Page 75 of Trust

“Are you not going to answer me?”

“I would rather look at you when I answer…not the back of your head.”

There was a long, strained beat of silence before he started to turn around. Once Ben met his gaze…there was no denying the anger burning within the dark depths of his gaze. It should scorch him. He didn’t have a lot of true friends in the world. Hismoney and fame made it hard to determine who he could trust. Jakob knew, without a doubt, that he could trust Ben. So he couldn’t and wouldn’t lie.

“I’m in love with her.”

“Give me a break.”

Jakob rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you the truth. I’ve been in love with her for years.”

Before his friend could respond, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Ben said.

Ian was at the door. “I have news. They found her car, and they are now searching for her.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. I’ll let you get back to that,” he said, motioning with his hand.

Once they were alone again, Ben studied him. “I don’t have time for this right now.”

“Time for what?”

“Beating the shit out of you.”

He snorted. “Have fun trying, mate. But know this, at the end of the day, I will still love her, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Seth followed Ryan and Maya as they led the way on the trail. It was already starting to get hot, and there were no trades giving them any relief. Maya was hot on the trail, and the heaviness in Seth’s gut told him this wouldn’t have a happy ending.

“Bad vibes,” Rami said next to him as they jogged along, both of them keeping their eyes moving to keep site of any other cluesas to her whereabouts. Rami was a former SEAL like him, and both had learned to trust their gut. Training was essential, but instincts were just as important.

Seth nodded as they continued on their way, and when he heard Maya’s excited barks, he knew it wasn’t a good sign.

“There’s a Rick here to see Ben,” Eden said, walking into the room. She had gone to chat on the phone, so it apparently was to deal with that.

“Send that loser packing,” Emily said.

“No. He’ll just come back. He has never learned to understand that he wasn’t wanted. And, he might have something to talk to Ben about.”

Emily didn’t look happy about it, but Eden did her bidding.

Rick came into the living area and started to make a beeline for Ben’s study when he noticed Lani. He changed directions.

“Lani, when did you get back?”

There was a tone in his voice, something that felt off.

“I’ve been on the island.”

“That wasn’t our cover story,” Emily said, ignoring the other woman.

“My brother’s talking to Jake right now. Is there something I can help you with?”

“You don’t work for the company anymore,” Emily said.

“I’m still a board member. If it has something to do with Kingston, I can at least see if I can help. My brother has too much on his plate right now.”

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