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“And we all know what happened there, don’t we?” I murmured softly.
Kaitlynn shuddered, hugged herself, and then shook her head insistently. “But that was a heart attack.”
Yeah, except it was what Lana had done after the heart attack—faking a new will and paying off Fin Tin—was what I was referring to. Not that I could tell Kaitlynn any of that. Yet. The fewer people who knew of my suspicions, the less likely it would be to tip Lana off to my investigation.
So I waved a dismissive hand. “Doesn’t matter. Once Lana fixes her attention on a man, he ends up either dead, destroyed, or missing.” Glancing toward Ezra, I smirked. “Where do you think you’ll land, Nash?”
He glowered back. “I guess I’ll have to create an option four: none of the above.”
I let out a small, disbelieving laugh. “Yeah, good luck with that.” I was actually rooting for him on this one, but still, I wasn’t very optimistic he’d succeed, not against Lana. I’d seen the destruction she’d caused one too many times.
My worried gaze swerved back to Kaitlynn. “Just make sure my sister doesn’t get caught in any of the crossfire. She’s already survived enough brutality at the hands of Lana. Now…” Turning back to Brick, I held up the piece of paper. “Are you going to tell me who designed this shoe or not?”
When Brick merely scowled, refusing to answer, Kaitlynn sighed. “I did,” she admitted.
Huh? I whirled toward her, not expecting to hear that.
She gave me a timid little wave, and I closed my eyes, sending up a prayer for deliverance, because this was one juicy shit sandwich right here.
If Lana learned that her sweet, young beautiful stepdaughter was not only gaining the attention of the man she wanted, but that she could also design a damn fine shoe as well, she wouldn’t let Kaitlynn survive the day. She didn’t take it well when anyone was a better fashion designer than her, and if that someone else was the very stepdaughter she loathed most and had just fired from her unpaid internship, then she’d go atomic.
I didn’t even want to think about what she’d do if she learned about the budding relationship forming between Kaitlynn and Nash. I only knew Lana would probably take that harder than the shoe design.
I had a hell of a lot more damage-control on my hands here than I honestly thought I could handle. What if I couldn’t protect Kaitlynn this time around?
Five minutes later, I returned to my own office, sweating profusely and hissing curses under my breath as soon as the door fell shut behind me. But seriously. Motherfucking son of a bitch. I paced the room, wondering what to do.
Nash, Brick, and I had agreed to keep Kaitlynn’s identity over her shoe design concealed, but who knew how long it’d really stay hidden.
And from the way Kaitlynn and Nash merely look
ed at each other, Lana would no doubt find out about them within the hour.
I wasn’t sure how to safeguard my stepsister from all the impending doom headed her way.
Opening my top desk drawer, I removed a bottle of pain relievers and popped two pills just as my office phone rang. I swallowed the medicine with a bottle of water before barking, “Carmichael,” into the receiver.
“My office. Now,” Lana’s voice snapped in my ear.
Shit. I closed my eyes. Had she found out about Kaitlynn and Nash already? Or the shoe design? Or the fact that Brick had hired Kaitlynn mere days after Lana had fired her?
Honestly, the summons could be about anything.
But I wouldn’t be able to derail whatever plans Lana had against Kaitlynn unless I learned what they were, so I heaved out a breath, wiped the cold sweat from my brow, and made my way downstairs toward the first floor.
In the light of day, her outer office looked different than it had three nights ago during the Halloween party. Shyla offered me a nervous smile when I opened the door, and she tipped her head toward the closed entrance to Lana’s lair.
“She’s waiting. Go on in.”
I didn’t want to comply. I dreaded every moment in Lana’s presence, but to figure out her game plan, I had to get closer.
Opening the door, I stepped inside without a word, braced for impact.
“Sit,” she said, busy writing something in a leather-bound planner.
I closed the door behind me and moved to the chair across the desk from her. As I sank down, doom landed in my gut.
What if this summons had nothing to do with Kaitlynn after all? What if she’d discovered it was me who’d broken into her office during the Halloween party? Or maybe she’d caught on to the fact that I knew about Fin Tin being alive. She could’ve called me in here to oust me, demand the key back to her apartment, or—fuck—fire me from JFI altogether.
