Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(67)
“And he killed Bruce too? Plus tried to kill Caroline and me?”
So much violence and death for something as shallow as money. Even if it was billions.
“According to Alana, Iris killed Bruce at Tom’s behest and she did it to help Tom get revenge for Bruce’s shady business dealings. At least that’s what she thought she was doing. Once again they used the Ambien and they slipped it in Bruce’s drink. He was woozy when he went out to the tennis courts, but of course Iris could get close to him without suspicion. She stuck the knife in Bruce’s heart and left him to die, tucking the cufflink underneath him to frame Martin.”
Rubbing her aching temple, it all seemed so surreal, like something out of a movie.
“What’s going to happen to Alana?”
Aubrey had never felt comfortable around the woman and now she knew why. But she still did feel sorry for her. She’d been taken in by a handsome sociopath.
“She’s going to do some serious time, but she’s already made a deal with the DA to spill everything she knows for a lighter sentence. Martin has begun divorce proceedings, of course. Once he found out he was the patsy in all this he wasn’t a happy man. The whole insider trading thing was just a ruse so that Martin would have a motive for killing Bruce. The fact that you got caught up in all this was just bad luck and timing.”
“The story of my life,” she murmured, thinking how close she came to being arrested for a crime she didn’t commit. “Thank you for never giving up and not caring about…well…you know.”
Although after all she’d been through the past didn’t look nearly as bad. She’d made some bad choices but she’d been young. She’d learned and moved on, and wasn’t that the important point from all this? Sleeping around didn’t make her a tramp or a floozy but she’d allowed other people to make her feel that way. She didn’t have to answer to anyone about what she’d done. It was none of their business.
“I don’t want you to give it a second thought.” Travis’s words were filled with urgency and love. She could feel it as if it were a warm blanket wrapping around her by a roaring fireplace after a long walk through the snow. It felt comfortable and safe but there was passion as well. “I love you. And when I thought I was going to lose you…”
His voice broke off and a few tears escaped to slide down his cheeks. She pulled his head down to hers and pressed her lips against his and was shocked to feel this big, strong man trembling in her arms.
“I’m okay. It’s all right.”
“It’s not okay. That bullet should have hit me. I love you so damn much and I can’t imagine this world without you. I kept praying and hoping. Shane told me I had to believe. I want you forever. The thought of losing you was more painful than anything I could imagine. Please say you love me and that you’ll let me worship and adore you for the rest of my life.”
His voice was hoarse but the love behind it was clear. She’d never been this loved before, and despite the aches and pains still present in her body happiness fizzed in her veins like bubbly champagne. Everything was going to be fine.
“Well…” Aubrey pretended to think about it but she couldn’t suppress a smile of pure joy. “I guess I could let you. I mean, I don’t have any other plans or anything. But there is one thing though.”
Travis’s lips ghosted over her own – once, twice, three times, making her shiver with pleasure.
“Anything. You name it.”
Aubrey let her fingers slide through his thick dark hair and gazed into the face of her future. “You have to let me love and adore you right back. That’s the only way I’ll agree.”
“Deal.”
There’d been too many tears. It was time to look to the future. Not even Travis could make everything perfect and happy every single day but there would always be love, and that’s all that really mattered anyway.
Chapter Thirty-Four
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Travis and Wyatt Stone climbed up the wrought iron stairs to the second floor of the stucco apartment building. In a quiet suburb outside of Newark, New Jersey the town was the perfect place to raise a family with its tree lined streets and friendly atmosphere. The apartment complex was located near an elementary school and a large mall that was currently bustling with shoppers.
In fact, it was that very mall that had given them their first lead in over a month.
The local police had already raided the home, an end unit that overlooked a park with a running path and playground. Travis and Wyatt had promised to hang back until they received the all clear, but they’d made it plain that they wouldn’t be left out altogether. Wyatt and Travis had done the heavy lifting in this investigation, after all. Travis simply wanted Lovell to know that he would always be there.
At the trial.
At the sentencing.
At any parole hearings in the future.
Travis would be there to make sure the authorities were aware of all the facts. Tom Lovell had killed two people and tried to kill two more. And that’s what they knew about. He could have other victims strewn across the United States that no one was aware of.
Prather and the local lead detective exited the apartment and gave Travis and Wyatt a nod. “We’ve got him. You were right. He was shacked up here with another girlfriend. That guy sure has a way with the ladies.”