Page 40 of Trust

He answered just before it would have gone to voicemail.

“What?”

“Did she react?” his partner rasped over the phone.

“Not really.”

“What is it with this woman? Is she that obtuse?”

No. He had known her for several years and knew she wasn’t stupid. It was just that Lani thought she could handle everything. And the truth was, for the most part, she could. When he first started observing her, he’d realized that the woman could juggle her legal work along with PR for the company.

“Not sure. I do know that sending it today is probably not a good idea. She has a lot on her mind with the wedding.”

“Hmm,” was the only sound over the phone. “I guess so. Still, I want to make sure that this is all wrapped up in a couple weeks. I don’t want anything in my way.”

He had always thought this plan was a bad idea. The Kingstons might be jerks in a lot of ways, but they weren’t stupid. If anything, their legal position on certain things had been cleaned up by Lani. It would be hard to get away with anything against them. That was probably why his partner wanted to get rid of Lani.

“She needs another reminder of why she should run.”

He would roll his eyes, but he knew from experience there was a good chance his partner had eyes on him.

“What do you have in mind? The brakes didn’t seem to scare her.”

He hadn’t been too sure about that to begin with. Their parents had died in a wreck, so both of the Kingston children were fanatical about their car safety.

“Maybe another close call, but this time, it should be someone else driving.”

“No.”

“Yes, or do you not understand how much money you owe me?”

Fuck.

“Fine. But after this, you get to do the dirty stuff.”

“She will recognize me. I can’t.”

“I’m just saying you do it, or someone else does it. I’m not going to do anything after this.”

“Good.”

The dial tone was his only answer. He sighed, knowing that this situation wouldn’t end well for him.

Nine

About midway through the reception, Lani was done. Done with the relatives, done with Royal, and done with shoes.

She leaned against the wall, watching other people dance. Most everyone was having a good time, and she felt like an ass for being grumpy. She blamed it on her stupid shoes. Glaring down at her feet, she wondered what would happen if she yanked them off and ran away. Not that she was thinking about actually doing that. Not really.

She had picked a location that kept her out of sight of the head table. Heels usually didn’t bother her, but she didn’t wear these insane three-inch stilettos. She should have gone with the flats she had eyed. Instead, Lani did it to appease Royal because the bride wanted everyone to wear heels. Lani didn’t consider herself part of the wedding party, but Royal did. Not enough for her to sit at the head table or be part of the wedding.

Her stomach grumbled. Yep, she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. There was a good chance she would gnaw off the face of the next person who stepped up to bother her.

“Why aren’t you sitting at the big table up front?” Jakob asked, his breath feathering over her sensitive ear.

Oh, well, now, she wasn’t about to do anything to his pretty face.

She glanced over at him. How did he sneak up on her? And just where was his partner for the night?

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