“You’re engaged!” Iker crowed.
The others all murmured in pleased voices. Mom looked shocked.
“No, not engaged,” I hurriedly corrected.
“Although that will be occurring soon,” Reign tagged on, winking at me. I blew him a kiss.
“Then what?” Sawyer asked.
“I’ve convinced Sia to move in here with me permanently. We talked about future ideas, and we don’t have the kind of space we want. And we plan to stay here for at least a few years. This building is prime real estate, and the owner wants to retire, so we’re ironing out the details to buy the entire thing. Sia and I will then have remodeling done to make one of the neighboring apartments become part of this one. Its last occupants moved out, and it was up for rent.”
His revelation sparked a flurry of questions, congratulations, and talk about what we’d turn the extra space into. We told them everything but the shibari studio idea. I’d been intrigued when Reign told me about the room in Mikhail and Tajah’s apartment atop Lustz. And that they had one in their new house.
Eventually, we made it to dessert, and then it was time to take everyone up to the roof. Before we did, the whole group tackled the cleanup, so it was finished in no time. We took drinks with us. Some had coffee while others chose to drink alcohol. I was in the mood to relax, so I had a glass of wine with Mom and Delphine. A few of the guys drank beer. Their reaction upon seeing the roof was better than we had hoped.
“Goddamn! You have this?”
“No wonder you want to stay.”
“That’s it. I’m moving in.”
Their various remarks made us laugh and tease each other. We’d eaten at five, so there was time to hang out without worrying about the time or everyone needing to go to work tomorrow.
I was thrilled to see Mom having such a wonderful time. The only thing that made me apprehensive was the way Poe and Iker hovered around Mom. They did nothing inappropriate, but their interest was evident. I feared her getting hurt. She hadn’t resolved her marriage to Dad, and yet men were interested in her. I’d mention it to Reign later so that he could speak to them about it.
Sinner:
I let my happiness over Anastasia, the expansion of the business, the purchase of our building, and our future make me forget about my brother. I hadn’t heard from him in three weeks. In the back of my mind, I hoped it meant he was thinking everything through and working to get his life together. That he was quiet because he was busy and wanted to surprise me.
Well, he did both, but not in a good way. Last night, Sunday night, I got a call from my financial consultant, Kipling. I knew it wasn’t anything good. My first thought was that there was something wrong with the purchase of our building.
Wrong. It seemed that while Kip was working to finalize the purchase of the building, he found a loan that he knew nothing about. He dug, and what he discovered made my stomach churn when he told me about it.
“Reign, there’s no other way to say this but bluntly. A loan was taken out ten days ago. It was signed by you and deposited into Rowan's account. Your brother forged your signature on a five-hundred-thousand-dollar personal loan. He’s guilty not only of theft but also of forgery. Those are felonies, especially when they involve this much money.”
I had a hard time catching my breath. I thought I’d misheard Kip. “Say that again,” I said. Kip did. The same thing was heard.
It took me a bit to calm down enough to listen to everything he had to say. At the end, he asked, “What do you want to do?”
Anastasia had joined me when she saw my face and heard my tone. She was aghast and clung to my hand. Staring into her eyes, I saw my future and what I had to do. There would be no more clinging to a toxic past.
“File the police report. Tell me what I need to do to open an official investigation. Freeze shit so he can’t touch anything else. I’ll talk to Mr. O’Brien about the delay. Hopefully, he’ll hang in there until I settle this with Rowan. I want my brother’s ass arrested, and I’m pressing charges. He broke the fucking law and stole from me. He doesn’t get leniency,” I growled, low and mean.
“I’ll get right on it. I have a connection at the police department’s financial crimes division. I’ll give him a heads-up tonight, then go down to start the process first thing in the morning. I hated to disturb your weekend, but you needed to know.”
“Kip, you have no reason to apologize. Thank you. Tell me anything you need me to do.”
After the call ended, Anastasia and I sat there going over what we knew. Both of us were beyond stunned and upset.
I slept like shit last night. I went to work this morning but found it difficult to concentrate. It was after lunch when Kip called me to come to the police department. Kip had already gotten my lawyer up to speed, and she would meet me there. Thankfully, Kip froze all my accounts with the credit agencies. Any attempt by Ro to take out loans or open credit cards in my name would be flagged.
Anything that even remotely Rowan had touched was revoked. I removed him from emergency access to credit cards and bank accounts. He was no longer the name on my assets.While I had time with my lawyer, I asked to have my will, medical and financial powers of attorney, and inheritance of my assets changed. Everything would be in Anastasia’s name. Despite not being married and our short acquaintance, I had no qualms doing it.
I sat on the sofa in our living room, staring out the window, lost in my thoughts. I’d picked her up at work, and we’d gotten home forty-five minutes ago.
“Rei, baby, dinner is almost ready. What do you want to drink?” Anastasia’s soft voice asked from behind me.
I stood and walked toward her. When I reached her, I brought her flush to my body.
