Page 130 of Betrayed

No. I trusted AJ. It wasn't an opinion. It resonated in my soul.

“Blake, I can tell something’s eating at you. Talk to me. Please.”

“I’m worried about what else my father had me sign without telling me. What if I’m linked to his criminal activity?” The tears I’d been holding back spilled over.

“Do you think he would have done that?” he asked, still holding my hand.

“I don’t know.” And that was what freaked me out the most; I didn’t feel like I knew the man I’d called Dad my whole life.

“I’ll talk to John and see what he can find out. Chances are they won’t tell him anything, but he can try.”

“Thank you.” I wiped the wayward tears off my cheek. I prayed there weren't any documents linking me to my father's crimes.

And hopefully, I wouldn’t get any more surprises when I met with my attorney.

“What else can I do to help?”

I sighed. “I’m not sure. I’m meeting Jocelyn at eleven tomorrow to go over the paperwork,” I said. “She has a few calls to make, one of them to the family attorney, then she’ll organize the paperwork for me.”

“You have your own attorney?”

I could see why that might seem weird to him.

“It was a stipulation in my grandfather’s will.”Now I understand why. “Jocelyn was his attorney. It made sense for me to hire her, given her experience with his estate.” And I liked her.

“That makes sense, if your grandfather thought your father might be in financial or legal trouble.”

“Yeah.” There wasn’t much else I could say. Turns out Grandpa saw a lot more than I had.

Believing Priscilla would take anything of value not nailed down, I was glad the police hadn’t released the house yet. I didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

When AJ’s phone rang, he answered it on Bluetooth.

“Janerek, you’re on speaker.”

It was so weird hearing him announce it.

Instead of addressing AJ, John said, “Hi, Blake. How are you holding up?”

“I’m doing okay. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Janerek?”

“Yes?” AJ’s asked.

“I don’t want to see you in the office for the rest of the week. Unless you’re accompanying Ms. Davenport.”

The call disconnected as soon as AJ answered, “Yes, sir.”

“Are you in trouble?”

He answered with a huge, dimple-popping grin. “No. I have a ton of accrued vacation time. This is John’s way of telling me to use it.”

“Oh.” I’d been reluctant to ask AJ to take time off to help me. Now I didn’t have to.

“You’re stuck with me for the rest of the week, so you might as well take advantage of me.” His eyes sparkled with innuendo and mischief.

Thinking of all the different ways I could take advantage of AJ during the week made my cheeks to glow red.

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