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I moved to the edge of the couch and sat on the armrest across from her. “Your brother doesn’t know any of this, does he?”
“No. I hid a lot of it from him. God… I was so young. I look back and think how messed up it all was.” She rolled her lips together. “I want you to know, the other rumors aren’t true, either.”
“I know that, sugar.”
“Not just the stuff about sleeping with the grooms, but all of it. I thought I used to like sex, but seducing a guy and getting him into bed was more about having control of something in my life. There was only one other man who didn’t—”
I cut her off. “Don’t need the details.”
“Right.” She heaved a sigh and flashed me a genuine smile. “Well, you’re still here.”
“I’ll always be here.”
“Because you love me?”
I leaned over and cradled her face. “Yeah, I do.”
* * *
“I need your help.”
I stood under a flickering light in the parking lot of an abandoned rest stop a week after Paris’s confession.
“Figured.” Sal grunted. “Talk to me, son.”
And talk I did. I told him everything Paris confessed. I showed him all the documents, financials, e-mails, and text messages I’d recovered from both her parents, Donovan Corps network, and their lawyers. To cover all my bases, I hacked into Austin’s personal computer, too. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, but I had to make sure he wasn’t holding on to something that could be useful, which he wasn’t.
“Good Old Artie has seven properties all over the country, safety deposit boxes and banks in three different states, and an office overseas.”
“What do you need my help with?”
“I didn’t find it, so that means he’s kept a physical copy. I need you to find that tape.”
He dipped his chin, and even behind his aviators, I could see a spark of arrogance in his eyes. “Done.”
The barbs in my throat made it hard to swallow. “Thank you.”
“Don’t insult me.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’ve got so much dirt on that bastard I could bury him with it, but when it comes to the incident with Paris, nothing more than what she already told me. The last record of a nanny was a woman who checked out clean and left on amicable terms when Paris was ten.” I scoffed. “Far as I can tell, that woman presumably was a nanny for three years and there’s nothing on her? There’s no way I’m missing it, which means he conducts his unscrupulous activity the old-fashioned way, so not only do I need that tape, I need everything you can find.”
Sal grinned, and I knew that look. He was ready to hunt. “Christmas came early this year.”
He took the flash drive I held out and put it in his pocket. “Everything you need is on there. But this is what you really want.” I handed over a folder. “Blueprints to all of his properties and locations of any cameras. Let me know when you’re five minutes out, and I’ll take care of those. Fair warning, the house in Miami has guard dogs, and that will probably be your biggest challenge. The drive also has bank locations, safety deposit numbers, and on and offshore accounts.”
“I have a feeling I won’t need any of this.” He flipped through some papers. “Shit stains like Arthur think they’re invincible. I’d put money on the fact that he’s either got a locked desk drawer at home or a safe behind a painting that’ll have everything we’re looking for.”
“No way I’d take that bet.” Sal’s suspicions were the same as mine. “If you want to make it easier on yourself, I’d go Sunday. The housekeepers don’t work then, and Mrs. Donovan is usually getting railed by her tennis instructor in the pool house at noon while Arthur is off golfing and getting his weekly massage.”
“I should have something for you by Sunday evening, then.”
“Yeah.” I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
CHAPTER 17
Paris
After my stupid, stupid breakdown with Scotty last week, I’d been kicking myself in the ass for opening my mouth. I didn’t want to tell him. I never wanted him to know, but he wore me down. He made me trust him. He showed me how I should be treated. I owed it to him to know the truth. I expected him to turn me in to the police, not act as if he didn’t know.
