I Married a Billionaire: Lost and Found(45)

It was stupid to think of it that way - like this wasn’t real life, like I was watching it on TV or something. But I’d felt so helpless since this thing started, it was intoxicating to actually be able to do something about it for once. And clearly, Daniel wasn’t interested in pursuing the same avenues that I was. He wouldn’t investigate who framed him, he wouldn’t request a new judge - it was almost like he was trying to punish himself.

Well, I wasn’t going to just stand idly by.

I walked back out into the living room to find Daniel alone.

"Lindsey manage to set herself up another meeting?" I sat down on the sofa beside him. "She’s been a busy little bee lately."

"I keep telling her she can go home, but she won’t." Daniel shrugged. "Says I need the moral support."

"Well, she’s very sweet. I’m glad she can at least get some work done while she’s here."

Daniel nodded, a little absently.

I picked at a loose thread on my shirt. I’d been meaning to replace it forever, but for some reason I’d just never quite gotten around to it. "Have you guys always been close?"

He seemed a little surprised by the question.

"Yes," he said. "Well - on and off. We’ve had our moments. I think most siblings do." He cleared his throat. "It was - difficult when she left for college, and I stayed back for a while longer finishing high school. Suddenly she just wasn’t there anymore. The silence at home was deafening." He smiled. "Things always tend to get quieter when Lindsey’s not around."

I had to agree.

"I’d be lying if I said I never got sick of it." He leaned back, reaching over and draping his arm across my shoulders. "But it’s pretty refreshing, most of the time. She never really lies or keeps secrets, unless you ask her to. She’s pretty much an open book. What you see is what you get. It takes a very particular sort of courage to go through life that way, and I honestly have no idea where she cultivated it, or how. I wish I could say I have it, but I don’t."

"I know what you mean," I said. "I guess it sort of comes from a place of…not really caring what people think. But not in a mean way, just in a way of like…why does it matter, you know? You just live your life. You do right by people, but you don’t need to spend all your time worrying about leaving the wrong impression."

Daniel nodded, slowly. "She has faith in herself," he said, softly. "That’s what it boils down to, really. She doesn’t need to spend any time worrying, because she trusts that no matter what happens, no matter what situation she finds herself in, she’ll handle it. I remember, as a kid…" he paused, and laughed a little. "I used to get so, sort of - nervous, and embarrassed, every time we watched a movie or a TV show that had a wedding scene in it. My dad didn’t notice, of course, but Lindsey did. At first she thought it was just that typical aversion to romance that little boys often have, but I didn’t react that way to kissing scenes or anything else. Finally, one day we were all invited to a wedding, and I had a complete breakdown. Lindsey actually asked me, for the first time, what the problem was.

"I tearfully confessed that I was afraid of getting married someday, because I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what you were supposed to say, or when you were supposed to say it. How was I supposed to know when to walk down the aisle? When to say ‘I do?’ When to recite my vows? I could tell it was a very important ceremony from the reverence everyone gave to it, and my biggest fear was being suddenly thrust into that situation and f*cking it up. Even as a kid, I was thinking decades forward and dreading the humiliation that I was sure would come.

"I could just picture the whole crowd, men in tuxedos and the women in their elegant dresses, pointing and laughing at me. That’s how I was then, and it’s how I always was. But Lindsey? The thought would never occur to her. Even if she was dropped into that nightmare scenario I had as a child, she’d manage to give a beautiful, impromptu speech that would have the whole crowd applauding on its feet." He was grinning. "I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous of her. But we can’t all be born so lucky."

I shot him a wry smile. "If only you’d known then what you real wedding would be like. You would have had a whole new set of things to worry about."

Daniel laughed, and wrapped his arm around me tighter.





***

A few evenings later, I happened to be downtown, picking up some takeout I’d been craving for weeks, when my phone suddenly rang. By this time, I recognized the number.

"Kelly?" I said, as I picked up.

"I just texted you an address. Florence just arranged one final meeting with the broker, and that’s where she’s leaving from." She sounded distracted, rifling through papers on her desk. "It’s at a new location. She didn’t say where it was, over the phone. I think she might suspect."

"So what am I supposed to do? Go there? Follow her? Confront her?"

"Call the police," said Kelly, firmly. "Have them meet you there."

"The police don’t care about something like this," I said. "That’s why I hired you."

"She might be dangerous," Kelly insisted. "She’s unpredictable. I don’t have to tell you that."