“What?” That didn’t make any sense. Socialites didn’t feel for prostitutes.
“I’m telling you. You have to get to know her for yourself. You’re thinking that she’s as snotty as Simone and she’s not, man. Not even close. She’s devoted her whole life to helping others.”
God, this girl had Law so twisted in knots and thinking unclearly that it terrified Riley. “Pull your head out of your ass. You wanting this girl to be the one isn’t going to make it true. Goddamn it!”
“Forget I said anything.” Law’s face closed up.
Riley had gotten what he wanted, but for some damn reason, he felt like a bastard. But it was better to point out certain truths now. “C’mon, bro. You have to back off. Otherwise, we don’t get out of this without a criminal record. Do you want us all to go to jail because you couldn’t stay out of her designer jeans?”
Kinley Kohl was gorgeous and soft, and she was going to bring them all down.
Law sighed. “No.”
“We have to work through this the way we would any other mission. What is our goal?”
Law frowned, but Riley watched as his game face slid into place. An icy coldness overtook his features. “To gather the information we need to prove that Greg Jansen is laundering money for the mafia. Once we do that, the FBI can take over and toss the fucker in jail.”
Dominic stepped out of the office. His face was grave. He looked them over as if he’d heard what had gone on and wasn’t particularly happy about it. “She’s the key, Law. You’ve always known that. Kinley knows something. She might not know she knows it, but it’s in there. We need her to talk. I’m sorry you feel something for her.”
Law turned, his face a bitter mask. “Yeah? You don’t feel anything for her? Neither one of you? If you’re trying to sell me that shit, you should do a better job of hiding your hard-ons.”
Riley sighed. “Fine, I wouldn’t mind taking her to bed. If she’s what she seems to be, then she’s kind of sweet. At least when she’s not biting me. But man, I’m not going to touch that. She’ll never be what we need. And after we’ve kidnapped her, she won’t ever get past it to be what even one of us needs. There won’t be any dating or romance so we can win her trust or woo her slowly.”
Dominic put a hand on Law’s shoulder. “I will admit to being attracted to her, but it can’t go further than that. This is for her own good, Law. She’s in bed with a man who has already killed one wife. Let’s focus on keeping her from being victim number two by sitting her down and seeing how fast we can close this case. Then we can all move on with our lives.”
Law nodded. “Fine. I’ll set up the interrogation room.”
“It’s just a dining room. We don’t have to be dramatic,” Riley said with a sigh.
“I like to call things the way they are.” His brother turned and disappeared down the hall.
Riley looked at Dominic. “I think we’re doing the right thing.”
Dominic suddenly looked a decade older. “For Carrie, yes. Is it really the right thing for Law? He’s in love with that girl. Damn it.”
“She can’t possibly want him.”
Dominic stared down the hall. “Can’t she? Sometimes, the sweetest, softest females can prove to have the strongest minds and wills. I wonder what that woman could be if she had a sturdy man behind her, encouraging her.”
“Don’t you mean strong men?”
“I don’t know. You don’t seem interested in that life anymore, Riley. When this is over, I think I’m going to try to settle down for a while. Date a little. Look for the right woman, someone who can handle me and Law. I can’t leave him behind. He’ll never be comfortable on his own. Even with financial security, he would always worry about what would happen to his wife if he died. If we leave him alone, he’ll wither. I can’t do that to him. I owe him too much.”
“You think I don’t owe him, too?” He was painfully aware of how much he owed Law. When they didn’t have enough food, his brother had gone without so Riley would have a full belly. Law had been the one to sit up all night with a baseball bat in his hand when their mother brought clients home.
“If you want a different life now, it’s okay. You need to be free to pursue it. We’ve talked about this since we were kids, but dreams change. Law and I will be fine on our own.”
“It’s not that I don’t want that life anymore.” Frustration welled. “I just don’t think it’s possible. And I sure as hell don’t think a socialite who spends all her time lunching is going to be ‘the one.’”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Law gave me a lecture on the rituals and habits of our little blonde bombshell. Neither of us has paid any attention to her except as a potential witness for the feds to nail Jansen. Law has really gotten to know her. I have to concede… she didn’t cash those checks. He has the proof. She works. Apparently she works really hard. Fuck. I don’t know.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I see your side. I see his side. She’s got me confused, and I can’t afford to be.”
“I hear that, man. We just need to do the job. The rest will sort itself out.”
It had to.
“You’re right about one thing,” Dominic said as he stared at the files in his hand.
“What’s that?”
“Law never stood a chance with her. If he’s wrong about her, then what I’m about to do won’t mean a thing to Kinley, but it will shatter all of Law’s illusions.”
“And if he’s right?”
Dominic grew grim. “Then I’m about to tear her down and rip her world apart. And after this evening, she’ll never forgive any of us.”
Chapter Six
Kinley kind of wondered why they didn’t just bring in a spotlight and shine it directly into her eyes. The evening had become surreal, like she’d been dumped on the set of Law and Order: Kitchen Edition. In contrast to the sleek, modern room, the three big, alpha men who occupied the space were all displeasure and brute strength.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she swore. “My charity gives clothes to the homeless. I do not work for the mafia. Unless they could wear husky boys jeans. Then I could likely help them out.”
