Page 37

CHAPTER 37

Camila

W e’d slept through the day and night and had been woken this morning by Dustin banging on the door. He’d told us that he’d continued to do some digging and had figured out who had gotten into the Marshal’s system. That if an Agent Ashley came around, I wasn’t to go with him, or even open the door for him.

Keeping the guilt off my face wasn’t easy, as Dustin explained that they were looking into him and the recent death of his partner. They’d found connections between Ashley and Kruzman. I looked over at Kilo and he squeezed me against his side.

Dustin must have taken the move as me being upset about the news and Kilo comforting me, because he gave me reassurances that they would find him.

No. They wouldn’t. Kilo had assured me afterward that the FBI would assume that Ashley disappeared when Kruzman did to avoid being caught and tried for any wrongdoings that law enforcement uncovered. Somehow, we’d gotten away with what had happened out in the desert. Which I appreciated, because I didn’t want anyone to get into trouble for me. Thankfully, the gash on my temple from where Ashley had elbowed me had been easy enough to hide from Dustin. Between my hair and Kilo pressing my bruised cheek against his chest, Dustin hadn’t noticed a thing.

We’d sent him on his way with Kilo promising to keep an eye out and watch over me. Dustin had seemed a little reluctant, but had finally left.

“I have a surprise for you,” Kilo told me. “Let’s get a shower and then we’ll go.”

The shower took twice as long because he insisted on washing me, which turned into sex. I loved making love with Kilo. I never thought I was a very sexual woman, but he brought that side out in me. I was looking forward to exploring all the ways we could give each other pleasure, but once the shower was over he turned all serious. He had something on his mind, so I got dressed and then got into the SUV with him.

“Give me a hint?” I pleaded with him as we drove.

“I wouldn’t even know how to,” he said with a chuckle as he looked over at me.

I turned in the seat, facing him, and laid my head against the seat. He was such a gorgeous man. His eyes drew me in. And that smile. “What does that mean?”

He shook his head. “You’re going to have to wait, Woman.”

Sticking my lower lip out, I pouted at him. It was fun to tease him. I didn’t know how long it was going to take to get back to normal. Or even what normal looked like anymore, but I finally had that opportunity. There wasn’t anyone out there trying to kill me anymore. It was so...freeing.

Kilo pulled into the motorcycle club compound and we walked hand in hand into the clubhouse. “Flir!” he called out. “You here?” He smiled over at me and squeezed my hand.

I had no idea what was going on, but after a minute or two Flir came out, holding a file.

We sat down at the tables and Flir handed me the file. They were both smiling at me, encouraging me, so I opened it. I stared down at the rows and columns of numbers. “O-kay,” I said after a few minutes. I looked up and Flir was watching me with a hopeful look. “What am I looking at?”

The hope in his expression turned to irritation. I was beginning to understand why the guys gave Flir such a hard time. He really was a robot alien. And apparently one who was a whiz with numbers. My father had been the same way.

“Told you she wouldn’t see it, Bro,” Kilo said with a chuckle. “Only your warped mind looks at those numbers and sees a pattern.”

“There’s a pattern?” I asked, looking between them.

“Apparently,” Kilo said, tone dry. “So he says.”

“It’s right here,” Flir said, stabbing a finger onto the page.

Then he started explaining the pattern and my eyes nearly crossed. I held up a hand and he fell quiet. “I’ll take your word for it,” I told him.

“Smart girl,” Kilo murmured, wrapping his fingers around the back of my neck and squeezing. I melted in his grip.

“What does the pattern mean?” I asked.

Now the men were grinning at each other.

“It means you’re a millionaire, Baby.”

“What?” I asked, looking over at Kilo.

His eyes softened. “Your father stole money from Kruzman.” He squeezed a little tighter, comforting me as my mouth dropped open in shock.

“He...what?”

“We think he was trying to get out of Kruzman’s employ,” Flir explained. “Or, maybe he knew there was no way out and this was his way of making it up to your family.”

“Trying to get you and your family away from him,” Kilo added.

I shook my head in disbelief. “How?”

“He-” Flir started, then glared when Kilo interrupted him.

“Small amounts at a time,” Kilo said, scowling at Flir as though he didn’t want a long winded explanation. “We have a theory that he figured out pretty quickly he didn’t want anything to do with Kruzman. But Kruzman doesn’t let people go. He was into too much shit to let people see what he was doing, then just let them leave.”

“So your father gathered enough money that he could make your whole family disappear. So Kruzman wouldn’t be a threat again,” Flir continued.

“Something must have tipped him off to what your father was doing. Or maybe your father made him suspicious. We don’t know everything, these are all just theories,” Kilo added. “But it made Kruzman look closer at his books.”

“And he killed him,” I finished, words soft. I wasn’t sure how to feel. We’d spent so long wondering what had happened. To know—or at least have a good idea—was overwhelming. I swallowed back tears and gave them a smile. “Thank you.”

“For what, Baby?”

“For telling me. For letting us know that our father was trying to protect us in the best way he knew how.”

“He was between a rock and a shit sandwich,” Kilo said with a shrug. “The minute he tried to leave, Kruzman was going to hunt him down and kill him anyway. Taking the money at least would have given you all a chance. Can’t blame a man for doing his best in that situation.”

I shook my head. I didn’t blame him for anything. Not anymore. It was nice to have that put to rest. Now we could look back on his memories knowing he loved us. That he’d died trying to protect us from a monster.

“Can I tell her?” Flir asked, grinning from ear to ear.

Kilo chuckled. “It’s over four million dollars, Mercy.”

My jaw dropped.

Flir scowled at him. “I wanted to tell her.”

“It would take you a week to finish saying all the numbers, fucker. This was faster.”

“It’s not accurate. It’s four million-”

Kilo dragged me to my feet and out the door while Flir continued to rattle off numbers that hardly made sense to my frazzled mind.

“That’s closer to five million,” I whispered, pointing back to the door that slammed shut behind us.

“I know,” he replied with a grin. “How does it feel?”

“How does what feel?”

“To be a millionaire? Multi-millionaire.”

I shook my head, no sound coming out of my mouth. “I-I’m not though. That money isn’t mine.”

“Yes, it is,” he insisted. He cupped my cheeks, looking into my eyes. “Consider it payment for everything Kruzman put you through.”

“But...won’t the FBI-”

“They’re not going to find shit,” he said, cutting me off. “Only Flir, or your father, could have found that. The Feds? Never. Trust me. You and your family deserve this money.”

“We should give the club some-”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “That money is yours. Do whatever you want with it.”

I didn’t know what to say. What to do. The idea of having that amount of money was...staggering. It meant we could do whatever we wanted. Mama wouldn’t have to work two jobs. I could open my restaurant. Anything, really. And we no longer had to hide. Wrapping my arms around Kilo, I hugged him. “You’ve changed my life. How will I ever repay you?”

“You are my life. Just stay here, with me. Spend the rest of our lives making it up to me,” he told me with a cocky grin.

When I nodded, he kissed me breathless.