Page 32 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

THEY SPENT MOST of the day secreted in that room with the prosecutors. Turned out her presence was useful, she educated them on the man, and maybe pressed a few of the lawyers’ buttons to reiterate allowing her father to win was not an option.

Breck’s fingers slid between hers after they left the conference room to descend to the elevator mezzanine. Her head was spinning and yet completely empty. Accepting that this was real, that the progress was considerable, would take some time.

A few feet from the elevators, Breck stopped to move in front of her. “How do you feel?”

Trust him to ask the only question she couldn’t answer in that second, not with any level of diligence.

“It’s like Christmas,” she said, trying her best to be articulate. “When you’re a kid, you know? There’s all this anticipation. You picture what it will be, the excitement…”

“And it never lives up to expectation.”

“It’s tough to take in. I suppose I don’t want to believe.”

“Because you fear being disappointed.”

“How often in life do the truly awful people get their comeuppance? Not often.”

With a feather’s touch, his fingers drifted across her cheek and over her hair.

“It doesn’t matter how long this takes. We’ll keep going as long as necessary.

” Even knowing it was a given, she still appreciated him verbalizing his support.

“This is a massive move in the right direction. You can start to let yourself believe.”

“That we can be together.” Sinking against him, the muscles of her neck relaxed. “You know that’s the only reason I’m doing this, because I’m selfish, and I want you all to myself.”

Her smile preceded a whisper of a laugh passing his lips. “You’ve had me all to yourself for years.”

Because even when they weren’t together, nothing else stuck. She wasn’t sure he’d been intimate with anyone other than her for a long time. As much as she’d like to hear he hadn’t, asking meant being prepared for the opposite answer. And she wasn’t prepared, hence why she’d never ask.

“All this effort…” With a tilt of her head, her sassing eyes slunk to the right. “I do all of this for you and you blow it at the last hurdle.”

“Blow it, huh?”

“Sure. The father of my children can’t be a deadbeat. What do you take me for?”

“Ah, is that what I am?” His arms closed around her, yanking her tight to him. “You’re thinking I should secure employment before impregnating you?”

“Would be the polite thing to do. And…” Drawing out the word, her fingers ascended his chest. “I happen to know of an open position.”

“Do you?”

She might be teasing in one sense; in another, she was completely serious. Clearing her smile, she wanted to ensure he got that.

“Call your dad.”

“Breckenridge will always be there.”

“And you should always be with it. Your brothers need you.”

“So will my wife and children.” Discernment crossed his brows as he scrutinized her. “Are we talking about this? Planning our future?”

“If my father goes to jail…”

“Ricardo Whey will make sure of that. This is his cause too now the truth is emerging. If your father doesn’t go down, Whey will, and he won’t let that happen.” And she’d get there. When the situation sank in. “You should talk to Tripp.”

“He’ll know plenty we don’t,” she muttered.

“He will, not that we should expect him to break any confidences.”

That went without saying; they didn’t call Tripp “Priest” for nothing.

“Do we have…?”

“What?”

“Is there any reason Whey would want to hurt us?”

“Personally? Not that I’m aware of. Mom knows more about the family.” Yeah, because she was from the same streets. Though that made her sound ghetto, which couldn’t be further from the truth. “Hey…” His curled fingers elevated her chin. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

Yet she couldn’t shake the bad vibe. “I should be grateful; Whey’s helping get us where we want to be.”

“Talk to Tripp. If there’s something we should know, he’ll find a way to tell us.” One way or another, he’d agree or disagree with her uncertainty. “Where would you like to eat tonight? In the suite or out somewhere?”

“Are you asking me out?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

That may be. Her mind had been elsewhere. “I thought you were poor.”

“So I’ll get you a slice of pizza.”

Her cheeks plumped. “Everyone’s sick of me and pizza.”

Bowing, he touched his lips to hers. “Not me.”

“I’ll date you tonight because it’s Valentine’s Day, but tomorrow we’re going back to New York.”

“I thought we were staying until after the wedding.”

She shook her head. “I can’t be in LA that long.”

“I have fifteen brothers. One of them will pick up the slack at the office.”

“Some of them are still in school and one of them is here.” Playing, she narrowed her eyes. “Are you telling me I’m replaceable?”

“No.”

“That your brothers, that males, are better than females?”

“Definitely didn’t say that. If you want to go back to New York, we’ll leave right now. Why wait?”

And she may jump at that suggestion, except… “Roxie knows a fertility doctor here. One she trusts.”

“A fertility doctor? Are we there yet?”

“Are we going to be parents tomorrow? No. And I am not conceding that our future is guaranteed, but we’re here anyway, and Roxie’s word is good. Why not?”

“Whatever you want, baby. Do we need an appointment?”

“Roxie said she’d call.”

“If you knew about this, why didn’t you tell me to come to LA?”

“I hadn’t decided I was going to do anything about it yet. Everything’s probably fine. Like I said, Roxie and I were talking, it came up and… I thought I might get checked out.”

“Just you?”

“Well, you’re here now. It wouldn’t hurt to have some support.”

“I’ll be there.”

“It’s such a shame you’re poor now,” she said, splaying her hands on his body.

“Because this doctor costs money?”

She could cover that. There were levels between billionaire and destitute. Her job easily kept her afloat.

“Because the nurse accepts bribes.”

“To what? Doctor the results?”

Wouldn’t that be counterintuitive?

“No, to look the other way when a woman might want to join her man… to help obtain his… sample.”

And that quickly changed his tune. “I’ll find the money.”

She laughed. “I want to get changed. If Tripp’s in, and awake, we can ask him about Whey.”

Putting an arm around her shoulders, he guided her toward the elevator. “Mom will know more about historical situations. Carolyn would be useful in relaying his current positions.”

