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“I don’t know how long we’ll be,” I tell them.
“Go,” they both say, waving their hands in the air.
“See? We’re already finishing each other’s sentences,” Aspen points out, grinning at Mom. “We’ll be fine. Everything is ready to go, and the first morning rush has passed. Go. Do what you need to do. We’re good here.”
“You want to walk or drive?” I ask Aurora once we’re outside in front of the bakery.
“It’s just a couple of blocks. Do we have time to walk?”
“Doesn’t matter. I can promise you that he’s going to be waiting for us as long as it takes.”
“Yeah, but Owen too.”
“We have time. Let’s go.” Hand in hand, we begin walking toward the direction of the bank.
“It doesn’t matter how many times I turn this over in my head, I can’t seem to find a solution that makes sense.”
“There has to be a paper trail of some sort. They’re going to be able to tell us where your money went. The bigger issue is how did it get there without your consent.”
“Maybe I was hacked?”
“I thought about that, but I think we would see charges appear. We’re only seeing a negative balance. There is nothing on the dashboard of your online banking that indicates the money was there. Thankfully we have your bank statement from two weeks ago proving your balance, along with your deposit slips since then.”
“I guess being organized actually paid off for once.”
“We’ll figure it out, babe.” We’re quiet the remainder of the walk, both of us lost in our thoughts.
“You ready for this?” Owen asks as we approach him outside of the bank’s main entrance.
I give Aurora’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I think a more fitting question. Is he ready for this?” By he, I mean Martin Hamilton, the CEO of Nashville Horizon bank. All I can say is he better have a damn good explanation as to how this happened.
“Thank you both for being here.” Aurora looks at Owen, and then up at me.
Owen nods, and I pull her into my side. “Let’s see what he has to say,” Owen says, tugging open the door and motioning for us to walk in ahead of him. Once inside, we step back and let Owen take the lead. He and I talked earlier this morning and thought that would be best. At least to start.
“Welcome to National Horizon. What can I help you with today?” a young woman sitting at a welcome desk asks.
“Owen Riggins for Martin Hamilton.” Owen’s tone is clipped and leaves zero room for anyone to think he’s not a man of authority or that his distaste for Martin Hamilton isn’t present.
“Oh, of course, sir. He’s expecting you.” She stands and motions for Owen to follow her. “Um, if you just want to have a seat.” She motions toward Aurora and me.
“They’re with me,” Owen says.
“O-Okay, right this way.” She turns as fast as she can, placing her back toward us, and leads us to a locked door. She has to try three times to put in the code for us to enter. I have to bite down on my bottom lip and look to the right to avoid laughing. I don’t have to see the twitch of Owen’s lips to know he’s doing the same thing. With the beard and those penetrating eyes of his, my older brother can be an intimidating fucker. The most intimidating out of all of us.
Finally, the lock releases, and we follow her down a long hallway. She stops in front of an elevator and pushes the up arrow. Silence surrounds us as the doors slide open, and the four of us step inside.
I watch as she presses the button for the sixth floor—Aurora’s hand trembles in mine. We damn well better get some answers. I hate that this has happened to her, and I won’t stop until I get to the bottom of it. The elevator doors slide open, and we file out, following along behind the young woman who stops at another reception desk. “Mr. Riggins for Mr. Hamilton,” she says, her voice shaking.
Nashville Horizon is one of the largest banks in the city and employs some of the best financial investment bankers around. That’s why Riggins banks here, but we’re prepared to change that. Owen talked to Royce, Conrad, Marshall, and Dad last night after he talked to me. They’re all prepared to pull our business if necessary. The text came in around midnight. That tells me my family has a plan, and that plan includes having Aurora’s back. Not that I expected anything different.
The woman behind the desk pushes her glasses up her nose and lets her eyes linger over the three of us. They stop on Aurora, and her eyes widen. I’m about to ask her what the fuck her deal is when Martin himself appears from a doorway just across the hall.
