Nothing To Lose: A Grey Justice Novel (28 page)

After Justice laid out their plan and each person’s role, the room went silent. If they thought he’d jump on board immediately, they were going to be disappointed. Even though he saw some merit to making changes, there were parts of the plan that clawed at his gut.

“What do you think?” Kennedy asked.

He took in her hopeful expression and the trust in her eyes. If he said no, would she go along with his decision?
 

“I’d like to discuss this with you in private.” His gaze roamed around the room. “Anybody got a problem with that?” His tone indicated he didn’t give a shit if they did or not.

Justice glanced down at his watch. “No problem. It’s getting late, and I have an appointment across town. Why don’t we pick this back up tomorrow after you and Kennedy have had a chance to talk?”

No one objected and within seconds, Nick and Kennedy were alone in Justice’s office.

“Nick, I really think—”

He held up his hand. “Let’s discuss it when we get home.”

Nick followed her into the elevator, struggling with how he was going to talk her out of doing something so damned dangerous when he knew without a doubt she had already decided to take the risk.

Chapter Twenty-five

Kennedy went into the house, Nick right behind her. As was his usual habit, he went through each room, searching. Even though she was tired and hungry, even though she still wore the damn stilettos that were killing her feet, she stood in the middle of the living room, unsure how to handle the situation. Nick was furious with her. He didn’t have to shout for her to know that. His grim silence all the way back from Grey’s office had been more than enough proof.

Okay, she should have waited for him before she agreed. They were in this together. Partners didn’t make a decision of this magnitude without getting input from the other. But the palpable sense of urgency after Grey had explained his reasons for altering their plans had made agreeing seem so necessary.

The instant he returned to the living room, she apologized. “I’m sorry, Nick. I should have waited to discuss it with you first.”

He stopped so abruptly she could tell she had startled him with her apology. Hopefully, they could now discuss it without anger. And hopefully she could convince him that this was the right thing to do.

He released a ragged sigh. “I should’ve expected Justice would try something like this. He’s ruthless.”

“I’m sure he can be, but his reasoning—at least on this—is sound.”

“How so?”
 

His tone said he disagreed, but at least he gave her an opportunity to explain further. Before she could answer, a giant rumble came from her stomach. She grabbed her belly, embarrassed by the noise.

Nick grinned. “How about we talk while we eat?” Then his eyes dropped to her feet. “And why don’t you take those off and get into something comfortable?”

Even though she knew he meant nothing by it, she felt a blush start from her feet, spreading all the way up to her face. Silly didn’t even begin to describe her thoughts. Nick would probably blush, too, if he knew what she had been thinking.

“Sounds good. Why don’t you order in?”

“Chinese okay again?”

“Perfect. You know what I like.”

“In food, yeah. But not in everything.”

She really must be tired because every time he said something, she imagined there was a hidden meaning. Before she could completely embarrass herself and reply with what would be a blatant come-on, she said, “Okay…well, I think I’ll take a quick shower and then—”

“It’ll be at least a half hour before the food arrives. Why don’t you take a long, hot bath? Relieve those aching muscles.”

She gulped. “Good idea.” Spinning around, she strode as fast her shoes would allow her to move.

Wanting her so badly he could taste her, Nick watched Kennedy leave the room. His subtle innuendoes hadn’t gone unnoticed, and her blushes made him want to cover her pink skin in kisses. No matter how much he wanted her, that wasn’t going to happen tonight, if ever. They had some major decisions to make.

He grabbed his cellphone from his pocket and placed the order for their food. Then, because thinking about Kennedy all slick and wet lying in the bathtub had him hurting in places he didn’t like to hurt, he headed to his room for a quick, intense workout.
 

Changing into sweats and a T-shirt, he grabbed the weights and got to work. With each lift of his barbells, he renewed his determination to talk her out of this scheme. He had been reluctant to get her involved with Justice in the first place but had consented because he knew he could protect her. This new game put them on a different playing field, and it was far from even. How the hell was he going to keep an eye on her if she was sleeping in the lion’s den, with the beast only a few yards away? What was going to happen if the bastard tried something and she couldn’t get away from him?

The doorbell rang. Sweating with exertion, his mind swirling with all the dire ways this new plan could implode, Nick dropped the weights onto the mat. He grabbed a towel and swiped at his face as he headed to the door. After paying the deliveryman with cash, he knocked on Kennedy’s bedroom door. “Dinner’s here.”

“Be right out.”

Nick busied himself by setting the table. He poured Kennedy a glass of her favorite wine and grabbed a beer for himself.
 

“Smells delicious.”

He caught his breath at the beautiful and glowing woman at the door. Her hair curled around her face in damp tendrils, and Nick clenched his fists to keep from reaching out and smoothing them away. Dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, with thick socks and an old pair of house shoes she had confessed to having since college covering her bare feet, she shouldn’t have looked sexy. But, dammit to hell, she did.

Turning away before he could embarrass himself, he nodded toward the table. “Have a seat. Everything’s ready.”

They dug into their meal, each of them quiet as they satisfied their hunger. A few minutes later, Kennedy collapsed back into her chair. “That was wonderful, and I’m feeling tons better.”

He knew this was her cue to talk about the new plan. Determined to hold his temper since he was sure they were both on different planes right now, he eased into the discussion. “Adam might not be a genius, but he’s been around the block enough to know when he’s being snowed. You change your attitude toward him too quick, chances are he’ll catch on.”

