Nothing To Lose: A Grey Justice Novel (22 page)

The only one who’d showed any gumption whatsoever was now rotting in prison. Boys had to be punished when they were bad. The young upstart should have been happy he hadn’t done more to him than arrange a little prison stay. He’d deserved a helluva lot more.

“How’s that contract on the Beechmont property coming? Construction on the mall still set to begin in May?”

His mind obviously a million miles away, Adam gave an absentminded nod.

“Boy, get your head out of your ass and focus on business.”
 

Even though Mathias’s voice no longer sounded like the crack of a whip, he could still get attention when he wanted. Adam jumped slightly and turned to him. “Sorry, Daddy. I’m just restless, I guess. The Beechmont contract went off like a dream. We might even be able to start construction a couple of weeks early, depending on the damn lawyers. You know how they love to hold things up.”

Couldn’t argue with him there. Damn lawyers almost bled him dry every year. But you get what you pay for, and Mathias paid millions to make sure life ran smoothly.

“What’s got you so restless? It ain’t another woman again, is it?”

“No, nothing like that. And despite what you think, I wasn’t having an affair with Teri Burke.”

Mathias snorted. “Hell, son. I know that. You think I got rid of her because of that? You got into lots of women’s panties before, and I didn’t say nothing. That cold fish of a wife don’t satisfy you, and a man has his needs. I got rid of that woman because she and Jonah had something going.”

Adam stumbled in the midst of his roaming. “That’s not possible. I would’ve known.”

He didn’t bother to say the obvious. If a situation didn’t involve him and his needs, Adam could be as oblivious as a hibernating turtle. “They were discreet, but I knew all about it. My boys don’t do anything without their father finding out. Besides, you didn’t need to know. You focus on what I tell you to focus on. I’ll take care of the other stuff. If I need you for something else, you’ll know it.”

“What’s going to happen when you die?”

Despite himself, Mathias flinched. He’d been pissed since the day he got the diagnosis. Not because he feared death. He’d been through too much to fear anything, even his last breath. No, what infuriated him was he wouldn’t be around to oversee his empire. He’d scraped, scrambled, and fought for every cent he had. To think that others would be making all the decisions galled him like nothing ever had before. That old saying “you can’t take it with you” was just so damn unfair.

“I’m going to have to leave most of it to you. You up for the challenge?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I’m not asking you to do your best,” Mathias snapped. “You damn well better do better than your best. You got that?”

“Yes, sir.” As if he’d exhausted himself with his prowling, Adam collapsed into a chair and let out a long, dramatic breath.

“What the hell is your problem, boy? That spiteful little wife causing problems again?”

“No. She’s been kind of quiet lately.”

That was one blessing. Even though he’d encouraged Adam to marry into the Swenson family, it’d been all about business. The family was comfortably wealthy, but most of all, they had powerful connections. Being related to them had been a beneficial arrangement, but he sure as hell would hate to go home to that cold bitch every night.
 

“I wanted to talk to you about a new investment,” Adam said.

Mathias’s heart clicked up a beat. Nothing made him happier than to talk about investments and making more money. He didn’t care what other people said. If there was one thing a man could never have too much of, it was money.

Adam wasn’t the sharpest fish in the tank, but Mathias had been working on him for years, trying his damnedest to make him into something. The boy rarely wanted to talk about business, so maybe his lectures were finally getting through. “Tell me about it.”

“That vacant building over on Pine and Fourth Street, you know where that strip mall used to be.”

Mathias nodded, not even needing that much detail. No one knew this city better than he did. It was his home, and a man should know every square inch of where he hung his hat.

“I want to open a restaurant, specializing in cuisine from all parts of the world.”

“How so?”

“The restaurant would be divided into five different areas. Each area would focus on a particular type of cuisine.”

“So it would actually be five different restaurants?”

“Yes. Each one would be small but elegant.”

He had to hand it to the boy…the idea was a different spin on dining. Didn’t do much to crank his motor, but since his appetite had been off for the last few months, opening a restaurant held little appeal. Still, if the idea was successful, he wouldn’t mind profiting from it.

“I talked to Eli about it this morning. He thinks it’s a lame idea.”

“You talked to your brother before coming to me?”

The panicked look on his son’s face would have been comical if Mathias had been in a laughing mood. To think that his spineless, least-useful son had heard about the venture first put him sour on the entire plan. However, if Eli thought the idea stank, then Mathias definitely wanted it to succeed.

“How much do you need?”

“You mean you—” Adam broke off and regrouped. “Just two and a half million.”

Mathias leaned forward, feeling better than he had in months. He’d show his good-for-nothing son, who disapproved of everything he did, a thing or two about being a good business manager and investor.

“Tell me everything about it.” And remembering that depending on what happened in the next few weeks, he might well have an expiration date in the not-too-distant future, he added, “And let’s make sure we can get it open by June.”

Grey stood at the door to his office and watched an exhausted Kennedy almost fall into Nick Gallagher’s arms. She had been what his people called “Rained out.” There was no one quite like Irelyn Raine.

“I like her. She’s tough.”

Irelyn glided toward him as if she were on some kind of invisible skates. He had yet to find a flaw, at least physically, in his beautiful partner.
 

“How will she handle the event Friday night?”

“By the time Friday rolls around, she’ll be exactly what she needs to be. She might be terrified on the inside, but she’ll be irresistible on the outside.”

Her lilting Irish voice washed over him like the finest brandy. There wasn’t an accent or dialect that Irelyn couldn’t imitate. With him, she always used her native one.

