child with her, then the attorney would willingly put his name behind the defense of Genoa family members in court.
“How did they get in my car?” she whispered.
“The Genoa family’s rumored to be bringing jewels, gold, and cash into the States for another family—a Russian crime family they’re trying to build ties with. The Russians are shipping the contraband into Italy, where the Genoa family has ties, and then members of the family are taking over. Homeland Security and the FBI have been trying to figure out exactly how they’ve been doing it. If Riley’s Rentals is involved, then they’re likely shipping them in vehicles that are coming through as cargo. Riley’s has a reputation of shipping vehicles overseas and back again for wealthy clients. No agency has been able to tie them to anything illegal, though, until now. ”
“What do we do?” Panic was beginning to edge through her senses as fear began to build.
“We’ll take care of it, Piper. ” Jed’s arms tightened around her as Piper felt the fear beginning to overflow her tenuous control.
What had she managed to get herself into? Why had she allowed this to happen? She could have just told Dawg, Jed, and Tim what had happened and they would have figured this out a week ago. Before someone had attempted to break into her room.
“Don’t worry, Piper. We have the contacts to fix this,” Dawg promised her as he turned back to her. “You stay with Jed; Timothy and I will take care of things. ”
This wasn’t what she wanted.
“I didn’t want you to have to risk yourself,” she whispered. “None of you. I just wanted to be able to take this meeting without everyone breathing down my neck. ”
“You were being protected for a reason, Piper,” Jed stated as Dawg and Tim began to move toward the patio door, where Dawg was pointing out where the lock had been picked.
“For a reason I was never allowed to understand. ” Turning, she faced him, her gaze meeting his, irritation flooding her as fear and confusion fueled the panic tightening her stomach. “Maybe, Jed, if something—anything—had been explained to me, then I would have been more prone to listen a little more closely. ”
“Now you’re sounding like a child. ” He sighed.
“Why shouldn’t I?” she mocked him. “That’s how I’m treated. Treat me like an adult and see if I don’t try to act like one. ”
ELEVEN
Nothing could possibly be easy, Piper thought as midnight rolled around before she was able to extricate herself from her mother, sisters, cousins, and various family members.
“Dawg couldn’t just keep his mouth shut?” she muttered as Jed escorted her into his room. “He could have kept all this to himself for a little while longer. ”
“Dawg usually knows what he’s doing,” Jed assured her, locking the door behind them before turning and striding through the living area. “Stay here; I want to check out the bedroom again. ”
Crossing her arms over her breasts, she watched as he disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
