Bedding the Billionaire (Book 3) (Legacy Collection) (22 page)

“Maybe they are planning a surprise for Abby,” Lil mumbled.

“Or maybe your sister is in danger.”

That woke Lil up.
Her eyes flew open and she sat straight up.

Alethea
continued, “What if Dominic is using your sister as a cover for something he doesn’t want people to know about? Their whole engagement could be a sham.
And worse, what if your sister stumbles onto what is going on? She’d be a danger to them.”

Hugging her knees to her on the couch, Lil said, “That’s a lot of ifs.
Do you have any proof?”

“Jeremy does.”

“
J
erem
y
Kater
?
I haven’t heard from him in years.
”

“
No one has.
I don’t think he leaves his basement.
He
doesn’t see anyone, either. It’s really a bit creepy.
”

“
But he saw you?
”

“
He used to have a crush on me. We’ve kept in touch. Remember how he used to play video games for 10 hours a day back in school?
He’s take
n it to a whole new level. It’s
a
n
obsession
now.
But he is the best hacker I know.
It’s how he gets all the games before they come out.
Sometimes I slide hi
m a little cash to get the plans for a building or to check out something for me.
He prefers to stay below the radar, though, so I had to promise him more than
money
to get him to hack other hackers.

Lil shuddered. “Y
ou didn’t…
”

Her friend laughed. “
No, get your mind out of the gutter.
I promised hi
m that I’d help him find a date.”

“
That’s it?
”

“
Oh, you haven’t seen him recently.
It’s not going to be easy. Anyway, Dominic and Jake
are definitely hiding somethi
ng. You should warn your sister.”

“
And say what? That you have a
bad
feeling about the party?
” Lil’s stomach clenched and churned.
That would go over well.
“
She’s going to think that I’m stirring up trouble.
”

“Well you can’t say
nothing
.”

“
We have no proof.
You could be wrong.” Lil stood and began to pace nervously.
“
I can’t get involved in this.
”

“
Ooooo-
k
ay
.
”

Lil’s back stiffened at her friend’s tone.
“
Don’t say it like that.
”

“
Like what?
”

“
Like you’re disappointed in me.
Do
you know how bad
this could go if you’re wrong?
I can’t do this.
”

“
When did you become so terrified of being wrong?
”

When I realized that my action
s
don’t only
affect
me and my future
.
“
Considering
the consequences
of your actions does not make you a coward. If we had proof, nothing could stop me from telling Abby.
But, Al, we don’t know any of this for sure. I’m not going to Abby without something definite.
Can Jeremy get that?”

“
He might be able to remote access Jake’s personal computer and see if he left an email trail.
Maybe he got sloppy and mentioned what the payoffs were about.
”

“That sounds illegal,” Lil said.

Aletha’s
tone turned droll.
“Well, you could always go up to Jake and ask him if he and Dominic are using your sister and if they intend to dispose of her when
they’re
done.”

“Now you’re just trying to scare me.”
Lil shuddered.

Alethea
sighed impatiently.
“No, I’m trying to get you to see how serious this could be.
We need to know what Dominic is hiding and the only way to do that is to find out what he has Jake looking for.”

“And we can do that without Jake knowing we did it?”

“
Jeremy is good.
He can get in and out without being detected.”

Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.

This was exactly
the kind of thing
Lil had
told herself she would never do again.
But what if Abby really was in danger? She’d never forgive herself if she could have prevented it but had let her fear stop her from getting involved.
“
Ok
ay
, do it.
”

Instantly,
Alethea
was all business.
“
Is Jake still up in the Boston area?
We need to find a way to keep him o
ff his computer for a few hours.”

“
I have no idea where he is,” Lil said definitively
and perhaps too quickly
.

“So you haven’t from him at all?”
Alethea
asked
slowly
with growing suspicion.
It’s not easy to get anything by a best friend.

Lil covered her face with a hand and reluctantly admitted,
“
He was here
earlier
tonight
.
”

Sounding disgustingly happy about being right again,
Alethea
said,
“
Oh, he has it bad.
This will be a breeze.
Call him up
first thing in the morning and make a date for Thursday.”

Lil shook her head at her friend
even though she knew she couldn’t see her.
“
I can’t.
I told him it’s over.
”

“
Well,
tell him you changed your mind”

A wave o
f emotion washed over Lil. “
It’s not that simple.
”
I told myself it was over, too
.

“
Do you want to know if your sister is safe or not?
”

“
I do.
”

“
Then call Jake.
Take him somewhere public if you’re that
worried about
sleeping
with him again.
”

She was more worried about getting her heart broken.
“
Fine.
I’ll call him, but he might already be back in New York.
”

Alethea
chuckled. “
I highly doubt that.
”

“Goodnight
.
”

“
Text me when you have a set time.
”

“
Be careful,
Al
.
”

“
Always, Lil.
Always.
”

Mid-morning,
Lil hung up at
the first ring of Jake’s phone
as she continued to debate her present course of action.
None of this was a good idea.
Hacking someone’s computer was
definitely
illegal, probably prison kind of
illegal
.

Dominic and Jake
might not be
breaking any laws and
that would make
the only criminal
s
in the scenario
–
her and her friends.

Or
Alethea
was right and Abby had gotten
mixed up in something dangerous.

Please
,U
niverse
, please don’t let me be wrong here.

Or
,
if I’m wrong, please don’t let
it
screw everything up for Abby.

Just
this once,
give
me an outcome I don’t
regret
.

She dialed Jake’s cell
again
.

“Lil?”
Jake asked,
sounding a mixture of surprised and concerned.

“Hi, Jake.”
Don’t
overthink
this, just jump.
“I was wondering if you were still in Boston.”

She heard him catch his breath.

“I’m still
here
.”

Just do it.
Just
ask.
“Would you want to spend an hour…three hours tops…
.
” Oh, hell, how long did it take to hack into someone’s computer?
“Maybe the whole morning with me and Colby tomorrow?
If you’re not busy.
I mean, I know you’re busy, but it doe
sn’t have to be the whole day. M
aybe we could go to br
eakfast or lunch or something…
”
S
he tapered off lamely.
“I think w
e should make it a public place, though.
”
When he didn’t say anything at first she added, “
Could we try to be
…friends?”
She groaned inwardly.