AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Elizabeth blanched. “Because of me?”
“Rylee, hey. We didn’t know you were coming over today,” Canaan came into the room in a pair of jeans and a white tee, which seemed to be his favored attire. Elizabeth was a fan. It brought out the gold in his eyes.
“You didn’t know I was coming over, but you should have guessed.”
“Of course,” Canaan laughed. “How could I be so silly? Coffee?”
Rylee scrunched up her face and shook her head. “Hell, no. We need to …” She stopped short and pursed her lips.
Elizabeth held her breath. There she was, in her sleep clothes, with Canaan looking a bit disheveled. Would his sister guess what they had been up to? Would she be mad? Was this breaking some kind of rule, even if theyweremates? Rylee narrowed her eyes at them before pointing a finger at her brother. “What happened here?”
Canaan blushed. “Nothing. Why?”
“Did you tell Elizabeth about the ex?”
“Shit. No.” He ran a hand back through his hair. “I got distracted.”
Rylee’s eyes got even smaller. “Then what the fuck did you two do this morning?”
“I slept in,” Elizabeth lied. “I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. Canaan probably didn’t want to disturb me.”
“Right,” Rylee sighed. “Well, looks like your ex was lying about his education. He applied to EELS with a fake Harvard degree and averyinflated GPA.”
A laugh bubbled out of her. “Jordan didn’t go to Harvard. Who would believe that?”
“Your employer did,” Rylee replied. “A lot of people pretend they went to Harvard, but not everyone can go Ivy League. It’s not that hard to bullshit some documents. You just need to be decent with a computer.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “But Jordan isn’t computer savvy enough to falsify documents.”
“We know,” Rylee replied. “Which leads me to today. We have our first court appearance this afternoon.”
Elizabeth’s legs gave out at those words, and she instinctively reached out for her steady force … Canaan. He picked her up and gently carried her into the living room, where he sat her on the couch. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I was able to pull a few strings, and I got us a preliminary meeting with the judge and opposing counsel. We won’t go to trial.”
“Why would youdothat?” Canaan growled. “We aren’t ready yet.”
“No, but this Bella character is nowhere to be found. I’m hoping she shows her face at this hearing,” Rylee shrugged.
“Have you lost your mind? You can’t use Elizabeth as bait like that. They could arrest her.”
“But they won’t,” Rylee insisted. “I filed an injunction with the court last night. They can’t arrest her because there has been no formal investigation. I also slapped EELS with a countersuit for wrongful terminationandtheft. Until the matter is resolved, your little gamer girl is off-limits.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Canaan growled.
“Maybe you don’t, but I do. I’m good at my job, baby bro. This is why you hired me. How about you let me do my thing.”
“I don’t have enough to go on with the Bella name,” she continued. “That’s not a full name, and she is nowhere to be seen. Canaan had already asked Mel to tail Jordan, so she should be getting back to us soon enough.”
“Mel is out there tailing Jordan?” Elizabeth gasped, her hand covering her mouth. “Really?”
“Of course she is,” Canaan responded. “I want to know everything that creeper is up to.”
“Good man,” Rylee cut in. “I told you he was the right man to have on your side,” she said, eying Elizabeth. “Now, we need to talk about today’s court appearance. You can’t wear that.” Rylee’s cutting look turned toward her brother. “But don’t worry. I can lend you one of my dresses. I brought a few options, but I left them in the car. Go get them, will ya, baby bro?” She waved Canaan off.
He hesitated, shooting Elizabeth a wary glance. She hoped Rylee didn’t notice. She wasn’t sure what they were to each other, and the last thing either one of them needed was a grilling session from the best lawyer in town.
“So. You seem to be making yourself at home here,” Rylee said as soon as they were alone.
