Page 28 of Wrecked (McIntyre Security Bodyguard #16)

The first photo is of Shane and Luciana standing outside a jewelry store on North Michigan Avenue. Luciana’s wearing a slutty red dress and fuck-me red heels. Shane’s dressed in his customary business suit.

In the second photo, Luciana is cupping Shane’s face with her hands, leaning into him, her red-painted lips plastered to his.

In the third photo, Shane’s fingers are in the skank’s hair, and he’s holding her tightly to him, his mouth locked on hers.

There are three more images of them kissing. In one, he’s copping a feel. In another, he’s grabbing her ass.

I look closer at the images. Yeah, that’s definitely Shane, and that’s the skank. But this doesn’t make any sense. Shane would never cheat on Beth. Not in a million years! I mean, come on. The guy worships the ground she walks on. It’s impossible.

“Beth, come on,” Lia says. “You know he wouldn’t do this to you.”

Beth grabs her phone back and looks at the images once more. Then she shoves her phone in our faces. “Look at those images! That’s clearly Shane!”

Now it’s my turn to grab the phone. I scroll through the images again. “The first two are definitely Shane, yes. But in the rest of the photos, you can only see the guy from the back. I’ll admit it looks like him, and he’s dressed the same, but you can’t really be sure it’s him.”

Beth shakes her head. “Come on, guys.” She sucks in a shaky breath, clearly on the verge of tears. “These photos were taken at the same time, in the same location. They’re standing right outside the same shop.”

“No,” Lia says, shaking her head vehemently as she sticks up for her brother. “He wouldn’t do this.”

My mind is desperately searching for a reasonable explanation as Beth and Lia debate the authenticity of the images.

“That’s clearly Shane, and he’s kissing her!” Beth cries. “How do you explain that?”

“I can’t,” Lia says, looking flummoxed. “But there has to be an explanation.”

Beth moves toward the sink and stumbles.

I catch her. “I think you need to sit down before you fall down.” When I suggest we head back to Clancy’s, Beth shoots down that idea.

“You can come back with me to my place,” Lia offers. “You can hang with me and Jonah for a while.”

Beth shakes her head. Then she grabs her phone and makes a call. “Can I come over?” she asks in a shaky voice, bordering on tears. She answers a few questions, and then she hands the phone to me. “Jamie wants to talk to you.”

“Sam, it’s me, Jamie,” he says. “Would you please bring Beth to my apartment? Right now?”

“Sure, I’ll bring her.”

* * *

I flag down the first taxi I see outside the restaurant and give the driver Jamie’s address in Wicker Park. Beth sits quietly beside me in the back seat, saying nothing. She seems numb to everything around us.

When we arrive at Jamie’s apartment building, he’s waiting for us outside with his service dog, a big yellow Lab named Gus. Beth gets out of the car and runs up the stone steps right into Jamie’s arms.

I pay the fare and join them.

Beth is in tears as Jamie tries to get her to tell him what’s wrong.

He rubs her back and talks quietly to her.

Obviously, they have a close relationship.

Cooper once told me Beth and Jamie bonded when she was living at Shane’s Kenilworth estate, right after she was physically assaulted by a student at the medical school library where she once worked.

Jamie was living there, too, at the time, and the two of them spent a lot of time together.

“Come inside and tell me what’s going on,” Jamie says as he steers Beth into the building.

I feel like a third wheel here, and I don’t want to intrude. “I guess I’ll wait out here.”

Jamie extends his hand toward me, and we shake. “Nonsense. Come up to the apartment.”

On our way up the stairs to the second floor, we run into a pretty brunette holding some flat packages. She’s just locking her apartment door, apparently on her way out.

“Hi, Molly,” Jamie says to her.

Jamie introduces us to his new neighbor, Molly Ferguson.

“Just running to the post office,” she says. “I have some small paintings to mail.”

As Molly walks away, I notice a peculiar smile on Jamie’s face. It makes me wonder just how well the two of them know each other.

Once we’re in his apartment, Jamie invites me to make myself at home. “There’s plenty of food and drink in the kitchen.” To Beth, he says, “Why don’t we go talk in my office?”

The two of them disappear down the hall, leaving me to my own devices.

I grab a bottle of spring water out of the fridge and have a seat on the sofa.

While I’m killing time, I text Cooper to let him know what’s happened.

I text Shane, too, to give him a heads up.

I’m sure he’s been bombarded with calls and texts from everyone involved, but as Beth’s bodyguard, it’s my job to keep him informed.

After Jamie comes out of his office and goes to the kitchen, I walk down the hallway to check on Beth. I pop my head through the open office door. “Hey, sweetie, are you doing okay?”

She’s lying on the sofa, covered with a blanket. “I’m fine, thanks.”

But she doesn’t sound fine. She sounds devastated. And for the first time, I’m truly worried. I’m worried about her relationship with Shane. Whatever’s going on, I hope they can work it out.

A short while later, when I’m back in the living room, there’s a knock on Jamie’s door. My gut tells me it’s Shane, come to do some much-needed damage control.

Jamie beats me to the door. He opens it, and in walks Shane.

“Where is she?” Those are the first words out of his mouth. He sounds almost panicked.

“She’s here,” Jamie tells his big brother. “In my office, lying down and resting.”

Shane moves to walk past Jamie, but Jamie catches his arm. “Have you seen the photos?”

“Yes,” Shane says, his voice tightly controlled.

“Obviously, I can’t see them, myself,” Jamie says, “but Beth described them to me. They sound pretty damning.”

“They are,” Shane admits. His control seems to be slipping a bit. “They’re also fakes. I just need to find a way to prove it to Beth.”

Beth and Shane are holed up in Jamie’s office for a long time. Finally, they emerge, hand-in-hand. That’s a good sign.

“Jamie,” Shane says, “Beth wants to stay here tonight. Is that okay?”

“Of course, it is,” Jamie says. “She’s always welcome here, you both know that.”

Shane lays his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Thanks. Make sure she eats, will you?”

“What can I do?” I ask.

“Just keep doing your job,” Shane says. “When Beth’s away from home, you stick to her like glue until I get this situation resolved. Luciana’s lost her grip on reality.”

“You got it,” I say.

I’m not going anywhere.

It looks like we’re having a sleepover here tonight with Jamie. I text Cooper to let him know I won’t be coming home tonight.