Kinley shook her head as she shrugged into Riley’s oversized T-shirt. It practically hung to her knees. “No, we’re not leaving me out. If Law figured out how my ex is using Hope House, then I want to hear it. Could someone pass me my jeans?”
Those jeans were the problem. Law picked them up, but held the denim in his hand. “How many pairs of these did Jansen give you?”
She frowned. “At least ten I think, all with slightly different designs.”
“Why were you taking ten pairs of jeans to a tropical island in the summer?”
“Greg said he wanted a fashion show… What a load of crap. Greg never gave a crap about seeing me in anything. I should have known. What’s weird about the jeans?” She walked over to him as though to inspect the pants, but her eyes caught on the desk. “Oh, no. Did I do that by sitting on the glass? It wasn’t scratched before.”
Dominic hustled across the room and stared down at the desk. The massive mahogany desktop was covered in a thick layer of glass, a precaution against damaging the wood. The glass could be replaced. Normally, it would protect against ink stains, heavy machinery, and someone being too rough on the wood.
This time it had taken the cutting brunt of the stones sewn onto Kinley’s pockets.
“Holy shit.” Dominic touched the grooves etched into the glass. “The feds suspected Jansen was transporting blood diamonds, but no one could prove it. It looks like he found someone to cut them.”
“Diamonds?” Kinley asked. “Those are just rhinestones. Most women are wearing a little bling on their pockets these days.”
Riley held out his hand, and Law passed him the jeans. As Riley held the pockets up to the light, they sparkled, creating a glorious little light show. “A little bling? This must be a hundred thousand dollars right here. He was going to have Kinley walk right out of the country with a million dollars worth of blood diamonds in her suitcase.”
“How can you be sure?” Kinley asked. “Don’t you have to study them? Have a gemologist—”
“Baby, rhinestones can’t cut glass. The proof is right there on the desk.” Law pointed to the scratches she’d left when she’d sat on the desk. He’d kissed her while there, then dragged her toward him, leaving the scratches behind.
“Conflict diamonds come from war-torn countries right?”
“Yes, usually from rebel-held territories in either Liberia or Cȏte d’Ivoire in West Africa. Reputable buyers won’t touch them because of the brutal methods of their mining. So men like Jansen act as intermediaries. He would have smuggled them out and had them cut somewhere, maybe even in Africa. Somehow, he got them here. I’ll bet every dime I’ve got that Jansen has a buyer he planned to meet in Bermuda on your honeymoon,” Dominic explained.
“He was going to have you walk them right across the border. No one would question jeans. Airports look for guns and explosives and drugs. They don’t look for diamonds, so they would very likely see what Jansen wanted them to see—a girl who likes bling on her pockets,” Riley said.
“And if he got caught, he would just say it was all mine.” Kinley sat down. “I was the one with all the cryptic stuff on my tablet. I was the one with conflict diamonds on my ass. Hell, I’m a regular criminal mastermind. I guess he was using shipments of new clothing from Africa, supposedly for Hope House, to smuggle his diamonds in.”
Law put a hand on her shoulder. “Very likely. That’s why he pushed you to start using Third World manufacturers.”
“Oh, it wasn’t because I was helping out emerging economies, huh?” Her face had gone a deep pink, and she closed herself off.
“Baby, you can’t think this is your fault.”
Her eyes came up, and a hardness lurked there he hadn’t seen before. “Oh, I think I can safely blame myself. I was so naïve. I’m sure he laughed. He probably sat around cackling about what an idiot I was. I really believed him. He said he had contacts with clothing manufacturers who were hiring women at a decent wage, but a decent wage in Africa is different than here. He played me, knowing I wanted to help everyone. I believed every lie he told me because I was too busy getting ready for the wedding to do the research myself. Oh, and worrying about my father, too. Who apparently wasn’t wracked with cancer, just busy at the track. God, you must all think I’m a moron.”
He tried to reach for her, but she stepped away. “Kinley?”
She shook her head. “Don’t. Just give me a couple of minutes. I’m going to go take a shower.”
Dominic got in her way. “Kinley, pet, no one thinks you’re stupid.”
“I do.” She refused to meet his eyes. “Please, can I just have a minute to myself?”
Riley frowned her way. “The security system is on and I’ll be monitoring the outside cameras. I’ll know if you try to crawl out the window again.”
She sighed. “I’m not trying to run, but I can see where you would think that. I obviously make very poor decisions. Now, can I go to my room for a while? And I’m putting the rest of those jeans in the hallway. Please do something with them. I never want to see them again. I’ll keep this pair, but only until I can get a new one.”
“Yes, we’ll buy you new jeans, pet,” Dominic said. “As soon as we can. Go and take a couple of minutes for yourself, but we’ll have lunch in an hour, and I expect you to be there.”
She didn’t say a word, simply walked out without another glance.
Law started to follow her, but Dominic gripped his arm, staying him. “Give her some time.”
“She’s crying.” Law couldn’t stand it.
“Yes, and it kills me, too, but she wants to be alone. Her pride is aching, and you seeing her in tears won’t help that. She was already on emotional overload, and this pushed her farther.”
“None of us meant to hurt her with the truth,” Riley defended, looking to the door Kinley had just darted through.
True, but Law wished he’d kept his damn mouth closed. He’d never imagined she would react that way.
“Of course not, but all we can do now is give her a little time and space, then let her know she’s not allowed to pull away from us now,” Dominic said.
“I’m not going to let that fucker win.” Law clenched his fists in fury at the thought. “I’m not going to let him take our woman away from us.”
