up and I think he’s taken her paintings, too. He’s got this whole scam on rotation.”
“Shit. You figured that out, huh? I was too ashamed to admit that he convinced me to trust him. He was just so charming and nice, he said I had talent…”
“Kylie, you are not at fault for what happened to you. He took advantage of your trusting nature and he chose to abuse you. That is not on you.” She paced the office. “I wish you’d talked to me about it…but I understand why you didn’t.”
“He made me feel like no one would believe me. Did you know his dad is a judge? He said even if I decided to report him nothing would happen because his father had gotten him off before.”
“Son of a bitch,” she muttered, shaking her head. She wasn’t going to tell Kylie of her plans to help rope Sean into confessing; Kylie would only try to talk her out of it. “How’s everything at home? Are you settling back in?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m still really sore, but Debbie has been wonderful. She keeps visiting and bringing board games over to distract me. Last Saturday she skipped going out with her friends so we could have a movie night.”
Wren said a silent thank-you to her sister. “She’s got a big heart.”
“So do you, Wren. Though I would have preferred you to be more like Debs and play games with me instead of going off on a vigilante mission.”
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what you went through.”
“Me, neither.” Kylie sighed. “But maybe I’m selfish and I just want my best friend to be here with me. It’s much safer.”
“We’ll get him, Ky. I don’t give a shit if his father is a judge, we’re going to get proof of what he’s doing.” She swallowed. “He has your paintings, too, doesn’t he?”
There was a sniffle on the other end of the line. “I should have said something to you about that, but he said he’d make me pay if I told anyone. I didn’t even tell the therapist because I’m afraid he’ll find me.”
“He won’t find you, Ky. I’m coming home to look after you.”
“He said I owed him. That they were payment.” Her voice sounded far away.
“We’ll get them back, okay? I promise.”
Rhys might be right about her always doing things for other people, but that was just who she was. Since it was clear he didn’t understand that about her, it was probably best that she was heading back home.
A FEW DAYS later they were poised to make their final move on Sean Ainslie. Rhys had almost bitten his nails down to the quick. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to be part of the team overseeing the surveillance of Wren’s entry to Ainslie Ave. But he’d talked Owen into allowing him to observe in case anything went wrong from a technical standpoint.
Owen knew it was a bullshit excuse, but he hadn’t argued. So long as Rhys didn’t intervene in any way, he was free to observe.
They’d decided not to involve the police at this stage because it was unclear how deep of an influence Sean’s father had. A corrupt judge would have many connections, and they didn’t want to risk someone tipping him off. They just had to hope that Sean was cocky and stupid enough not to suspect Wren was taping him.
If he was going to bet on the reliability of anyone being stupid, it would be Sean Ainslie.
“She’ll be okay, Rhys. I promise.” Quinn placed a reassuring hand on his arm as they watched the screens capturing the footage from the gallery. “She’s feisty. I appreciate that.”
“I don’t,” he muttered, pretending to check his emails on his phone to avoid Quinn’s raised brows.
“Bullshit, you love feisty women. How on earth would we be friends if you didn’t?”
“You’re my employee.”
She rolled her eyes. “Next time you need help with a firewall, I’ll remind you of this conversation.”
“I told her not to do this.” His stomach churned as the speakers wired to her mic crackled to life.
“Looks like she hasn’t taken that advice.”
He grunted. “It wasn’t advice.”
“What was it supposed to be? A command? I’m surprised she didn’t tell you to shove it.”
“I was looking out for her.”
“No.” She shook her head. “You’re trying to instruct her how to live her life. Those are two different things.”
“Are you saying I’m bossy?”
Quinn studiously tapped away at her laptop, making sure the recording function was set up for the Ainslie Ave cameras. “That would be putting it mildly.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“We’re not friends, remember? I don’t have to be nice to you.”
God, he was really not in the mood for bantering with Quinn today. “I’m going to fire you one of these days.”
She snorted. “I can see why she dumped your ass.”
His head snapped up. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
How had she figured out that he and Wren were together? Nothing connected him to her except the conversation he’d had with Logan, and he was pretty sure his boss wasn’t about to spread that information around.
“Logan said there were some complications in you working on this case. I get the impression you’re not supposed to be here today.”
He grunted in response.
“And I took the fact that you even knew her name to mean something was going on between you two.” When he raised a brow she continued, “Normally you only care about the numbers. It’s all stats and KPIs and closure rates. You never take an interest in the people side of things.”
“You make me sound like a dictator.”
“I get it, the numbers are an important part of your job. But there was mad tension in that meeting room when we were setting this whole thing up. Wasn’t difficult to put two and two together.”
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, turning away from Quinn’s sharp, analytical gaze. “Doesn’t matter now, anyway. As you said, she dumped my ass.”
“Because you were a prick.”
“That a fact or just an educated guess?” he said sarcastically.
“I’m gonna plead the Fifth on that one.” She tucked her feet up under her so she was perched on the chair like some kind of punk Buddha. “So, you got in trouble, huh?”
“Dammit,
