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Joaquin coolly arched an eyebrow at her. “Is that a lie?”
Remy finally breathed, letting the tension go from her chest and shook her head. “I’ve told Lars on multiple occasions now that I have nothing to do with Damon, or Andrew, or Kyle, or whoever he is. I was the victim in all this, and I’m not sure why he keeps thinking that I have some part in it. He’s wrong.”
Joaquin frowned at Lars. “I’m beginning to think that you’ve got a problem here.”
Remy took a quick look at Lars and saw the slight tremble of his hand. It dawned on her then that Lars wasn’t the bad guy there. He was a man caught in something he needed a way out of, and Remy was his way out.
Lars drew in a deep breath and set his hard gaze on Remy. “She’s a fucking liar. She bought a shop recently, without any money in her bank account, and with cash. She thinks she can outsmart us, but she’s in this with Andrew. I promise you that.”
Joaquin leaned back in his chair and his eyes narrowed thoughtfully on Remy. Everything in the room seemed to freeze under his careful regard. Her heart pounded in her ears when he suddenly rose and moved to the window, staring out with his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to explain the situation to you, Ms. Brennan,” Joaquin said, not looking back at her. “I am a businessman. Unlike my father, I like things to stay on the right side of the law if possible. Mr. Violi’s sister had agreed to invest two hundred thousand into a company of mine. The deal had come through, Mr. Violi, isn’t that right?” He glanced over his shoulder at Lars, and the fierceness in his expression sent her heart into her throat.
Lars glanced at his feet. “Yes, sir.”
“I take my investments very seriously, Ms. Brennan,” Joaquin continued, turning around, staring solely at her now. “And when the investment came due, we learned from Lars of the situation with Andrew…” He paused and his mouth twitched. “Excuse me, Damon Lane, running off with the money.” Joaquin returned to his seat. “I instructed Lars to not only find Mr. Lane, but to find the money that had been stolen from me.”
A sudden coldness struck Remy to the core. Sure, all along she’d had her suspicions that Damon’s money had something to do with all this, but now she understood why Damon’s money had something to do with all this. It wasn’t Damon’s money at all. Nor was it Lars’s money. That money belonged to Joaquin King, and that’s very likely the reason Damon died.
“When Mr. Violi found Damon Lane,” Joaquin continued, “he agreed to return the money that he stole from me, and in doing so, we could put this matter to bed.”
“Too late for that,” Lars spat, “she fucking spent it.”
Joaquin’s fierce gaze cut to Lars, and he took a step back.
Remy became very aware that the two security guards moved a little closer in their direction. “This is where we are at, Ms. Brennan,” Joaquin said, coming to lean forward on his desk, his strong forearms flexing. “I need the truth from you. Have you spent the money that Damon Lane was supposed to return to me?”
There were times to lie and times to be honest. The darkness in Joaquin’s eyes told Remy the latter was the only option. “I thought the money was Damon’s. I found it in my house.”
“You didn’t think to turn it in to the police?” Joaquin asked.
“Yes, of course, I did,” Remy explained. “But—”
“You fucking spent it,” Lars injected.
Joaquin’s nostrils flared. “If you interrupt our conversation again, Mr. Violi, we will have a problem.”
Lars shut his trap and moved back to the door.
Joaquin’s expression softened a smidgen when he glanced at Remy. “Go on.”
She drew in a deep breath and then said, “I’d been hurt by Damon, and when I found the money, I felt like…”
“You were owed the debt,” Joaquin finished for her.
She shrugged. “Something like that.”
He sat back in his chair and watched her for a long moment, tapping his thumb against the desk. “I believe what you’re telling me.”
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s the truth.”
He acknowledged that with a nod, then added, “But regardle
ss of the fact that I believe you, this has created a situation for you, Ms. Brennan.”
She shut her mouth now, sensing a shift in him, a hardness that had her knowing the best thing to do was stay silent.
“That money,” he added firmly, “is my money. I do not take kindly to people who spend money that is mine. Do you understand?”
Oh, yeah, she fully understood. She’d seen the news articles detailing the murders of men and women who got in the way of business deals that all came back to King. She also remembered Boone’s frustration when he worked a case involving Joaquin. His men were wicked smart and had yet to leave a single trace of evidence, and those who worked for King were loyal to the bone. “Yes, I understand.” She needed to get that money back to him, and she needed to do that yesterday.
