The Inheritance Part II Read online

  Anything was possible.

  Robert took out the pie their mom had made yesterday for dessert. He grabbed a small plate and cut a huge slice. “God, I miss this pie,” he said as he crammed a bite in. “I’m starving.”

  Yup, some things never changed. Her brother still had a bottomless stomach. Despite the heaviness of their current situation, she chuckled. “If you came over more when Mom invited you, you wouldn’t ever go hungry. And you know she’d send you home with leftovers.”

  Her mom couldn’t stand if someone left her home without being stuffed, to the point of practically forcing leftovers on her company. Her brother was no exception.

  “I’m working a lot,” he said with a shrug, stuffing in another bite.

  She wasn’t sure she believed him, seeing as how he didn’t have the strongest work ethic, but she decided to let that go.

  He finished the pie, dropped the plate and fork in the sink, then turned to her, eyes fixed on hers. “I think you should be careful, Maggie. This break-in just proves you can’t trust anyone. Other than family, of course,” he added.

  He was right. Shame over her brief moment of thinking he might be guilty made her stomach tighten. Just because there were high stakes didn’t mean he’d hurt his own sister or let someone else do so. He was one of the first people to stand up to anyone picking on Maggie or Cassandra when they were in school. He wouldn’t allow any of his jock friends to give the girls a hard time. And though he might not always like what Maggie said, he did respect her for the most part.

  The tension in her stomach uncurled. Yes, her brother had his problems, but deep down he loved his family.

  “So, what kind of stuff have you found out so far?” he asked casually, raising a brow at her. “About the case, I mean. Anything interesting?”

  She gave an equally casual shrug, despite the impulse to tense up again. “Not much yet.” It was true . . . she hadn’t had a chance to pour through anything, and her interviews with other party attenders hadn’t yielded any new information. But something held her back from dishing the total truth to him—about the evidence room material, the diary, the scrap of fabric. The offered partnership between her and Andrew.

  After all, family or not, they were in competition with each other—his choice, not hers. One of the four of them would end up solving the case and being a multimillionaire. The other three would get nothing.

  “Well, we have our first status meeting in a couple of days,” he said. “I’ll be interested to hear if anyone’s made any progress. I sure as hell haven’t.” Those last words were grumbled.

  “Me too.” Had Bethany or Andrew? And if so, could she find out? Her brother’s digging was so unsubtle it was ridiculous. But she couldn’t fault him for being curious. She wanted to know the others’ progress too.

  “Well, I gotta bolt,” Robert said, running a hand through his hair. “Tell the folks I’ll definitely make it to dinner tomorrow night. And ask Mom to make another pie—maybe a peach?”

  She told him she would, then walked him to the door, bolting it behind him and activating the alarm. Then she made her way back to the kitchen and washed up their dishes.

  It had been a long time since she and Robert had talked. In some ways, she felt a little better about their relationship, even if they weren’t working together. He’d shown a bit of vulnerability she hadn’t seen in him in a long time.

  But there were still a lot of questions, a lot of holes lurking in their relationship. Robert was possibly hiding stuff from her—she could tell by the way he’d tried to act casual when prying information out of her. Like he wanted to see her hand before revealing his own.

  She needed to find out what cards he held.

  Chapter 8

  The next morning, Maggie sat at the last table of Lakeside Diner, sliding her fingers along the pockmarked surface of the table. The place was busy, nearly all tables packed with the morning crowd. Waitresses ran around, taking orders and delivering steaming cups of coffee. A couple of old men seated at the table in front of Maggie groused about whatever they were reading in their newspapers. Small whimpers came from a crabby baby being bounced on a tired mother’s hip.

  The crackling sound of bacon sizzled in the air, mingling with coffee and eggs, and she breathed the crisp scents in deeply.

  A smile slid across her face, unbidden. So many mornings she, Cassandra and Robert had made a mad dash out of their house then dropped by the diner for a quick cup of coffee and a dozen takeout donuts before going to school.

  This place was a staple in their town.

  She took her phone out to check the time, placed it on the table, then crammed it back in her pocket again. Knock it off. He said he’d be here. She needed to stop stressing about it. Perhaps having two cups of coffee before eating wasn’t her best idea. Jitters nearly shook her hands. It had to be from the caffeine.

  Not because she was nervous over what she was about to do. Well, possibly about to do, anyway.

  The door dinged, and in strolled Andrew, wearing his weekday finest. The dark, fitted gray pinstriped suit was perfectly tailored to his long, lean body. His wavy hair was slightly mussed from the morning breeze outside, an effect that made him look younger, slightly less professional but definitely more dangerous. His eyes were cool and clear as he locked his gaze right on her, and a slow grin spread on his full lips.

  She sucked in a shaky breath, pressing her fingertips to her lower belly. Something about the way his eyes pierced her right now made her remember his mouth trailing across her skin when they were teenagers parked in his car, his hot, whispered words as he’d slid his tongue along the shell of her ear, just the way she loved it.

  She huffed out a rapid exhale and ordered herself to keep cool. This wasn’t about her stupid—and apparently still slightly current—crush on him. This was about the deal he’d extended to her to partner up. The deal she’d decided last night to give serious consideration to and, should it feel right while they talked about the terms, accept.

