Page 81 of These White Lies

“There’s a picture,” Finn adds. “Sending it now.”

Brady tilts his phone toward me when the image appears.

My blood runs cold. “I’ve seen that before.”

“Where?” Brady’s tone sharpens.

“The night of Natalya’s engagement party,” I say slowly, the memory coming back to me. “Carrow gave it to Natalya that night. She was wearing it.”

23

BRADY

“I’ve seen it, too. Or necklaces identical to it, anyway.” A memory snaps into my head. “Twice. Two different women at two different parties I attended while I was undercover.” I pause, thinking it through, trying to remember the details. “It’s distinctive. I figured one woman had borrowed it from the other, but if Natalya had it too… That’s a pattern.”

Elizabeth tips her head, eyes narrowing. “So, they all have the same distinctive necklace. Maybe it’s like a mark—like a membership badge of whatever their sicko club is.”

“And Carrow gave it to Natalya because…”

She shrugs, brow wrinkling. “Because he viewed her as a possession? A prize to show off? But… why kill to get it back? To most people, it’s just an exquisite piece of jewelry. No one would know what it means.” Elizabeth leans forward, tension in her posture. “And how the hell did Keith get it? He couldn’t have stolen it outright. She’d have reported it stolen.”

Elizabeth makes an excited squeak. “Can Finn get her divorce files? And the lawyer’s notes. Her divorce lawyer is a friend of mine, but he won’t hand over privileged information. If Finn hacks in, we can check the asset inventory. Find out if thenecklace was listed at the time of the divorce. It’ll help with the timeframe”

I shake my head, laughing under my breath. “Hacking another lawyer, huh? You’ve come a long way in just a few days.”

Her lips curve in a smug smile. “Hey, I wholeheartedly believe in using all tools available.”

“I think you’re secretly a devious little thing. I love it.”

She smiles archly back. “I have no problem admitting you have better tools. Besides, it’s for a good cause.”

“Uh huh.”

When she sticks her tongue out at me, I laugh harder, but dial Finn back.

By the time we merge with the Atlanta traffic, Finn is calling with his results. “For a lawyer, this guy’s security is garbage. Took me less than an hour to breach his email. And since he emailed the divorce docs to Natalya…” I can hear the smile in his voice. “They’re sitting on our server waiting for you.”

“Good work, Finn,” I praise. I’m about to disconnect when he continues.

“I’m almost into Elizabeth’s phone company. Had to run a Trojan horse to trigger a security sweep, which means they had to?—”

I cut him off, holding up a hand even though he can’t see it. “How about I just say I appreciate your genius and leave it at that? Just tell me when it’s done.”

“Well, as long as you actually say I’m a?—”

I disconnect the call.

Parking in Elite’s underground lot, I grab an extra laptop on the way up to my office and set it on the opposite side of my desk. I pull up a chair and quickly log Elizabeth into our internal secure network.

I’d much rather pull her into my lap and scroll through the files together, but I can’t.

Not here. Not yet.

We haven’t had the conversation, but we are way past client and bodyguard now. Last night hadn’t been just about the mind-blowing sex. Which was incredible in its own right. Things are different with her. Easy. And after the conversation in the car, I know I don’t need to hide any of my dark parts from her.

My lips twitch. After her excited request for Finn to hack into her friend’s files, I think part of the reckless spirit she said she’d left behind is starting to shine through again. A brilliant, fiery woman with a body like hers… Yeah, I’m done.

But that doesn’t mean I’m ready for everyone else to know how I feel.