Consequences of Deception (29 page)

The grin on her face when she finds my ring finger empty is chilling. “Bullshit! You little liar… Trying to be clever and outsmart me. Fool! I know damn well that if you were actually married, he would have put the rock of Gibraltar on your finger!”

The fucking irony of the fact that I left the enormous ring behind on purpose isn’t lost on me.

Cocking the gun, she places the muzzle right at the center of my head. “I’ve waited for almost two years to kill you, you little bitch. Being stuck with you is finally about to pay off.”

I’m shaking so hard that I’m not focusing on anything but her, so when Stephen grabs her and tackles her to the ground, I scream out in shock.

He looks up at me for one second before yelling, “Get out, Sloane! Run!”

My feet are moving before I even realize that I’m following his instructions, but I come to a dead stop as two shots ring out.

Spinning around I gasp in horror when I see that Celine is struggling to her feet and Stephen is lying in a pool of blood. Lifting his arm, he gestures weakly at the door before he chokes out a very weak, “Go!”

I hesitate, unable to run away when he clearly needs help, and I watch in horror as his eyes roll back. Realizing that it’s too late to help him, I finally get my body to move. Running out the door into the hallway, I head for the stairs. Just as I am about to reach the top of the staircase, a shot rings out behind me. I scream in terror, looking over my shoulder to find Celine coming right at me.

I hear glass shattering and wood splintering followed by the sound of Killian screaming my name. Whipping my head from looking at Celine, I look down the stairs and see Killian and his security team storming into the house.

Another shot rings out from behind me, and in my panic to get away I trip over my own feet as I get to the top of the stairs. The next thing I know, I am free-falling.

Killian- Two Months Ago

Four days before he takes Sloane

The knock at my door has me looking up as my assistant, Tammy, walks into my office.

“Killian, there’s a woman here to see you. She’s on the ‘no’ list, but she says it’s life or death and she needs to talk to you. She’s refusing to leave.”

There aren’t many people on the ‘no’ list and everyone that’s on it has something to do with
her
. Going tense all over, I wonder if she’s the one that’s here.

“Who is it, Tammy?”

“It’s Amanda Tate. She’s quite upset, Killian. She said to tell you that Sloane Evans is in danger.”

I clench my fists and close my eyes for a minute, gritting my teeth as I try to calm myself down. As I’m about to tell Tammy to call security to have them throw Amanda out on the street, I think about how upset my sister would be if something were to happen to Sloane and I did nothing to stop it. Not that Sloane wouldn’t deserve it if something bad were to happen to her, but I don’t want my sister haunting me for the rest of my life because I won’t do anything to help the coward she had called her best friend.

Unclenching my fists, I take a breath before nodding my head. “Send her in.”

It’s a struggle to remain calm as Amanda is shown into my office. We’d once been very close, but I cut off all contact with anyone that had anything to do with Sloane after I found out about her lies.

Taking a seat in front of me, Amanda wastes no time in getting down to business.

“If there was any other way, I wouldn’t be here. I know that you won’t want to help, but I also know that you’re the only person with the resources to keep her safe. Try to remember that you loved her once, that your father and your sister loved her and thought of her as family.”

My sister is a no-go area, and I grit my teeth as I glare at Amanda. “You have two minutes, so you better use them to your advantage. If you mention Shannon again, you’re out.”

Rubbing at her forehead, Amanda took a deep breath and then started talking. “Two days ago, I intercepted a fax at work from Stephen and Celine’s insurance company. Celine took out a two million dollar life insurance policy on Sloane eighteen months ago and the premium is due.”

That’s cagey as fuck, but none of my business. Ignoring the voice in my head that tells me that something doesn’t seem right, I shrug my shoulders. “So?”

Amanda glares at me before responding. “Sloane’s birthday is in two weeks. As you are aware, the financial portion of her inheritance was left in an untouchable trust. The way that her father’s will was written, if she were to pass before her twenty-second birthday, the money would be donated to charity. After her birthday, the money is hers free and clear.”

“And?”

“Use your head, Killian! If she dies after her twenty-second birthday, the money will go to her next-of-kin. Stephen would inherit everything, which means that Celine would be coming into over ten million dollars, not to mention the life insurance policy. She’s not right in the head and you and I both know that Celine hates Sloane.”

“Don’t you think that you’re jumping the gun a little here?”

As she shakes her head, I see her lower lip quiver. “No, I don’t. I think that Celine is dangerous. Richard and I can get Sloane out of the house, but we wouldn’t be able to hide her. Since we both work for Evans, Celine would be able to use all of the information contained in our employee files to figure out anywhere that we take her. We’re more than willing to do it, but it’s not the best option for her, or for Demi. If Richard and I take Sloane and go, both of my girls are in danger. You’re my only hope.”

I’m mad at myself for caring, and angry that the thought of Sloane being hurt makes me nauseous.