  “Thanks for meeting with me,” she said in what she hoped what a smooth, even voice.

  The corner of his mouth crooked as he slid in across from her. “Thanks for calling me,” he replied just as smoothly.

  The waitress scuttled over, and Andrew ordered a coffee and a breakfast special. Maggie’s stomach grumbled. Perhaps she should eat something too. She ordered pancakes and a refill on her coffee.

  “So what did you want to talk about?” Andrew asked when the waitress left, getting right to the point.

  Maggie swallowed, her pulse suddenly kicking up again. Between the break-in, her brother’s rejection of partnering up and her parents’ pressure to keep the money out of Bethany’s hands, Maggie needed all the help she could get with this case. Pairing with Andrew meant she could keep him close and utilize his resources as well. Her sister deserved the best effort Maggie could give.

  Last night, while lying in bed staring at the ceiling, she’d decided that pairing with Andrew was the lesser of two evils—because there was no way she’d approach Bethany with any sort of alliance. She and Andrew could keep an eye on Robert and Bethany, plus work on the mystery.

  Together.

  But first, she needed to clarify a few things before officially agreeing.

  “You offered to pair up with me,” she said, “and I wanted to ask you some questions about it.”

  He blinked but quickly recovered. “Okay. Shoot.”

  “How do you envision this working between us?”

  He tilted his head, studying her. His gaze was open and straightforward right now, much different than how he was when he was younger, playing coy and mysterious. This version of Andrew seemed strangely earnest. God, she hoped so. Because she was taking a huge gamble here, and they both knew it.

  “We share all information,” he said. “No holding back, either of us. I think that together, we can figure things out.”

  “But what about the money?” she asked.

  His
lips thinned, eyes flattening with disappointment. “Is this really about money for you?”

  “You know it’s not.” She didn’t even want to think about the money part of the competition right now. She just wanted to find her sister. One step at a time.

  The waitress appeared with coffee. “Your food will be up soon,” she said then flitted off.

  “You’re different,” Maggie blurted out.

  “How so?” Andrew leaned back and rested his arms on the table, one eyebrow raised.

  “You seem more . . .” Comfortable in his skin. More assertive. And infinitely sexier—she wasn’t even sure how that was possible, but this man lived and breathed raw sex appeal. Watching him stroke the rim of his coffee cup with one long finger, her core tightened. “Uh, more blunt.”

  “You’re not that different than you were back then,” he retorted with a wide grin, his eyes sparkling, teeth flashing.

  Her lower belly fluttered in response to his smile. Good grief, he hadn’t even touched her and she was reacting like a horny teenaged girl. This was going to be a bit harder than she’d thought. “How so?” she threw back at him, trying to focus on their conversation and not on the curve of his ripe lower lip.

  “You’re still stubborn and headstrong. And smart.” He paused. “I know I touched on this a little before, but I want to say I’m sorry again for being such an ass to you back then. You deserved better than how I treated you.”

  Shock numbed her into silence. She stared at him.

  “I was scared,” he continued with an apologetic shrug. “Scared stupid of being vulnerable to you. I found myself having . . . feelings I wasn’t ready for. So I took the chickenshit route and broke up with you, rather than act like an adult and deal with it. Or at least talk to you about it.”

  She nodded. “I see.”

  His lips pursed again. “I’m not sure you do.”

  The waitress came, slipping two plates in front of them. Warm pancake scent wafted up to her nose. But she wasn’t very hungry anymore. She poured a little syrup on and took a nibble, waiting for Andrew to continue.

  He drank from his coffee mug, ignoring his plate as he watched her mouth. “Since I’m sure you’re wondering, I’ll be honest—I had a couple of reasons for wanting to pair up with you on this . . . investigation.”

  She froze midbite, making herself swallow, then replied, “And what are the reasons?”

  His eyes moved from her mouth to her eyes, and that flutter in her lower belly grew stronger. “Because I think together, we can do more than working separately. Your sister deserves the best chance we can give her at getting closure. But also because every day since you left for college—hell, since we broke up—I’ve thought about you and how I treated you wrongly.” He shot her a chagrined look. “I’ve changed, as you’ve noticed. I’m not the same person I was back then. I want a chance to prove that to you.”

  “Wow, you’re not holding anything back, are you,” she said with a shocked laugh. Her pulse roared in her ears. Seemed she was going to be digging up a lot from her past during this investigation—including the parts that included Andrew. Was she ready for this?

  Looked like she didn’t have much of a choice.

  He responded with a low chuckle that sent tingles across her skin. “I have nothing to lose.”

  He sounded so sincere that she couldn’t help but soften a bit. And yet even as a part of her long-ago-erected emotional wall began to crumble piece by tiny piece, she couldn’t help but have the tiniest flare of doubt.

  If this were only about helping Cassandra, she could believe him. That sincerity in his eyes didn’t seem fake, and he was laying it all on the line here. Plus, his words about them being more productive as a team echoed her own thoughts. But there were ten million dollars at stake. Money like that could change people, make them act in a way they normally wouldn’t.

