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Chapter 3
“This is what you’ve been hiding? You used the money to pay for your grandfather’s nursing care and funeral? How could that possibly cost eight million dollars?” Luke asked as he stared at the statements. The forged statements that she’d created late last night when he was asleep.
“It didn’t that was only part of the money, less than two hundred thousand went to that,” Dani said hesitantly waiting for the confirmation that the funds were available. She hurriedly sold off all of the stock she’d acquired the last three years using her monthly allowance on their way home from London. There was now nearly four million in the account, and she hoped it would be enough to get her out of this mess.
So, she was telling another stack of lies on top of the ones she’d already told but maybe by sprinkling in enough truth it would be convincible.
“Then where’s the rest of the money Dani? What were you going to use it for?”
“You remember Chance…”
“How the hell could I forget him?” he mocked rubbing the light scar that showed above her collarbone.
“He wasn’t my partner in this and he wasn’t blackmailing me.”
“Dani!” He stared at her as his eyes flashed with anger.
“I’d gone out with him a few times until I learned the truth about him…who he worked for…what he did…” She hesitated, waiting until his anger lessened knowing this would only work if she played it just right. Luke wouldn’t buy it if all he felt was anger, he needed to feel her worry.
“Just tell me Dani.”
“Have you heard of Felix Gaston?”
“He’s been arrested about a thousand times for everything under the sun but nothing’s stuck.”
“He’s a mob boss and he was Chance’s boss. Chance threatened me if I tried to leave, refused to give him what he wanted. He threatened Dean,” she stated, at least able to show that fear easily with the truth of the words.
“What did you do Dani?”
“I just wanted to disappear, make sure Dean was okay and start over. Chance had some money at his place, and I figured it’d be enough to hide from them. What I didn’t realize was that there was also millions of dollars’ worth of drugs in that bag.”
“Jesus Christ Dani,” Luke swore, worry filling his eyes as he watched her.
“When they found me…after we’d started dating, he told me I owed them. I’d tossed the drugs into the river after I’d found them, and I was desperate. Dean was doing well, and I didn’t want them to hurt him. He was all the family I had left. I wasn’t going to do it but then…they found him, and they messed with his medications.”
“At which point you began taking the money from my accounts?”
“Yeah…I’m sorry Luke. You have no idea how sorry…I just…I couldn’t let them hurt him. I’d gotten the four million they wanted and handed it over but…” Dani stopped knowing he had to press for it, it wouldn’t feel as real if she just laid it all out for him.
“What Dani?”
“They wanted more, Chance did. He said I either had to double it or come back with him and…”
“And what?” Luke questioned, his jaw tightening as her voice waivered.
“Be used however they wanted, do whatever they wanted. When I said no, they broke into my place to show me how easily they could, so I took more money. I was going to get it to them and then disappear but when I tried to set up the drop, they knew I was going to run.”
“And they weren’t going to let you, were they?” he asked gently.
“No, that’s when they came after me. It was after you’d threatened to turn me in if I didn’t repay it and the thought of going to jail…I couldn’t and I couldn’t risk telling them why because they’d come after me, after Dean. That’s when they put me in the car.”
“And you called me and lied to me about the reason.”
“I couldn’t tell you. You’d want to go to the police and tell them. I could handle them coming after me but that would have put you and your family in danger and despite what was between us, I loved your family already.” That much was true. His family was amazing to her, was the only thing that’d kept her from going crazy being away from Dean for so long.
“So why didn’t you turn over the money once Chance was dead?”
“I was scared. A bit of you and what you’d done but mostly of Felix. I didn’t know if he’d come after me demanding more or if that was just Chance’s threat. Then my grandfather died, and it was just me.”
