Page 53 of The Billionaire's Angel

“It sounded like it was my husband, which is impossible because he's been dead for twoyears.”

“Do you have any idea who would try to play a trick onyou?”

I shook my head, watching as Cooper pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket, powered it on and connected it to my broken phone. Despite the shattered screen and cracked case, my phone powered on at the press of a button. Cooper did a few things on the new phone and set them both on the coffeetable.

“We'll find out where that call came from and hopefully who placed it. Do you have reason to believe you might be in danger from anyone associated with yourhusband?”

I looked from Cooper to Gage, Cooper's eyes curious and Gage's heavy with concern. I hated the answer to his question and how stupid it made me seem. I didn’t want to remember the naive woman who’d marriedAnthony.

“I don't know very much about Anthony's life outside of our marriage,” I said. “He kept me isolated, but toward the end, I started to wonder. He came home a few times with blood on his shirt—never very much—and he always had an excuse. And there was the stress.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “He was always so tense. Angry. But I didn’t actually know what he was doing. Not really. He told me he was an accountant—” I gave a small, helpless shrug. I knew his story didn’t make sense, but that didn’t mean I knew thetruth.

Cooper didn't seem to need more of an explanation. Kindly, he said, “Don't worry about it, Sophie. If he was involved in anything sketchy, we’ll find out. Did he leave you anything? Anything someone else might be interestedin?”

“Not really. There was some money. Not a lot after the funeral expenses. I got the house, which I sold. His car was totaled in the accident, and there was some insurance money, but if you mean any papers or anything of value, then no. His will stated that all his personal belongings and the contents of the house would go to his brother. It was weird because he’d told me they were estranged, but by the time I knew about the will, Anthony was gone so I couldn't ask him aboutit.”

“Okay, I'll look into that,” Cooper said. “I’m going to get out of your hair. I'll be in touch tomorrow to let you know what I findout.”

He stood, disconnected my broken phone from the one he'd brought, and handed the new one to me. “I cloned your phone to this one. You can use it just like normal, but we’ll be monitoring any calls, so don't say anything you don't want one of us to hear. Unless it's dirt on Gage, in which case feel free to talk away. I can always use theammunition.”

I gave him a weak smile. “I'll see what I can come up with,” Isaid.

“What are the chances this phone call is related to Sophie's hit over the head?” Aiden asked, walking in behindus.

“Thought you were still at work,” Coopercommented.

Aiden gave an abrupt shake of his head. “I came homeearly.”

Both Gage and Cooper stared at Aiden for a moment. So did I. Aiden never came homeearly.

Answering Aiden's question, Cooper said, “It’s possible. I tend to think no, but until we figure this out, I don't want to make anyassumptions.”

“It seems unlikely that we have two separate issues in the same week,” Aidensaid.

“That's why it's tempting to connect them,” Connor said. “But a call from her dead husband is contact aimed specifically at unsettling Sophie. If she's the reason for the break in, then the hit over the head doesn't make sense. Whoever the intruder was, he had her right there, alone in the hallway. Hitting her over the head implies that she was in the way, rather than thetarget.”

“Makes sense,” Aiden admitted. “I don't like all this going on so close to the wedding. The house is going to be filled withguests.”

“Evers is working on shuffling things around so we can get more security,” Cooper said. “I'm going to head out, but if anything comes up, call me. The new settings on the security alarm will activate automatically at night, so make sure everyone stays put after it’son.”

Gage gave me a meaningful look as Cooper let himself out. I didn't like the idea of being trapped in my room after bedtime if I couldn't sleep, but it was better than running the risk of bumping into the intruder in the dark. My head still ached from our lastmeeting.

“Sophie, I'd like to speak with you in my office,” Aidensaid.

Pulling my hand from Gage’s, I looked up at him and said, “Of course.” Gage followed me across the hall into Aiden's office. Aiden looked up to see Gage behind me and said, “I'd like to talk to Sophiealone.”

“I'm not leaving.” Gage folded his arms across hischest.

“Gage,” I hissed. He looked down atme.

“Do you want me toleave?”

That was a difficult question. No, I didn't want him to leave, but Aiden was still my employer. Reading my face, Gage said to Aiden, “Is this business orpersonal?”

Aiden sat behind his desk and gave Gage a hard look. “Personal.”

“Then I'm not leaving,” Gage said. He nudged me to one of the chairs opposite the desk, waited until I sat, and then took his own seat beside me. I wasn't sure if I was pleased orannoyed.

“Did you forget our conversation?” Aiden askedGage.