Page 12 of Protecting Lainey (Broterhood Alliance #7)

The next morning, Finn sat at the small kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee. The morning sun was just peeking through the blinds. He’d been up since dawn reviewing everything he’d learned the previous day after touring the site with Gus. Notes. Punch lists. Problems that needed solving.

And Lainey.

He felt a flicker of relief Lainey’s car was already gone when he got home last night. He still wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t have gone over to say hi. And that was a complication he didn’t need. Not when his pulse still kicked up thinking about her.

He scrolled through his phone and zoomed in on the X-shaped scratch mark. It meant something, but what?

He and Gus had walked the entire site, checking every entry point, every alley, every window.

Then, Lainey had walked him through phase one. The historic district spanned four blocks. She was in charge of two. One full block would face the street, with two alleyways tucked between them. She’d unrolled the plans and pointed out each detail, her voice getting more excited with each one.

“I want it to feel like Worth Avenue,” she said.

Finn knew Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. Upscale luxury shops with balconies overflowing with flowers and charm and a price tag to match. Everything looked perfect and chichi. A far cry from the half-renovated storefronts in front of them.

“Arched walkways, wrought-iron balconies with flowering vines,” she said, her voice growing more animated with every detail.

“We’ll paint the stucco in coastal pastels and have a little courtyard at the end of each alley.

We can add café tables and benches, soft music, flowers. A fountain. Oh, it’ll look fabulous.”

She’d tapped a section labeled The Promenade . “Imagine people strolling here. Local shops, small cafes, boutique galleries. People will love it.”

Her enthusiasm made him believe it, too. For a hot minute. The vision wasn’t stopping vandals or stalkers.

If she could complete the project, it would generate a lot of new business downtown. At this point, that was a big if.

Finn was going to make sure it happened one way or another.

He and Gus discussed the timing of the destruction. It always happened after the crew left. So, anytime during the night.

The messages left were concerning too. They were meant to look like kids wrote them, but he thought they were too specific. Intentional.

Someone wanted Lainey off the project. The questions he kept asking himself were: Is Lainey being targeted? Is the location of the project important? Or is it something else tied to the development?

Although why would anyone target Lainey? That didn’t make sense.

Gus might have some insight since he had been working there since the project began. He planned to talk to him when he arrived.

They had to secure the site, find the threat before someone got hurt.

Finn stood near the edge of the jobsite, coffee cooling in his hand as he watched the crew trickle in and get to work. Lainey would be here any minute, but he wanted to talk to Gus first.

The foreman was mid-conversation with a pair of workers near a delivery truck. Then Finn shifted his gaze to a tall, lanky guy hauling boxes into one of the buildings. Nothing unusual.

Every job site had a rhythm to it, from the timing of deliveries to the flow of workers to the hammering and sawing.

You could feel if the rhythm was off. And something was off. And that was what Finn was feeling. The usual flow felt disrupted.

He stepped back and tried to imagine what it could be. The guys were getting antsy with him watching them and kept glancing over. He got that. No one liked someone looking over their shoulders.

That wasn’t it, though.

Finn moved through the space, nodding at the workers, circling the perimeter, inspecting windows, testing locks, looking for any disturbances.

Nothing jumped out.

Until it did.

He smelled it first. Faint but still there.

On the far side of a half-restored facade tucked behind a stack of scaffolding boards, he crouched down and spotted the cigarette butt. Still warm. Stuffed into a groove in the concrete. Smoking was never allowed on a construction site. Whoever it was had been here watching. And not so long ago.

Finn straightened and scanned the street. Parked trucks. Closed shop windows. Nothing moving. No lingering shadows. Still, the hair on the back of his neck didn’t settle. Someone had been here. Close enough to make a move.

He snapped a photo of the butt. Then stood there a minute longer. Listening. Waiting.

But the street was quiet except for the voices of the workers.

Behind him, he heard heavy boot steps.

“Hey,” Gus said, coming up beside him. “Everything okay?”

“You notice anything strange this morning?”

Gus shrugged. “The guys are on edge probably because you’re watching them like a hawk.”