“Do you really want to involve them?” They stepped into the elevator and selected their floor. “The more people who know, the more complicated it could get further down the line.”

The boundary between trust and protection was thin. Of course she trusted the Breckenridges, and Carolyn Hunt, but they were happy, spending time together, having fun. This wasn’t the time for drama and negativity.

In the suite’s living room, they found Tripp standing insanely close, like intimately close, to a woman she’d never seen before.

“Should’ve put a sock on the doorknob,” Breck said as his brother backed off.

“Ha, ha, very funny.”

“We’ll…” the woman said with hope and insecurity in equal measure.

“Yeah, you got it.”

Tripp kissed the woman’s head and she shuffled past them, meek smile on her face.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. “We’d have made ourselves scarce, we’re going out anyway.”

“No, it’s no big deal,” Tripp said, dropping onto the sofa. “Coming to the club tonight?”

“Mom and Carolyn—”

“Still shopping, or having cocktails, I don’t know. You know what they’re like when they get together.”

“What did you get up to today?”

“Haven’t got myself out of here yet.”

Huh, so where did the woman come from? Was she left over from last night or someone Tripp had on call?

“I’m not surprised,” Breck said. “Bet you didn’t long wake up.”

Half a smile and a shrug were Tripp’s answer.

“Where did the woman come from?” she asked, still impressed by just how magnetic he could be. “How do you pick up a woman without leaving the suite?”

“Tripp never reveals his secrets.” Breck went to block his brother’s view of the TV just as Tripp picked up the remote. “What do you know about Ricardo Whey?”

“That wasn’t subtle,” she said, fighting to strengthen her jaw. “You ask just like that?”

“It’s Tripp.”

And they trusted Tripp.

Sighing, she sat beside him. “Okay, what do you know about Ricardo Whey?”

“Lots of stuff.”

“I know things about Ricardo Whey,” Roxie said, joining them. Oops, it hadn’t occurred to her that anyone may be within earshot. “Why do you want to know?”

“You know things you can’t tell anyone, Rox Out,” Tripp said. “You know the rules.”

“The frustrating rules.”

It didn’t help that people knew things if they couldn’t share them.

“Is he trustworthy?” Breck asked. “When it comes to crunch time?”

Roxie examined her nails. “Ask his wife.”

Okay, that was telling without telling. So he was a philanderer, that didn’t mean he’d flake on them at the last minute.

He couldn’t anyway. If he didn’t see through his side of the deal, Ackley would have no choice except to prosecute him.

That would look good on a resume, a juicy scandal to feed the press at reelection time.

Look at him, unafraid to go after power…

Except that power may be exactly what stopped him from doing what was necessary.

“Does Whey have friends who can hurt us?” she asked because they had to know which direction to keep an eye on.

“Yes,” Tripp said.

Roxie’s smile spread. “But they won’t…” And the beat that followed felt like a lifetime. “Because you have friends who can hurt him more. Hurt him personally, and in the wallet, which he really cares about.”

“Rox Out…” Tripp’s tone of warning deepened her curiosity. “If you’re going to talk—”

“I don’t need to talk. I won’t say a word.” In innocence, the woman showed both palms in surrender. “If it becomes necessary, they should know, we have their backs.”

“Of course we do, but you have to check your pocket before making promises others will have to keep.”

“If it comes to it, they’ll do what’s right. You can’t honestly want him to screw over your family.”

Not that this helped much when they couldn’t leverage whatever their friends had without knowing it.

“I’d never let that happen,” Tripp said. “But that’s my deal. You don’t have to get involved.”

“When it comes to people I love…” Roxie asserted, “I get involved, every time.”

“How do we use this?” Breck asked, proving himself one step ahead. “You can’t reveal what you know.”

“Just remind him that your brother has powerful friends. Some hold certain cards that Whey would rather the world didn’t see.”

“Won’t he just counter that he’ll hurt us back?” she asked. “The Breckenridges have powerful friends, yes, but so does Ricardo Whey.”

Lowering her volume, Roxie leaned in. “I have a very big microphone and I’m not afraid to use it… or share it. If you want him broken, we can break him. Nothing he might have on us comes close, none of us. We can bring down his whole world.”

And there was just enough of a thread of glee in that statement, would Roxie relish the chance?

“Excuse Rox,” Tripp said, slouching and hooking his hands over the back of the couch. “The drama gets her off.”

Then she was with the right man, and surrounded by the right circle of friends.

“We don’t want to hurt him, not now.”

“At the present time, his interests serve our cause,” Breck said, resting a hand on her lower back. “If that should change…”

“We can mobilize in a snap.”

“What about Ackley?”

“Oh, him I’d ruin in a heartbeat.” Roxie didn’t blink. “I may not even wait to be told.”

“It’s probably not in your interest to let Whey know you’re close with Roxie,” Tripp said. “Not while he’s playing nice.”

Close with Roxie? Was she? Shit, they’d known each other a matter of days and had already shared a pregnancy scare and the incrimination of a felon. Duration sort of didn’t count in this scenario.

She nodded. “Okay.”

“We’re going out to eat,” Breck said. “Would you like to join us?”

Exhaling, Tripp boosted himself up off the couch, swinging his arms at his sides. “Guess that’s your way of asking me to foot the bill.” He strolled over to pat his brother’s shoulder. “Never thought I’d see the day, man.”

“This isn’t the day,” she said, glancing at Tripp before becoming intent on Breck. “Because he’s going back to Breckenridge.”

“That was a short stint.”

“Coy—”

“I mean it, Stat. This is important to me.”

And his point was taken. He’d give up anything for her, she got it, but this was a step too far. He wanted to be there for her? Well, this was her way of being there for him. They were a family and needed to stick together.