  It was quite apparent from this conversation that she didn’t know Andrew that well anymore. That he’d changed over the years. But how much so? Would he scam her, make her think he’d changed and was “honest” now just so he could get a piece of the inheritance money?

  Could she trust him enough to find out?

  Regardless of his reasons, he was right about one thing: Cassandra deserved the best effort possible to resolve what had happened to her. This man could help her with that. He knew her sister well. Her grandfather had obviously found him trustworthy enough to be included. Plus he was an attorney and possibly had connections that could be a boon to their searches.

  She’d already decided she should keep an eye on him to make sure she knew what he was doing. And if he helped her during the process, great.

  She sighed and ate another bite of pancake, her head spinning. Should she? Shouldn’t she?

  “Andrew, how is your relationship with my brother?” she finally asked after chewing and swallowing. “And with Bethany?”

  He blinked. “Um, I think ‘relationship’ would be a bit too strong of a word. We’re basically cordial with each other.”

  “I’m asking,” she said in response to the confusion on his face, “because essentially we’re competing against them. And if you and I pair up, I need to know where you guys stand, if this will create issues.”

  “And what about you?” he countered. “Robert’s your brother. You two are pitted against each other for family money. A lot of money. Isn’t that going to cause problems for you?”

  “No doubt it will,” she said, a flash of irritation threaded in her voice. Like she hadn’t already thought about that over and over. “But I don’t really have a choice here. It’s not about me and my ego, is it?”

  He shook his head, eyes fixed on his plate. “Robert and I were close back in school, but we don’t talk or hang out now. Your brother . . .” He cleared his throat. “Your brother went down one path, and I went down another.”

  That they did. In spite of having a solid job with her dad’s bank, where he was an executive, Robert was barely scraping by. She had no idea what her brother did with his money, but he always seemed to fall short. It was to the point where their parents had stopped giving him money to bail himself out of whatever credit card was hounding him for payment.

  Tough love, Maggie’s mother had confided in her a few months ago. Robert was getting it in spades.

  “Well, I see you’re a hotshot fancy attorney now,” she said lightly to Andrew, wanting to get her mind off her brother and change the conversation. “Gotta be honest, I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Guess those rough football plays didn’t knock my dumb brain loose after all, huh?” he retorted with a wry grin.

  An embarrassed flush crawled up her throat and cheeks. “I’m sorry if that sounded like an insult. I wasn’t trying to say you’re stupid or anything. But you never seemed . . . interested in scholarly pursuits back then.”

  “A lot can happen in eight years.” He took a sip of coffee, then plunked the mug down and sighed. “Look, I know you have no real reason to trust me. You’re in a hard spot right now. Your past is being dredged up . . . but so is mine, and Robert’s. We’re all neck deep in this, and we’re all looking for answers—”

  “Someone broke into my parents’ house yesterday,” she blurted out. “Someone broke in and took all my notes and destroyed my laptop.”

  His eyes flashed dark, heated, and his lips slitted into a thin line. “What? Are you okay? Were you home?”

  “No, I was out, thank God. But . . .” She sucked in a breath. “I just thought you should know.” And secretly, she’d also wanted to read his reaction to the news, like with her brother.

  Given the shiver of anger that slipped over him and the tightening of his firm jaw, she could instantly tell that he hadn’t been involved. No one could fake it that well. “You could have called me, Maggie. I’d have come right over.”

  “I called the cops. Mom and Dad are changing the locks and the security system code.”

  He nodded his approval. Then his face gre
w serious, his eyes still intense. “It’s not good that we’re just a few days in and the investigation is already turning dangerous. Despite the agreement we’d all made about keeping it clean and legal. We need to be careful, watch our backs.”

  “I know.”

  “And I’m sorry that someone targeted you. If you want, you can see my notes. I went by the station yesterday morning to get a copy of the original report. I don’t have a lot more beyond that, but I’m happy to share them with you.”

  “You’d do that?” She was touched. Her brother hadn’t offered to share his notes when he’d found out about the theft. Just another striking difference between these two men.

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  Maggie took another small bite of her pancakes then put her fork down, decision made. “Okay. I’m in. Let’s partner up. I think together, you and I can find out the truth about my sister. But I feel we should keep this to ourselves.” She wasn’t sure how either Bethany or Robert would react if they found out.

  He gave Maggie a nod and a slow smile that made her skin tingle again. Holy hell, she’d probably just signed herself up for more than she could handle. Not that she had other options available at the moment. She needed his help, plain and simple. Two brains were better than one, she told herself in justification, trying to drag her attention away from his bright blue eyes.

  “I’ll scan and email you the report today,” he said, digging into his breakfast plate with relish.

  They finished their meal in relative silence. But she could feel his gaze at random intervals, and her body reacted with a notable, prolonged flush across her skin, her nipples tightening from each sweep of his eyes over her. Thank God she was wearing a sweater to disguise her arousal.

  Andrew was still sexy as hell. She couldn’t deny that truth, nor that he awoke something inside her that apparently hadn’t forgotten how he made her feel. But she could put aside these flare-ups of awareness of him and focus on the task at hand.