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“I’m sorry, but the guy I have in charge is great. He’s been my number two for several years. He knows the company forward and back. If anyone can do it the right way, he can. I’m telling you, there’s no one back home who would have it out for me.”
Bella didn’t hide her irritation well. “Well, you keep shutting down my ideas. I can’t do anything for you if you won’t give me any leads. We’re just… stuck.”
The interior of the RV grew quiet once more. There was a chill in the air even though it was warm outside. They’d each reached their breaking point in this conversation, and Grant had confessed to a great deal more than he’d been prepared for. The night was going to end in shambles and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Neither of them had eaten much of their food, but he had a feeling Bella wasn’t going to be hungry anymore. What was she thinking? First, the money. Now, the fact that he planned on returning to his home state. If she didn’t want to break up with him before, she surely would want to now.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked.
“Okay.”
“Why are you even here?”
He lifted his brows. “From the sound of it, you want me gone just as much as the vandal does.”
She flushed, shaking her head. “What I mean is, why are you here when you have enough money that you could be anywhere? You could have bought a property. You could have purchased a house in town. You could have whisked Nick away and taken him back home. So why stay? What is there for you here?”
It was too late for him to tell her that she was a big reason he’d wanted to stay after getting drugged. Meeting her had done something to him. But he couldn’t tell her any of that, so he stuck to what was the most believable.
“Nick.”
She sighed. “That’s not what I asked?—”
“Nick didn’t know me. He learned of me at around the same time I found out about him. We’re trying to figure out this whole thing, and it would have been ten times harder if I had taken him from the home he knows and loves. I wasn’t about to uproot him from his school, his friends, and the only family he has left.”
“Charlotte.”
“Yeah. I want him to maintain strong relationships with those who care about him here. And I have the finances that allow that to happen. I’m not a prisoner to any specific location. Maybe one day we’ll go back that way, but it’s not happening any time soon.”
Grant didn’t expect her to understand or even grasp what he was trying to say as it pertained to her. If there was even a slight chance she was paying attention, perhaps she’d be able to see he was still the good guy she’d grown to care about.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell on what side of the fence she stood. Was her expression positive? Pleased? Or was it the opposite? At this point, he had no clue.
“And no one here knows about this—about your money?”
“Not even Nick. The only people are a few higher-ups at my company, my financial advisor, and my lawyer. That way, if anything were to happen to me, then Nick would be taken care of.”
“And Nick? You’re sure he doesn’t know? Would it be possible that he’s overheard you talking about it with someone?”
“Maybe, but I don’t think so. He’s so young, I would wager he’d get curious and ask me about it if he had.”
Bella pressed her lips together firmly. Even after all her questions, she didn’t seem convinced. This was why he hadn’t wanted to tell her in the first place.
His stomach knotted. He could feel his whole body tensing up just like it had when he was a kid. Grant thought he’d gotten over this feeling—this feeling that he had to defend himself to the people in his life. Bella should have been one of the people who trusted him.
“You know what? This conversation is done. I’m tired of having to make excuses and explain myself to everyone—especially you. I thought you were on my side.”
She opened her mouth but then closed it before she said anything. That was probably wise.
“I thought so.” He shook his head with disdain. “Honestly, I never thought you’d be grouped in with someone like Charlotte. At every turn, she’s telling me that I’m doing something wrong.”
“I wasn’t saying you were doing anything wrong,” she argued. “I’m investigating criminal activity. I need all the information there is if I’m going to be successful.”
“And that’s all this is, then. Getting close to me was a ploy. Is that how you treat everyone? You get cozy so they open up to you?”
Bella’s mouth fell open. “That’s not how it is, and you know it.”
“Do I? Because from the looks of it, you seem to be accusing me of something and I don’t even know what it is. I’m just trying to do right by my son.”