Finn showed him the photo. “Still warm. Someone was here.”

“Damn.” Gus rubbed his neck. “I don’t like it.”

“Me neither,” Finn said. “Any thoughts?”

“Honestly? I think someone is trying to scare her off. This isn’t random. Why is the question.”

Before Finn could respond, Caleb jogged up. “Heard a rumor,” he said quietly. “One of the delivery guys said there’s talk going around. Someone’s asking questions. About the permits. About Lainey.”

Finn’s jaw tightened. “Who?”

Caleb shook his head. “The guy didn’t know. Just rumors floating around.”

Finn exhaled slowly. The cigarette. The scratch mark. The notes. The timing.

Okay then. This had nothing to do with teenagers acting stupid. This was deliberate.

And everything to do with someone who was after this project. But why? And how far were they willing to go?

They all turned when Lainey’s SUV turned the corner and parked in front of the project. She stepped out, coffee in one hand, clipboard in the other.

She spotted them immediately and hesitated for a moment before she squared her shoulders and walked toward them.

And damn if he didn’t feel it in his chest. How determined she was, how strong.

“Morning,” she said as her eyes flicked from Gus to Caleb, then landed on Finn. “What’s going on?”

Finn didn’t answer right away. Today her auburn hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and she had on a striped navy-blue top over skinny pants and flats. He looked at a woman but could only see the girl he fell in love with.

He had to get those thoughts out of his mind. Lainey had a son. He didn’t know where the father was or if she even had a man in her life. Ogling her wasn’t helping. She was out of bounds.

Lainey was trying hard not to look rattled. Or worried.

She was failing.

Finn was trying to decide how much to tell her when Caleb apparently decided subtlety was overrated and mentioned what he’d heard.

Lainey blinked. “What kind of questions?”

“Don’t know yet,” Finn said, shooting Caleb a look. “We’re looking at all the angles.”

Her grip tightened on the clipboard. “Great,” she muttered. “As if things weren’t stressful enough.”

And there it was again. That flash of something in her eyes she tried to bury. Not just worry.

Fear.

She masked it quickly, giving them an “I’m fine” smile.

Gus cleared his throat. “We’ve got it covered, Lainey.”

“Thanks … I think,” she replied. “Well, I’ve got work to do. Let me know what you find out.”

Then she turned, heading toward her office without saying another word.

Finn watched her go, back straight, head high.

But he’d seen her eyes. She was scared and trying hard not to show it.

He turned to Caleb. “What the fuck?”

Caleb didn’t back down. “Keeping her in the dark isn’t a good idea.”

Finn knew that. He agreed with it. In theory. But this was Lainey.

He let out a slow breath and glanced at the two men. “She’s not telling us everything.”

Gus cocked his head. “You think she knows who’s behind it?”

“No. But she knows more than she’s saying.” Finn ran a hand over the back of his neck. “She mentioned something yesterday about not being able to afford security cameras.”

And that had been a difficult conversation.

They had been in her office going over her vision for the project when he asked, “What kind of security do you have? Motion lights? Cameras?”

She’d hesitated. “I’ve put up signs that say the area’s under surveillance.” She blew out her breath. “I plan to install cameras, but … I need to look at the budget. The cost of everything is going up.”

That wasn’t what he had hoped to hear. Not with the threats escalating.

Back in the present, Caleb’s brows drew together. “Seriously. No security, no surveillance and rumors?”

Gus grunted. “Ain’t for lack of trying. She wants it all, but she’s got her hands tied.”

“Tied how?”

Gus shrugged. “You’d have to ask her. Contract’s got rules. Whole thing’s on her shoulders, far as I know.”

Finn frowned. “She’s responsible for the whole project?”

“Yup. Permits, vendors, timelines. Even covering the damage until insurance kicks in.”

Finn shook his head. What the hell was going on?

Lainey said the project meant everything to her. He figured she had a team backing her. A partner. Support.

But the way Gus explained it, not only didn’t she have the support, but she was carrying it alone.

And someone out there knew that, too.