“You’re right. But pretending to date Eli shouldn’t put him on alert. The man is obviously intrigued by me. If he sees me dating his brother, that’ll just make him move faster.”

“Yeah. Intrigued is a good start. Mess with that…move too fast...” Nick shrugged. “Who knows what he’ll do? The plan is to get into his office, not his bed.”

“Getting into his bed will never happen. But we have to do something.”

“Why? Because of that bullshit Justice was throwing at you?”

“Why would he tell us that if it’s not true?”

“Because the man’s got a helluva lot of other reasons to want Mathias and Adam to go down. We’ve got just one—Thomas.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know what they are, but they exist.”

“Okay, maybe you’re right. But…what if it’s not bullshit? What if we don’t do something soon and someone else dies?”

“A lot of someones have already died, Kennedy. I don’t want you to be the next one.”

“But if—”

Nick got to his feet. He wasn’t convincing her of anything.
 

“Where are you going?”

“Need to show you something I found the other day.”

While he was gone, Kennedy went about clearing the table. The discussion wasn’t going well. She had no clue how to persuade him to change his mind but already knew she wasn’t going to change hers. Maybe altering their plan would make no difference. But if she didn’t do it and another person died? Could she live with that?

Nick returned with several sheets of paper and handed them to her. “I was doing some research the other day and stumbled on this.”

“What is it?”

“Newspaper articles.”

Puzzled, Kennedy glanced down at the headline:
Body Found Floating in Thames

Still not understanding, she looked up at Nick again. “Why am I looking at a
London Times
article, dated…” She glanced back down again. “Seventeen years ago?”

“Read the article. Then we’ll talk.”

She dropped into a kitchen chair and quickly scanned the brief story. No identification had been found on the middle-age man, and his only distinguishing mark had been a tattoo of the scales of justice on the inside of his right wrist. The article ended with a request to contact the London police if anyone had any information on the man’s identity.

More confused than ever, she looked up at Nick. “Okay. So what? An unidentified dead man in London seventeen years ago.”

“Read the second article.”

Kennedy shuffled the pages and found the second article, dated a couple of years later. An unidentified woman had been found dead in a burnt car outside Dublin, Ireland. Though the body was burned badly, there had been a tattoo on the inside of her wrist. A photograph of what remained of the tattoo was included in the article. Kennedy had to squint to make out the image, but she could see a resemblance to the tattoo of the man two years before in London.

“Neither the man nor woman was ever identified, and they both had similar tattoos.” She shook her head. “Connect the dots for me, Nick, because I’m completely lost.”

“Justice and I worked out in his gym last week. He has a tattoo on the inside of his wrist, identical to these tattoos.”

“Did you ask him about it?”

“No. I didn’t think anything of it at first. His last name is Justice. And the little I know about him made having those scales seem right. When I got home, I did some research on the tat and found these articles.”

“It still doesn’t mean he was involved.”

“Kennedy? Seriously? You think this is just a coincidence?”

“Grey can’t be more than thirty-five. Seventeen years ago, he was barely out of high school.”

“And we know zip about what he was involved in back then.”

“So, what are you saying? That we can’t trust him? That we need to just forget seeking justice for Thomas?”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. But giving him your blind trust, putting your life on the line, based on some kind of vague bullshit that they
think
something is going to happen is damn stupid.”

She shot up from her chair. “The only man I’ve given my blind faith to is you, so don’t you dare stand there and call me stupid. Or maybe I am stupid for thinking you actually wanted to get Thomas’s killer.”

“Damn you, Kennedy. You know that’s not what this is about.”

“Well, then, what is it about? You accuse Grey of being vague…what about you? You’re keeping something back from me. I know you are. How the hell am I supposed to trust you completely when you won’t tell me everything you know?”

“I’ve told you everything.”

“Have you?”

His eyes burned with an intensity she had never seen in them before. The tick in his jaw, his tell she’d learned long ago, said he was keeping something back. Dammit, she could tell he wanted to say something. “Tell me, Nick. Just tell me!”

His eyes blazing fiercely, he shouted, “Fine! You want to know the truth? Here it is. The thought of that bastard getting his hands on you sickens me. The thought of anyone but me touching you sickens me. I love you, dammit! So there. Satisfied?”

All breath left her body. Her legs so shaky they felt as if they might collapse at any moment, she dropped back into the chair she’d just left.

“You love me?” She stared up at him in wonder. “How? When?”

He was looking away from her, almost as if he was ashamed. “Almost from the moment I met you.”

She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “Oh, no…Nick…”

“Don’t look at me like that. I don’t need or want your pity.”

She didn’t know how else to look at him. All this time… All the time she’d been married to Thomas, Nick had loved her. And she had never suspected. He had never let on that he saw her as anyone other than his best friend’s wife.

“It’s not pity… I just…” She shrugged, feeling incredibly helpless and out of her depth. “I just never knew.”

His hard gaze zeroed in on her again. “You were never meant to know. But that’s not what we should be talking about. My point is, both Justice and Eli have their own reasons for wanting to bring Mathias and Adam down. Hell, for all I know, Irelyn probably does, too. I want the bastards as bad as they do but not at your expense.”

Kennedy pushed herself to her feet and walked slowly toward him. Nick had that earnest, intense expression on his face. At one time she had believed it was his angry look. Now she knew it was something entirely different. She could barely believe the truth, but it was staring her in the face. Nick Gallagher actually loved her.