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“No. Ben,” he almost yells. “Does it look like her?” His harsher tone has me taking another centering breath before I force myself to look at the photos again.
“It can’t be her. Deep down, I know it can’t be her,” I say, shaking my head. But there’s still that whisper of doubt that needs confirmation from my brothers, to know I’m not crazy for trusting her. I’ve been burned before, and this is triggering every insecurity I thought I had moved past.
“It isn’t her,” Tennyson states strongly, stepping forward next to Harrison. “I don’t know her well, but she doesn’t seem like the cheating kind. She has a job, is a single mom, and looks at you like you are her everything. I mean, she wouldn’t even have the fucking time to be with someone else anyway.” His words penetrate, and I agree with every one of them.
“Is there anything in these photos that make you think that this is or isn’t her?” Harrison asks, his legal hat on tight, looking at the evidence.
“They used to date. He was violent. I haven’t deep dived yet, but she just started opening up to me about him. He grabbed her at the gala,” I say, my words tumbling out so fast, I am not sure they make any sense.
“I saw her arm… it was red and angry,” Eddie pipes up, coming toward me now too.
“Yeah, she said they broke up years ago,” I tell them, and Harrison nods.
“I fucking hate Jeremy Lucas,” Tennyson growls as he rubs his chin, looking back down at the photos.
“So what? He is sending you fake photos to make you break up?” Eddie asks, his eyebrows furrowed.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Harrison butts in, still trying to pull pieces together.
“I had a feeling she knew him right from the beginning. She hid from him the first time she was here in my office because he walked past. I knew then something wasn’t right.” I’m shaking my head at myself for not telling him to back off sooner, for not catching on right away.
“So if she hid from him then, that clearly says she doesn’t want to see him. Then he bid against you at the auction on the weekend. He saw the two of you together. Do you think he is the one that sent these to you? That makes the most sense, right?” Tennyson asks, and for the first time, none of us can connect the dots. What would be his motivation? Is Eddie onto something… he is trying to get us to break up?
“Have you called her?” Harrison asks, and I shake my head. My eyes look at her naked body on Jeremy’s, and I feel sick. I hate him.
“Maybe you should call her. Tell her about them and see what she has to say,” Tennyson says, looking at me tentatively. Like I am a bomb about to explode.
“She is the one for me. She is it. She is… everything.” They all finally understand, I can see it in their eyes. Emily is mine. Will always be mine.
“Ben, Beas… Shit, sorry, I didn’t know you were busy,” Michael says, looking flustered as he barges into my office.
“It’s fine, what is it?” I wave my hand at him to continue as I sigh. My mind is racing in a hundred different directions, but knowing that the show here at work must go on.
“Um, Beasley has called a meeting. Urgent. He is on his way in, and so is George,” Michael says, smoothing his suit. He looks like he just ran a mile to get here, he’s so flustered.
I raise my eyebrows in surprise.
“Apparently, they have struck a deal. They are coming in to sign the paperwork. They will be here in ten minutes.”
I stand still in shock, my stomach sinking. “Agreement?” I ask him.
“They will meet us in the conference room,” he says with a nod before he closes the door, leaving my mind whirling.
What the hell is going on today?
“Sounds like Beasley got his way, then.” Harrison looks at me in question, but there’s suspicion in his eyes.
“Looks like it,” I murmur, feeling a migraine coming on.
“What can we do for you?” Tennyson asks, looking down at the photos, then reaching over and flipping them over. It’s a move that shows the respect he already has for Emily, even if he doesn’t believe it’s her captured in these moments. And with that, I decide it’s time to get my shit together. This isn’t the time to break down.
“Just let me get this meeting out of the way to find out what the hell is going on, and then I will be back. We need to figure out where to go from here. Because someone is sending me these photos, and I’m not stopping until I know who.”
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE - EMILY
My head is pounding as rough hands drag me from the car and pull me up the walkway. My eyes squint in the sunlight, before we bash through the glass doors.
We are at my apartment.