“Why would Celine care about Sloane’s money? She and Stephen have plenty of money. Sloane’s inheritance is small potatoes.”

With a shake of her head she starts explaining. “No, they don’t have money. Stephen’s been making one horrible decision after another since his brother died and Celine spends money like it’s water. We haven’t gotten any new accounts in months, and all of our regulars have been leaving one by one.

The only reason that Richard and I have stayed is because it forced Celine to let Demi see Sloane. We’ve known for the last three years that as soon as she was able to get out of Stephen and Celine’s house, we’d quit. Thankfully, over the last few years we’ve taken all of our money out of the business and given it to another investment firm entirely. Stephen has enough capital to keep the business afloat for another six months, maybe even a year, but that’s it. It’s a shell of what it used to be.”

Realizing that means that Celine has motive and opportunity, I decide to look into it to see if anything rings an alarm. As much as I hate myself for being a pussy, there is no way that I can allow Sloane to be hurt. Forcing myself not to think about why that would be a problem for me considering all that has happened, I try to think about how I will be able to help without letting her think that she’s won.

“I’ll put my security team on looking into this. If there’s a reason for my involvement, I’ll help. If it comes down to it and I step in, there’s no way that I would be able to keep Sloane off the grid indefinitely. What’s your plan to stop Celine?”

“That’s the easy part. There are accounting irregularities at Evans, big ones. We just need enough time to dig to the bottom of this, catch her in the act and turn her in for it.”

Running my hand over my beard, I glare at Amanda. “If you knew that she was fucking around with the books, why didn’t you do anything before now?”

“Because we didn’t know until yesterday. Don’t you think that if I knew, I would have done something long before now? Now that we have the information we can act on it, but there isn’t enough right now for her to spend even one night in jail. If you get Sloane to safety, Richard and I will have plenty of time to get the real information and turn that bitch in. Something stinks, I’m just not sure exactly what yet.”

With a terse nod I say, “If you’re right and anything looks off, I’ll help. If it’s nothing, this all ends here. If I get involved, I don’t have time for fucking around. You need to dig, and dig deep, to get that bitch put behind bars. I’ll let you know if I’m going to involve myself in a day or so.”

I rebuff her attempt to hug me as she leaves, and as soon as the door shuts behind her I get Chord on the phone and tell him to get into my office. He’s got some digging to do.

Four days later, I have no choice but to put a plan into motion to get Sloane away from Celine and out of California. Amanda has been adamant that she doesn’t believe that Stephen is involved in whatever Celine’s plan is, but I disagree. I think that they’re both in on it together and Sloane isn’t safe with either of them. Getting her out is the only way to keep her safe. I’m not a selfless kind of guy, so of course I’ve found a way to extract some revenge.

Amanda Tate had no choice but to get me Stephen’s signature on a set of blank documents that I’ve since had filled out. She has no idea what I used those signatures for, and I feel a twinge of conscience about the fact that if she did, she wouldn’t have gotten them for me.

My plan is far from honorable, but it’s damn good. Fuck that—it’s not just good—it’s the perfect deception. Sloane will believe that she’s being sold to me and she’ll never realize that I’m a stupid sap who still cares enough to save her sorry ass.

I’ll be able to get my revenge at the same time I’m helping her, and she’ll never be any the wiser. When this is all over, we’ll go our separate ways. She’ll be safe, and I’ll have worked her out of my system. It’s a win/win.

Everything seems to happen in a blur. I fall down the stairs like a sack of potatoes, but somehow Killian manages to grab me before I hit the marble floor at the bottom.

Another shot is fired, and I scream thinking that it’s Celine shooting at us. Looking over my shoulder, I realize that one of the security team members has just shot Celine in the chest. Chord, Adam and Trey rush up the stairs en masse, and I look away to avoid seeing what her fate is.

Lifting me up into his arms, Killian takes me into the family room and lays me down on the couch, touching me all over and asking me what hurts. Avoiding looking at his face, I smack at his hands and tell him to leave me the hell alone. Other than my heart, nothing really hurts all that much. I’ll probably have a few bruises tomorrow but that’s nothing compared to what could have been.

He grasps my left hand, and I feel him sliding my rings back into place as he kisses each one of my fingers. Going tense all over, I yank my hand out of his grasp.

The second I do, Killian’s head pops up. My breath catches in my throat when I realize that he is an absolute mess. His eyes are red-rimmed, he’s white as a sheet and he looks like he’s losing his marbles.

“When I heard that shot and you fell down the stairs, I thought I had lost you forever. Whatever you thought Sloane, it’s not true.
I love you
! I swear to God on everything that means anything to me that I love you. I know that you overheard Demi and I talking yesterday morning and I am so sorry that I wasn’t honest with you about that. I can’t believe that you thought for one second that we aren’t married! We’re married, princess, and I will die before I ever let you go. You’re my fucking life, Sloane. If you leave me again, I’ll have nothing left. Please don’t throw it all away.”