Page 36 of Reconciling the Consequences

“Unload them and put them in numerical order for me, please. Have you called anyone else about this, Kenny?” Kara pressed.

“No ma’am. The only number I have is yours, and the deliveryman said that you had ordered these yourself.”

Kara tossed her head back in relief as her heart pounded in her chest. “Good man, Kenny. Good man.” She breathed out a sigh.

Kenny laughed through the phone, and she could picture his jolly smile on the other end. “Alright then boss lady. I’ll get these unloaded and in order for you. Anything else I can do for you?”

“No sir, I will be by this morning after an appointment to check on things myself. Thank you for the call.” She smiled.

“Anytime, Miss Carmichael. It’s what you pay me for, after all.” Kenny chuckled.

She grinned and ended the call. She let out a shriek of excitement and ran and jumped into Johnny’s arms. “Whoa there.” He chuckled as he caught her. “What’s going on?”

“We just got a break!” She grinned and pressed a kiss to his lips. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her up, her arms resting on his shoulders.

“What do you mean?” Johnny’s brows pulled together in confusion.

“With your dad’s case!” she explained. “I ordered back every single box of case files from our off-site storage facility. I did it weeks ago! The lady there said it would take time to organize a move that large! They’re being delivered to my private storage facility as we speak. That was one of my employees calling to verify.”

She was on cloud nine! They finally caught a break! She knew she would find the answers she was looking for in those boxes and anything her father might have hidden away about Case Holdings or his dirty dealings over the years.

She had a feeling the framing of Mac was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to uncovering all the bullshit her father had buried over the years.

Johnny’s frown did not match her energy, though.

“What’s the matter?” she asked him, looking down at his face. She rubbed her hand over his trimmed blond beard. “Aren’t you happy we have a lead?”

“Of course I’m happy about that,” he said hesitantly, like he was watching his words.

She narrowed her gaze on him; his baby-blue eyes were guarded. She felt her own guards slide into place and unwrapped her legs from around his waist, slowly gliding down his body. She had a feeling she would need space for the conversation that was about to go down.

It’s been a while since Johnny and I argued. She squared her shoulders and waited.

“Princess, don’t do that.” He sighed, shaking his head.

“Don’t do what?” she asked, tilting her head. Her hands came up to rest on her hips as she waited for him to explain—or rather one did; she did the best she could with the one still in a cast.

“Get defensive. I haven’t even said anything yet.” He groaned.

“What do you expect me to say, Johnny? I’m excited we have a lead. I’m excited that I can start digging into the case again. There’s clearlysomethingthat my father doesn’t want me to find. Why aren’t you happy about this?”

Johnny ran a hand over his buzzed head and sighed. “Babe, I know you’re excited, and it means the world to me that you want to help my dad. Trust me, it means everything to me.” Johnny stepped toward her and rested his hands on her shoulders. “But itfuckingkills methat something might happen to you again. I almost fucking lost you.” His eyes blazed as he stared down at her with love shining through.

Her breath caught in her throat. “Johnny.” She breathed out his name, reaching out to him.

He pulled her into his arms and let out a body-shuddering sob, breaking her heart. He quickly stifled it, taking deep breaths, but he held her tight. His arms were like steel bands wrapped around her body as he lifted her off the ground again. It was almost too much for her healing ribs to bear, but she was not going to let him go.

She wrapped her legs around his waist again and held him as tight as she could. She knew there was nothing she could say to ease his pain, knew there was nothing she could do to change what had happened. She’d been trying to get him to see that he hadn’t failed her, but he wasn’t having it.

In his mind, he should have seen something was up with her the night she broke things off with them. He should have pushed for the truth instead of pushing her away. He hadn’t forgiven himself for that night—though she already had—and she wasn’t sure if he ever would.

She held him and pressed kisses to his neck. She waited until his breathing was under control before she responded to him. She pulled back slightly so she could look up at him.

He avoided looking at her, but his eyes were red rimmed and still slightly damp.

She ran her hand over his beard and cupped the side of his face. “Johnny,” she murmured and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Look at me,” she murmured.

When his watery blue eyes finally met hers, her heart skipped a beat. Butterflies fluttered in her belly, but she felt in her soul there was no better moment than this one. She slid her casted arm around the back of his neck as gently as he could and held him in place. She spoke fiercely and deliberately. “I love you.”

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