She was getting a headache. Worse, Gigi was getting antsy, probably because Dominic had brought in his hulking bulldog, who sat by his master’s feet as though he was a physical extension of the big guy’s bad mood. And the dog growled up at Gigi like she was dessert. Kinley sighed.
How long had she been in this interrogation? It felt like days, and Dominic just kept asking the same questions over and over again, with occasional help from Riley. Law barely looked at her. It might be ridiculous, but his indifference hurt. When she’d been brought into the room, she’d tried to smile at him. He’d returned a blank expression, his gaze sliding over her like she wasn’t there at all. He hadn’t said a word since Riley escorted her from the bedroom that functioned as her cell, into the kitchen, then sat her down in front of a ream of deeply boring accounting reports.
Then the rapid-fire questions had begun.
What do you know about account 433629? Account 775410?
Tell me about invoice 35249. When was it paid out? Who received the funds?
What were you doing on May 15th?
And she’d answered the same way every time.
“Kohl, Kinley. Bride-to-be. 4325510996.”
Her name, rank, and serial number. Well, her Neiman Marcus credit card number. It was the only number she knew by heart. If they wanted to steal it and buy high-end shoes…well, they were in for a shock because she was at her limit after buying wedding clothes.
She wasn’t going to give them anything else, especially answers to questions she didn’t know.
“Are you even going to look at the files?” Dominic asked. He stood over her, placing his hands flat on the table. He was a gorgeous man, even when he frowned, though now that she thought about it, she’d never seen him smile. In fact, no one was smiling now.
“There’s no point. I don’t know what you think is going on, but someone took funds out of my charity. They didn’t use it to launder money. My accountant would have alerted me to that or any abnormalities.” But why hadn’t Steve told her about all the missing funds…unless he had something to do with it. Come to think of it, he’d been quiet lately. God, none of this made sense, but she wasn’t going to look at these reports when they’d only try to use them to hang her.
“Then why is all that money missing? And when did you get in bed with Third World manufacturers?”
She thought about answering, but when she couldn’t tell them what they wanted to know, then what? They kept claiming that they didn’t intend to hurt her, and some hopeful part of her wanted to believe that. They’d probably sent Law/Mike in earlier to butter her up. But she wasn’t falling for it. When it became apparent that she couldn’t fill in the gaps in their information, would they kill her? Or would they extract everything out of her they could, no matter how minute, then off her? Either way, her best shot was to say nothing.
“Kohl, Kinley. Bride-to-be. 43255—”
“Do you know what RICO means?” Riley asked.
“Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. And the grand jury cleared him.” Greg had explained that there were corrupt people in the government trying to help his competition. After her kidnappers’ accusations that Greg was a criminal, she might at least think it over. Or not. Greg was a pillar of the financial community. The men who kidnapped her were…well, kidnappers. Yes, Greg had been hauled in front of a grand jury, but there wasn’t an indictment. Even more compelling, one of the prosecutors who had tried to indict Greg had been found guilty of fraud himself not a year later.
Dominic shook his head. “No, the grand jury doesn’t clear anyone. They simply didn’t have enough evidence to move to trial. Do you know why?”
“Because he’s not guilty.” From what she understood, the grand jury had convened two years before and had found nothing since. The FBI had given up because there was nothing to find.
“Because the prosecution’s primary witness against him was brutally murdered three days before he was scheduled to appear. The man was an accountant. He had three kids. They all died in a house fire. Arson.”
A chill went through her, but she tried to maintain her logic. “I’m sorry for that family, but timing alone doesn’t prove that Greg set their house on fire. It could have been anyone, a pyromaniac out looking for a kick. In the months I’ve known Greg, he’s never been less than a gentleman. I’ve seen no evidence that he’s done any of what you claim. I know you want to take him down because you think that will avenge your sister, but this seems like a witch-hunt. Honestly…” she teared up. “I wish I could bring Carrie back for you. But I can’t.”
Dominic slapped a hand down on the table, making the whole surface shake. Gigi whimpered and huddled on her lap. “I didn’t want to do this. I wanted to keep everything to business and leave your personal connections out of this, but apparently you don’t give a shit who your fiancé kills or if he robs your charity blind.”
“He’s not a murderer,” she insisted, trying to calm down her dog.
“Is charity work just something that rich women do to fill the long, dull hours between Botox treatments?” Riley growled.
It was harder to look at them now that she knew Mike was really Law. He’d probably told the other men the stories she’d told him in confidence—some of her innermost secrets. But he’d also told her stories about his brothers. Dominic was obviously the idealist. Dominic fought for what was right, even when it cost him. The younger brother, Riley, he’d characterized as the brilliant prankster.
Law had humanized them, given her a basic knowledge of them. So while they fumed and paced, snarled and clenched their fists, she wasn’t quite as afraid as she’d been this morning. Kinley knew that Dominic loved justice, that Riley worried they would never find a woman who wanted them all because they’d had bad luck before.
Unless it had all been a lie, like “Mike” himself had been. She was so confused. The only way to not fall into their traps was to refuse to engage them. She kept her mouth shut, concentrating on her dog. It didn’t matter what they thought of her. It just didn’t. They were the ones who had spied on her, taken her from her life, played with her head.
“I’m not answering your questions. If this was a legitimate investigation, I would be sitting in a police station or an FBI field office. Real law enforcement officials would be asking me questions. You three should think about that. Pretty soon, you’ll be the ones answering the questions, probably from behind bars.”
