Page 71 of Forged in Peril

A pang of guilt flooded his belly as he dug out the last pile of half-crushed files from the bottom of the drawer, wondering if he could make copies of the worst few to conceal their mangled edges.

Maybe if he hadn’t missed so many Sunday dinners, he would have been asked.

Reilly had been more of a son than he or the rest of his brothers lately, despite being, technically, his father’s nephew.

Whatever was going on with work, with Bristol, or with anything else, he really did need to make more of an effort when it came to the family he had left.

As he sat in front of his computer debating how to start an email about the forgotten invoices, there was a knock at his door.

He minimized the email program, not in the mood for one of Gabe’s lectures–not that he’d be able to conceal the Forge & Sons logo plastered all over about two hundred sheets of paper scattered all over his desk.

“Come in,” he said.

He couldn’t decide if he was relieved or not when he realized it was Bristol, but as soon as he took in the expression on her face, worry immediately drove out any other possible emotion.

“Hey,” he said, getting up from his seat for a moment and removing a box from one of the chairs in front of his desk. “What can I do for you?”

Bristol tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she sat, looking suddenly nervous.

“Are you okay? Did something else happen?”

She shook her head.

“Sorry, I’m fine. Just confused.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, letting out a slow breath. After two weeks of peace, he was still on edge. Danger seemed to follow Bristol constantly. “So what’s up?”

“I came back from lunch a little early, and I overheard Jaclyn on the phone in her office. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, obviously, but then…”

Bristol’s words trailed off, and she stopped meeting his eyes.

“Look, if she was talking loud enough to be heard from the main area of the legal department, it barely even counts as spying. Grace would call you an amateur,” he joked, trying to keep things light despite the storm that was quickly brewing behind Bristol’s green eyes.

“She mentioned someone named Albert, and I know there’s probably a thousand other ones, but I couldn’t help but to keep listening after that,” Bristol said quickly.

Cameron nodded, trying to keep his expression neutral.

She was right. The name Albert was hardly suspicious. Then again, there had to be more. It wasn’t like she’d come down to his office just for that.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I can’t remember the exact words or anything, obviously, but she asked him if everything was set up, and if anyone planned to ‘go rogue’. She told this Albert person that she was set up on her end for Friday. She said something about how ‘she’ doesn’t know anything. It wasn’t clear who she meant.”

She paused for a moment, her brows furrowing as she tried to think.

“But she mentioned what almost happened to me, and she didn’t sound happy about it.”

“Well, that’s a good sign, I guess,” Cameron said, giving Bristol a quick smile.

“Oh, and she mentioned Reilly,” Bristol added. “Right. That was the strangest thing. She talked about him going on paternity leave next week.”

Cameron frowned.

It was a weird conversation, to be sure, but hardly something that set off immediate alarm bells. For all he knew, Jaclyn could’ve been talking about an upcoming court case that required Reilly’s involvement before he left.

“Anyway, I know there’s nothing too nefarious, and that there’s probably a totally innocent explanation,” Bristol said.

He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, and he tried to choose his next words as carefully as he could.

“Jaclyn hasn’t been here very long, but she’s never given me, or any of my brothers, or any of the senior staff a reason not to trust her.”

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