Page 35 of The Mountain Man's Mail Order Surprise
"What's going on?" I ask as we approach the house.
"Family meeting," Noah says grimly. "Jake's already inside with his tech team."
"Tech team?"
"The kind that can make rich assholes like Zack Whitmore very uncomfortable," Talia explains, ushering me into the house.
The main living room has been transformed into a war room. Laptops, documents, and what appears to be surveillanceequipment cover every surface. Jake, the family’s security consultant, stands at the center of it all, directing operations like a general preparing for battle.
"Gia," he says as we enter. "Good, you're here. We need to move fast."
"Move fast on what?"
"Stopping Zack Whitmore from ever threatening you again." Jake's smile is cold, predatory. "Turns out your ex has been very sloppy about covering his tracks."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean he's been using his family's resources for personal vendettas, bribing officials, and probably committing several federal crimes in the process. My people have been digging into his activities since the night we rescued you from his penthouse."
"You've been investigating him?"
"The moment he threatened one of ours, he became our problem." Noah's expression is granite hard. "The Kane family protects all Kanes."
"But I wasn't a Kane then..."
"You were the moment you walked through Rosco's door," Silas says firmly. "And now you're officially family. Which means this ends today."
Jake turns his laptop screen toward us, showing what appears to be financial records, email communications, and legal documents.
"Zack Whitmore has been using his father's construction company to intimidate competitors, including bribing building inspectors to cite violations on rival businesses. He's also been using private investigators to stalk and harass multiple women, not just you."
"Other women?"
"Three that we've found so far. All followed similar patterns: isolation, control, threats when they tried to leave." Jake's voice is grim. "This isn't about you or your baby, Gia. This is about a pattern of predatory behavior that he's been getting away with for years."
"So what do we do?"
"We give all this evidence to the authorities and let them handle it." Silas holds up a thick folder. "I've already been in contact with the RCMP and Vancouver PD. They're very interested in Mr. Whitmore's activities."
"And in the meantime?" Rosco asks.
"In the meantime, he gets a taste of his own medicine." Jake's smile turns savage. "My security team is already in Vancouver. If he wants to play games with threats and intimidation, he picked the wrong family to mess with."
My phone rings again. The same unknown number.
"Answer it," Jake says, gesturing to the recording equipment. "Let's see what else he's willing to incriminate himself with."
With shaking hands, I accept the call and put it on speaker.
"Hello, Zack."
"Gia. I hope you've had time to think about my offer."
"I've had time to think about a lot of things."
"Good. The car will be there in two hours."
"I'm not getting in any car." My voice is steadier than I feel. "And I'm not leaving my husband."