“You’ll attend the event with me. She’ll feel more confident if she sees you. And if something happens, you can smooth it over.”

Not by a flicker or change of expression did she indicate the order bothered her, yet he knew her well. She didn’t like being told what to do and definitely didn’t want to attend a dinner hosted by the Slaters. Didn’t matter. They’d come to an agreement long ago. She would do as he said.

Giving him the mysterious, satisfied smile of a contented feline, she said, “I’ll leave you to your work.”

“Headed to the gym?”

She stopped mid-stride. “Yes. Why?”

“No reason. Just wondered.”

The flicker in her eyes said she knew he was lying. She knew better than anyone that Grey never did or said anything without reason. But just like she had so many times before, she accepted his answer without argument and walked away.

Grey watched until she disappeared into the elevator and the doors closed, hiding her beautiful face from view. No, there was no one like Irelyn Raine. And he was damn glad there wasn’t. One Irelyn was more than enough for this world.

Chapter Twenty

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Feet up, a warm cloth on her forehead, Kennedy lay back in the recliner, feeling like a big, giant wuss. She also felt as if a sledgehammer had been systematically pounded into her body. Less than five minutes after she’d made the assessment that she had found a friend in Irelyn Raine, she had been reassessing her opinion. The woman was a demon, no doubt about it.
 

By the time she’d walked out of that room nine hours later, she had shed tears, said curse words she’d never believed she could utter and had even thrown her shoe at the woman. The only reaction Irelyn revealed was a slight maneuver to avoid being hit.

Kennedy had been so surprised and relieved to see Nick waiting at the elevator, she’d thrown herself into his arms as if he were her rescuer. And that’s exactly how she’d seen him. Her head was splitting open, and her stomach was a huge knot of nerves.
 

Though the alarm in his eyes had been obvious, to his credit, he hadn’t asked any questions other than did she want to be carried. Even though every part of her body was saying yes, she had refused. Damned if the beautiful demon woman would see her act like a complete wimp.

Nick had brought her home, given her a cup of hot tea and then a warm compress for her head. He’d even dimmed the lights and turned on soft music.

“Want to talk about it?”

She took a moment, breathed in and out, imperceptible breaths, as she had been taught, and answered with absolute sincerity. “Without a doubt, today was one of the most valuable learning experiences of my life.”

“Really? You looked like—”

He broke off, most likely because his description wouldn’t have been a compliment. She laughed softly, surprised and pleased she could find humor in the situation. She knew exactly what she had looked like—having been surrounded by mirrors the whole day. There wasn’t any angle she hadn’t seen of herself or a facial expression she hadn’t studied.

She gave herself a few more seconds to answer—something else she had learned. Think fast but carefully. “I learned how to be someone else on the outside.”

“You mean like acting?”

“In a way, but not. Acting can sometimes look fake. I need to be Rachel Walker in every way possible. Before, I was Kennedy pretending to be Rachel.”

“And now you’re no longer Kennedy?”

“Actually, I’m more Kennedy than I ever was before.”

A furrow appeared on his brow. “You know that makes no sense. Right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

How could she describe something that had no reasonable explanation? Somehow, within that nine-hour time frame, she had learned how to compartmentalize. She could still be Kennedy with all of her insecurities and doubts, but when the time came to be Rachel, without a doubt she could be the sophisticated, self-assured executive assistant. She also knew that the next time she encountered Adam Slater, he’d be a lot more impressed than he had been today.

“How about some dinner?”

“Sounds wonderful, but I’m too exhausted to cook, and it’s not fair to ask you to do that again.”

“No worries. There’s a Chinese restaurant two blocks down the street that delivers. Sound okay to you?”

If she’d had any extra energy, she would have thrown herself into his arms again.
 

“Sounds perfect.”

“Still like lo mein and spring rolls?”

“There’s so much you know about me, isn’t there?”

“Not nearly enough.” Before she could ask him what he meant, he dropped a kiss on her forehead and got to his feet. “I’ll go place the order.”

Kennedy watched him go with an odd yearning inside her. For so long she had wanted to see her friend Nick. To talk to him, ask his advice. But now that he was here, there was something more than friendship between them. Did he feel it, too, or was it just her hopeful imagination that she’d seen attraction spark in his eyes? The thought was both thrilling and scary.
 

He was in serious trouble. Only by reminding himself that Kennedy was exhausted and vulnerable had Nick been able to keep from pulling her into his arms for a soul-deep, devouring kiss.
 

When she’d practically collapsed in his arms earlier, it had been all he could do not to carry her away someplace safe. He wanted justice for Thomas’s murder as much as she did, but his overprotective instinct was telling him to get her out. It was too late for that. She believed she could do this and win. And even though Justice and Eli Slater believed it, too, after seeing her exhaustion today, his doubts had returned. The plan was iffy at best. But what he was one hundred percent sure of was his need to protect Kennedy at all cost.

 
Nick placed the order for their food and then returned to the living room. He had planned to ask Kennedy if she wanted a foot rub or massage. Yeah, a lame excuse to touch her but what the hell? Before he could say a word, he heard a soft, shallow breath of sleep.

Taking the decorative throw she’d draped on the back of the sofa, he covered her and then sat down to watch. There were a lot of things he could be doing, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think of anything more important than this. In all the time they’d known each other, he had never seen her sleep. She looked peaceful, delicate…so damned beautiful his entire body ached with need.