Page 40 of Culmination
To me, that’s no choice at all.
“Babe,” Rafe calls softly, breaking me from my thoughts.
I take a moment to study the man sitting before me. Dark-blue eyes, calm for once, watch me with gentle ease.
“It’s time to end this, Rafe.”
His chin dips in a nod, and my trembling hands punch in the numbers Dad left in his letter. I hold my breath until it clicks to accept the code, and then I lift the lid, silently sending up a prayer to my father. One by one, I use caution to pull each of the contents out of their hiding place, my eyes rounding with awe at every clue we uncover.
It’s not as simple as a ledger for money-laundering schemes. Sure, there’s a ledger in here full of account numbers and dollar amounts, but I’m almost positive it’s subterfuge. The other items in the box are exactly what Theo’s been looking for. And now that we have them in our possession, terror washes over me.
A simple piece of paper and a nondescript notebook are all that stand between me and grave danger.
Adrian’s mother wasn’t lying. While I flip through what must be the diary she kept before and shortly after she left Theo, phrases jump out at me.
Then something falls out from between the pages.
Rafe’s face pales at the sight of the ultrasound. With delicate fingers, I pick it up, studying the scan.
“The date,” he says. “It matches.”
“You believe her?”
“I didn’t want to. God, I don’t want to. But I can’t argue with the truth. If you’d seen her, you’d know. Why else would she be so protective of you? Of the baby?” His large hands run up and down his face as if he’s trying to wipe the stress away.
I grasp his wrist, pulling it down to the table, where I cover his fingers with mine. “We know now what Theo wants. More than that, we have it in our possession. We control this now, Rafe. He won’t win. We won’t let him. We finish this now, and then we’ll deal with the aftermath. What’s important is that we do it together. I’ll be by your side through it all, no matter what.”
For the first time in what feels like ages, the corners of Rafe’s lips compress into a smile, those gorgeous dimples of his making an appearance. He tilts his head sideways, leaning a bit forward, his soft, cerulean eyes relaxing as they gaze into mine. “I love you, Brie.”
I take the opportunity to brush my lips against his. “And I love you, Rafe. Always.”
When I pull back, his previous expression has been replaced with one of sheer determination. He stands, gathering up the contents of the box.
“We need to take this in now,” Rafe insists, but I shake my head. “All of it.”
“No, Rafe. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I feel it. I need to read every single page before turning this over.”
He sighs, but I persist.
“It’s the last thing I’ll ever have from my father. He trusted me with this. I can’t just skim it and then give it away. Please, tell me you understand.”
He releases a low curse. Then dark eyes meet mine. “Put it in your bag. We’re going straight back to the hotel, and you can read it all. But first thing tomorrow morning, that book is going straight to the Feds.”
I want to push him, but the anguish in his eyes stops me in my tracks. Everything he’s ever known has been a lie, and as soon as we read what’s between the pages, Rafe can never go back.
But until he does, I don’t know if we can move forward.
RAFE DOESN’T GET HISwish. It’s taking longer to scour the book than I anticipated, and after nearly dozing off a dozen times, I place it inside the hotel safe and drag Rafe out of the room. He doesn’t question me until the cab’s dropping us off in front of one of my favorite places in the world.
“What are we doing here, Brie?” Rafe asks, his voice laced with amusement as he stares up at the giant ballpark before us.
“I need a break, Rafe. From the sleuthing and the ex-boyfriends showing up and the craziness that is suddenly my life. Right now, I just want to eat a hot dog, gorge on peanuts, and watch a baseball game with my handsome boyfriend.”
He raises an eyebrow, a smile forming on his lips. “Handsome?”
I shoulder-check him. “You know you are.” I sober and gaze into his piercing blues. “Is that okay? Just one afternoon to forget it all. Then, tomorrow, we’ll figure this out.”
“Okay, baby. Today’s yours. Tomorrow, we’ll settle this once and for all.”
