Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(33)

“Oh, you’re going,” I say. “Or else I’ll have the sheriff physically remove you for trespassing.”

The tired look on Gary’s face returns. It says he fully understands, and even if part of me hates him as much as I hate his shitty wife, he’s clearly the more reasonable one.

Still, this boy is nothing like his father.

No wonder Jonah didn’t want him around. If there was ever a fifty-year-old bastard in need of growing some brain cells or some balls...

“Time to leave, Molly,” he says, holding up his hands in defeat. “I don’t want a scene.”

For a second, Molly Reed looks like she might just self-combust and blow the whole room apart.

Then she snatches her purse and storms across the room, making a beeline for me. “The sheriff? The freaking sheriff?! Believe me, Mr. Man, you’ll be hearing from the sheriff, all right. Old Army buddy my ass!”

I don’t bother following them to the porch.

The force Molly uses slamming the door shut says they’ll be flying down the driveway in no time.

Probably whipping past Briar on the highway.

Now, I have a second to ponder this fucked up change of plans.

I’d hoped to fill in Bella slowly, one thing at a time, but meeting her parents, knowing they’re already trying to partner up with Briar narrows my options.

She’s still in the living room, staring up at the picture hanging over the fireplace.

It’s an aerial photo of the ranch, every acre of the Reed estate. Jonah was so proud he’d talked the man selling them down to fifty bucks. Thought he’d gotten a steal of a deal because the salesman had started negotiations at three hundred.

It was the only time I saw his business savvy slip. Never had the heart to tell him the salesman didn’t put twenty bucks into that picture, including the frame, and most of the photos get yanked off Google Earth these days.

“I can’t do this,” she says quietly. “I really thought I could, but...it’s too much.”

The sadness in her voice, the tremor in her shoulders, makes my entire body go stiff. It’s my worst fear, Bella going to pieces in front of me.

I finally understand why Jonah went to the ends he did, and agree maybe he had a point.

“Listen, darlin’, we both knew this wouldn’t be easy. First days are always rough. Tomorrow we’ll sit down and assess again. Figure out how we’ll head them off with a little more time on our hands.”

“No. No, Drake, I’m telling you, I can’t.” Her palms cover her face and just rub for what seems like forever, smearing wet tears across her cheeks.

Fuck.

“Take my hand,” I say, stepping up and offering it. “I want to show you something.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t—”

“Have a choice? Damn straight.” I grab her arm and gently pull, then guide her toward the stairs.

She doesn’t fight me, but I’m still pissed at this whole situation. Hating how she’s just been treated, hating what Jonah would think, hating how I barely catch myself before I’m damn near manhandling her all the way up to my room.

“What’re you doing?” she asks, staggering forward when I step past and throw open my closet.

Releasing her, I open the door. “Over here.”

“Your closet?” she snickers a bit, confused. “I’ve seen every one in this house. There’s nothing new you could – oh. Oh.”

The second time, it sinks in as she takes a good look.

I’ve shoved my clothes aside to reveal a six-foot-tall gun safe.

“That was never there before,” she says.

“It’s built into the wall between this closet and the one on the other side.” I punch in the code and pull open the door.

My arsenal fills the safe, including the gun I’d left at the range and drove the ATV to retrieve last night. I pull out a stack of file folders from the top shelf.

Setting them on the bed, I flip open the top of the thickest one. “Those articles Briar gave you are bullshit. Here’s the truth behind Jupiter Oil. Have a look. Pipelines built to shoddy standards, safety and workers comp lawsuits, crazy turnover, political bribes, payments to the goddamn media.”

She picks up the top sheet, frowning. It’s a brief report Jonah created that outlines almost everything in the folder.

“Your grandfather tracked Jupiter for years and years, even before they showed up in the Dakotas.”

“Jesus. All because they wanted to buy him out?” she asks, her big green eyes shining with wonder.

“Nah, he wasn’t interested in that.” I point to the folder. “It’s because those clowns were giving the entire industry a bad name.”

I pause, questioning how much farther I should take this right now. Then I remember her parents. “And it’s worse than Jonah even knew, if you want the whole truth.”

Snarling, I push aside the top folder and flip open the second, the one with the intel I’ve been gathering.

The shit goes back years, before I even met Jonah. No one knows the real reason, and I’ll keep it that way.

She frowns as she looks at the photos. “Who are all these women?”

“Missing girls from native lands. Reservations are sovereign nations, and tribal law enforcement doesn’t always have the manpower that other agencies do. These cases get ignored too damn often.”