Page 56 of Reckless Hearts
I propped my elbow on the door, running a palm over my forehead. “The land developer, Preston,” Jack continued, “has been embezzling money through his client’s deposits and project funds. Rounding up prices, quoting incorrect number of units, that kinda shit.”
“Jesus. What about Sterling?”
“Surprisingly, his shit is all by the books—except the tax fraud he’s been committing since 1982.”
I scoffed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “He’s been doing this longer than I’ve been alive.” The thought of the millions of dollars Sterling had been hoarding out of pure greed was nauseating. Or maybe that sinking feeling in my stomach was because of Delilah. It was hard to separate the different feelings in my body and their causes when it was just overall terrible.
“Pretty much.”
“So what do I do now?”
“Now,” he sighed, “is the annoying part. Since I didn’t really do any of this legally, you have to find a reason to investigate them this closely. Pretty sure it could be something as simple as you calling the IRS up with an anonymous tip, but it needs to be something worthwhile, not just, ‘Oh, I heard these guys are pieces of shit,’ ya know?”
“Yeah.” I stared out at the empty corn field next to my truck. “I know who I can get to do it. He owes us one.” I’d just have to get everyone on board.
I got off the phone with Jack and sent a text to the group chat, telling them I needed to meet everyone at Beau’s and that it was urgent. Funny how I could expose other men’s lies so easily but couldn’t fess up to my own.
Delilah didn’t respond. Not that I expected her to. For all I knew, she blocked me. It’d be what I deserved anyway for dragging her into this nightmare she and I were in.
The driveway was already littered with everyone’s cars by the time I pulled up. Guess when I said urgent, everyone knew I meant it.
When I walked in, only five pairs of eyes immediately settled on me. All guys. “Where are the girls?”
“Pregnancy symptoms hit Tess hard today,” Levi said. “She’s at home asleep with Luke.” The bounce in his knee told me he was itching to be there instead of here.
“Anna stayed home with the kids,” Joseph explained. “Too close to bedtime to get them over here.”
Jealousy hit hard in my chest, ringing through me until it rattled around in the marrow of my bones. They had families. People who loved and adored them. Little versions of them and the women they loved. I didn’t know if I’d ever get that.
“Sav’s over at Delilah’s,” Weston said, scratching the back of his head, looking uncomfortable. “Don’t know what for, but it sounded not good from what I heard on the phone.”
“Claire, too,” Beau added. “Raced over there with a fire lit under her ass. Must be some girl drama.”
“Think so,” Colt started. “Britt was double fisting bottles of pinot when she left.”
My legs went wobbly, and I braced a hand on the counter before I hit the ground. Thankfully, guys didn’t pay attention to the symptoms of heartbreak.
“Oh,” was all I could get out. I wanted to call Delilah and make sure she was okay, but I knew she wasn’t. I’d left her naked, crying on her bed. Of course, she wasn’t okay.
“So what was so urgent?” Colt asked, leaning back in his dad’s old recliner they hadn’t moved over to Anna’s yet.
“Where were you anyway?” Beau frowned at me, gesturing to my house with the butt of his beer bottle. “All the lights are out at the house.” Thank God, they’d all somehow forgotten that we were all sharing locations. Pretty sure the girls were the only ones who cared about that.
“Out.” Colt laughed to himself. I shot him a glare. “I’m not in the mood, Colton,” I ground out.
“Oh my God!” Weston shot up in his chair, grinning like a fool. “Did you finally get your cherry popped?”
Joseph choked on his beer, some of it dripping onto the hardwood at our feet. “Are you avirgin?” he coughed, wiping his face. A flurry of laughter carried through the open-plan first floor while I was hoping the ground would swallow me whole. I tried to laugh with them, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. Laughing now felt wrong when the last time I’d laughed had been with Delilah.
Weston held up a hand, laughing so hard he was wheezing. “Bad word use, sorry.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a beer out of the fridge while he explained the intimate details of my sex life. Which probably also meant Savannah knew.Exactlythe kind of information I wanted my sister to know about me.
“I thought humiliation was reserved for you three youngest,” I grumbled, gesturing to Colt, Weston, and Levi.
“Apparently not,” Levi snorted.
“But wait.” Weston frowned at the ground, processing. “Does that mean you slept with someone?”
