Rise - Part Three (Rise #3)(8)

I look up at him, my eyes riveted to his. I want him to tell me what he said. I want to hear, from his own lips, what he told his mother when she said those words to him.

He can sense my need. I know that by the touch of his hands on my forearms and the way he reaches forward to glide his full lips across my brow. "I warned her not to make me choose. I told her she couldn’t win that fight. I can't be without you."

I feel as though the room is spinning as I try to find truth in what he's saying. He arranged for his father to be apprehended by the police. He came back from Athens early to see me. He just told me he'd choose me over his own mother.

I lean into his chest. "I don't know what's happening anymore. I don't know what to believe."

"I'll help you find the answers." His arms circle around me. "I'm not leaving your side, Tess. We'll get through this together."





Chapter 7


––––––––

"You don't need to go to Boston, Tess. I strongly suggest that you stay here in New York."

I stare across the table at the man sitting in front of me. His hair is jet black, his eyes a pale shade of blue. His jaw is strong and chiseled. At first glance, one might think he's in this restaurant, dressed in an expensive suit, for a photo suit.

The thought crossed my mind when I first stepped through the entrance and caught sight of him. His profile reminded me of an image I saw hung on a wall at the office of the casting agency I had used for the Liore fashion show. If I had needed a male model to complement the women I hired, the man in the photograph would have been my first choice.

He's not a model though. He's one of the most sought after criminal defense attorneys on the east coast. Everett Faulkner went to middle school with my brother before his family moved to Connecticut. I only saw him twice after that. Once was at the graduation dinner my parents had for my brother and the other, most recently, was when I'd bumped into him on the subway. That was less than two months ago.

"I was going to leave for Boston later today." I nervously pull on the strap of my purse. "Clinton is already there."

My brother had called me early this morning right after Landon had told me that he'd do anything he could to help me. I had anxiously asked him about our dad and when I could see him. He'd been kind in his answers, assuring me that right now our father was focused on cooperating fully with the investigators. He asked me to meet Everett and I agreed without question.

When I told Landon I had to go, he'd kissed me gently and had offered to go with me, even though he had no clue why I was rushing off.

I'd been tempted to bring him to the restaurant for the breakfast meeting, but it's too soon. There are still too many unanswered questions.

"Clinton and I can handle things there." Everett opens his tablet. He taps the edge as the screen populates with icons. "I wanted to meet privately to talk about the Beckett family."

I scratch the back of my head. "Frederick Beckett's family?"

He nods without breaking his gaze from his tablet. "You're familiar with them, no?"

His tone is too evasive and icy for someone who knows nothing about my relationship with Landon. "Are you asking me about Landon Beckett?"

"I know that you're involved with him."

"How?" I blurt out as I feel my stomach drop. "How would you know that?"

His chin rises slightly as his eyes meet mine. "I'm paid to know that."

"What does that mean?" I don't want the panic I feel racing through me to seep into my voice. "You're paid to know my personal business?"

I hadn't thought far enough into the future to sort out a plan for telling my family that I've been dating Landon Beckett. Framing that admission has to be done in a precise way given the fact that Landon's father all but handcuffed my dad himself, tossed him in prison and threw away the key.

If my brother hired Everett to represent my father, the charges must be very serious. I don't know my father's financial situation. I only know mine and I don't have nearly enough in my savings account to pay this man's retainer.

"I'm defending your father, Tess." His eyes float over the screen of his tablet. "That means I have to go into our meeting with the district attorney fully informed."

He doesn't want any skeletons in my closet or the closets of my siblings to impact my father's case. I'm sleeping with Frederick Beckett's son. Somehow I doubt that's going to be information that can be swept under a rug.

"I'm still confused about how you know about Landon and me," I press the issue, worried that if he found out so quickly after being hired, that one of my brothers or my sister will find out too. I don't want my father to hear about it from anyone but me.

"Yesterday I had someone doing background research on Frederick Beckett's disappearance." His tone lightens. "She spoke with a woman who was close to the family after the assumed drowning. That woman mentioned in passing that you and Landon are involved."

"Was it Gianna Foster?" I ask even though I already know the answer.

"It was." He nods as the corner of his mouth thins into a grin. "Mrs. Foster had an awful lot to share."