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He shakes his head, finally turning back to me. “I’m not used to trusting other people. It never goes well.”
“Well, I’m not people, am I?”
“No.” He smirks a little. “You’re definitely not.”
Jax would kill me if he found out I was begging to be led into whatever danger lurks behind this agreement. But there is no way I am leaving Johnathan alone in this mess. This is bigger than some temp job, and I want to help any way that I can.
Johnathan sighs. “Looks like I’m out of options.” His eyes are clear but weary as he takes both of my hands in his. “Kylie, will you please help me?”
I suppress the giggle of excitement bubbling in my throat and nod a little. “Where do you want us to start?”
CHAPTER15
Johnathan
I wantto tell her everything. But the more I say, the more at risk I am of her finding out about Isabella. I know she’ll find out eventually, but why piss off the only ally I have in my corner? Especially when it’s someone as brilliant as Kylie. I manage to clean up the mess I made in my tantrum and leave her in charge of thumbing through the rest. As much as I want to clear my schedule indefinitely, there’s no way that every one of my dad’s partners are sympathetic to his death. Life still must go on, and time is money in our line of work.
“Don’t worry.” Kylie smiled at me from her desk. “I’ve got your back.”
That was days ago. With a week full of meetings and conference calls, I barely have time to do anything but eat, sleep, and shower. Popping into the office throughout the day just never seems to make it on the list. It’s almost like I’m back to the old routine. Carrying the load of two people with ninety-nine percent less yelling. The only real difference is Kylie. Knowing that she’s the one waiting for me on the other side of that door brings a sense of comfort to my day. My secret helper disguised as an assistant. If only I can make more time to check in on her and see what she’s found. If anything at all.
I stifle a yawn and shuffle my way toward the elevator. The other offices sit dark around me. No surprise there. Even I shouldn’t be here this late. I glance at my office in the distance and notice the light peeking out from under the door. There’s no way she could still be here. But there’s no harm in checking.
The creak of the office door seems so loud at night. Dim light from the table lamp casts a shadow over Kylie’s face. She sits at the conference table, folders laid out around her like a barrier as she leans on one hand while she reads. I stand there frozen, captured by the sight of her. Even in the shadows she looks beautiful. Her eyes glance up from the folder open in front of her and she jumps at the sight of me.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” I guide the door closed before crossing over to her.
“No, it’s fine.” She relaxes. “I just got lost in deciphering this. Must’ve lost track of time.”
“Anything good?” I ask, leaning over her shoulder.
“Define good.”
Her scent soothes me as I read my dad’s scribbled handwriting. I look past the open folder to the others, each one with a brightly colored sticky note on top.
“Fraud. Theft. Confused,” I read aloud, picking one up. “What is all this?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out.” Kylie sighs. “None of this makes sense. Like this here.” She flips through a few papers and holds them out to me. “There’s a signed contract for construction on a new building, but nowhere in any of these folders does it go further than that. It’s like they gave up building it before they even started.”
“Plans fall through sometimes.” I shrug, skimming the text.
“I thought so too. Until I found this signed renovation deal for a building down on 4th Street. When I did a quick search online, the building doesn’t exist. It’s a community garden.”
My heart races, and I take the paper from her hands. The address written down is clearly typed. “Maybe someone just typed a number wrong?”
“I tried typing in different variations, but nothing comes up. This building just doesn’t exist.”
My mind tries to put it all together, but even more questions surface. Was this what my dad was trying to warn me about? But what does it mean? I look down at Kylie, my questions dissipating the moment I look into her eyes. So confident and determined to solve this mystery. Not a hint of fear or doubt. But at what cost? Nothing about this seems like the kind of work she should be doing at this hour. Especially if Isabella finds us like this. I can already hear the screams of outrage and shudder at the thought.
“We should call it a night, don’t you think?” I rest a hand on her shoulder. “Your brother might get worried if you’re out too late.”
She shrugs me off. “My brother’s worries are not my concern.”
“They should at least be considered.” I smirk.
“Look, you can go if you’d like,” she snaps. “But I’m not leaving until I finish this folder.”
Her fingers drum against the table, and she looks back at me with a sour expression.