“Kinley belongs with us, whether she knows it or not,” Dominic said firmly. “And Jansen is an idiot if he actually thought anyone would believe that she was behind this. I think he was counting on not getting caught, then sliding her skinny bitch sister into the role after Kinley’s ‘untimely accident.’”
“Greg and Becks would have control of Hope House. They would install all their own people and start smuggling anything they wanted. Son of a bitch.”
“And those island nations are the perfect place to commit a little murder. Jansen probably already had it staged. He’d probably bribed an official to call it an accident. She would have drowned on her honeymoon.” Riley banged his fist on the desk. “We have to kill him.”
“Absolutely, but I’m a little worried.” Since the moment Law figured Jansen’s scheme out, a thousand scenarios had played through his head, all of them crappy. “He had a buyer for these stones. It wasn’t like he planned to transport them to the islands and set up a storefront.”
Dominic shook his head. “You’re right. He’s had this planned for a while, which means he probably has a buyer all lined up. He has to get Kinley and the jeans back. He’s probably already taken at least a portion of the money. Now he has to deliver the goods. If he’s laundering money this way, then he’s probably doing it for the mob. They won’t like him missing his appointment.”
“He must be desperate by now.” Riley moved to his computer. “Since he can’t go through with the transaction without Kinley and the jeans, maybe we should just wait it out here and let his mob connections take him down.”
“He’ll go to ground first. Then we’ll spend the rest of Kinley’s life waiting for him to show.” Dominic summed up their problems neatly. “No. I won’t have her looking over her shoulder. We have to be sure he’s in jail. Or I want to see his body for myself. It’s the only way to protect her. Otherwise, he’ll come after her because he’ll want revenge.”
“Why haven’t we gotten that call from the feds to make arrangements so we can turn over our evidence?” Law asked, feeling itchy. He didn’t like this. “Is there any way Kellan hasn’t called the feds yet?”
Riley sat down in front of his keyboard. “No. He swore he’d do it as soon as he and Dominic hung up. Kellan only knows about the encrypted files I found, but still… You’re right, Law. I thought we would hear something by now.” Riley frowned. “I’ve got a couple of burner phones left if you want me to make some calls.”
Law had a bad feeling—and it was only growing. He’d learned over the years to trust his instincts, and every single one of them was telling him to regroup. “No. We need to move her.”
“Where?” Riley asked.
Dominic grabbed his shirt. “Anywhere. Law’s right. We grab her luggage and the dogs and we take off. We’ll get in touch with some of our friends when we’re in the air. Some of our friends who live in Bezakistan are in the country. Perhaps it’s time we visited again. If we can get Kinley on a plane with Princess Alea, we can be sure she’s safe. Not even Jansen has men inside the royal palace. But I’m beginning to suspect he has a few at the FBI. It’s the only explanation for why we haven’t at least received a call. They should be all over this.”
Adrenaline started pumping through Law’s system. “I’ll go to the hanger and get the plane ready. Riley, contact Dane Mitchell. See where he, Landon, and Cooper are visiting with Alea. We’re going to need help finding a place to land.”
“I’ll get the dogs.” Dominic grimaced. “God, I hope the rat thing cooperates. It’s time for her walk and her feeding. You know how much she’ll bark if she doesn’t get her food on time. I’ll take her and Butch out after I move the jeans out of the way. I don’t want them to upset her again.”
Dominic set off to complete his task.
Riley was already pushing away his keyboard and jumping to his feet. “I just sent Dane a note. He has my cell. Let’s hope he calls before we take off. Otherwise, I’m calling Dex James, and we can head for Dallas to wait for Dane there.”
Getting Kinley out of the country seemed like a damn fine plan.
“Tell Kinley what’s going on and to get her cute butt in gear because I want to take off in the next hour.” The silence from the feds was not a good thing. The quicker they took off, the safer he would feel.
He passed a harried Dominic who was carrying a stack of jeans in one hand and a very excited Gigi in the other. Butch lumbered along behind them. “I’m going to put these in the office before I take the dogs out. I swear Kinley’s turned me into her butler.”
Despite the adrenaline coursing through his body, he couldn’t help but laugh a little. Dominic growled at Gigi, who no longer seemed afraid of the big bad Dom.
Law jogged through the house, disarming and rearming the security system—and grabbing his SIG as he left. The small private landing strip was two hundred yards away from the house, and he wasn’t about to run out in the open with no way to defend himself, just in case.
He settled into his preflight checks after gassing up the small jet. Minutes passed in perfect silence.
That’s when he heard the gunshots.
* * * *
Kinley turned on the shower and shrugged out of Riley’s T-shirt.
What was she doing? She should probably still be with her men, but she’d walked away to lick her wounds. She didn’t want them to see her cry or to watch them reevaluate their relationship. They all had to be wondering whether they really wanted a woman who could cause so much trouble.
Greg had used her and he’d done it with a smile on his face. And why shouldn’t he smile? She hadn’t given him any trouble at all. He’d just walked in and offered to solve her problems, so she’d stopped asking questions. Brilliant.
When he’d told her to pack ten pairs of jeans for a vacation she normally wouldn’t even pack one pair for, what had she done? Exactly as he’d asked because Greg had told her he wanted to see her in them. Like he’d ever stared at her butt before. She snorted.
Now Law, he stared at her butt. She caught him all the time. At this moment, her butt was sore after the spanking and even more thorough fucking. Why did she love the soreness? Why did every little ache remind her of Dominic and the gently forceful way in which he’d taken her?
