Page 125 of Ruthless Contract
I hated what I was feeling. I hated that she was the woman I’d given my heart to. I hated that I’d fallen in love with the woman responsible for my cousin’s kidnapping. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, trying to force that thought away.
I wasn’t ready to believe that Blossom had something to do with Marcel being taken. While my instincts told me she was Juliet, my heart told me she wouldn’t hurt someone for no reason at all.
I just couldn’t see her being that kind of person. I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees as I stared at the tulips again.
"Please," I muttered into the empty house.
I wasn't even sure who I was talking to anymore.God. The universe. Anybody willing to listen.
“Please don’t let Tony find anything that points to her being tied to Ettori Zucco. Please let me be wrong. Let this all be a coincidence.”
I rubbed a hand over my face before glancing toward my phone lying beside the whiskey bottle. I picked it up and checked it. No missed calls. No messages. Nothing from Tony yet. I set it back down.
Less than a minute later, I picked it up again. Still nothing. The waiting was slowly driving me out of my fucking mind. Every minute that passed gave my thoughts more time to wander into places I didn't want them going.
I took another sip of my drink. Then another. The whiskey wasn't helping. Neither was the silence. I downed the rest of the liquid, then slammed my glass onto the table. Sleep. I should try to go to sleep again.
Just as I was about to stand up, my phone rang. My heart lurched as my gaze dropped to the screen. Tony's name flashed across it. For a second, I just stared at it, afraid to answer. Afraid to learn the truth.
There would be no going back once the truth was out. Whatever he told me next would either give me peace or completely destroy what little hope I’d had left. I drew in a slow breath before swiping my thumb across the screen.
"I’m listening," I said instead of greeting him.
"Sorry for calling so late. But you told me to call as soon as I had something.”
I closed my eyes and massaged my temple, a headache forming in the center of my skull.
“I’m listening,” I said again.
“I finished looking into the financial side of Blossom and her floral shop," he told me.
I rose to my feet, unable to sit down for this. I paced toward the windows overlooking the water, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to escape my chest.
"What did you find?" I asked.
"There aren't any transactions between Italy and Blossom Brooks."
“Go on,” I said, hope blooming within me.
"There aren't any transactions between Italy and Blossoms and Vines either," Tony continued. "I didn't find any connections between her, her shop, and any Italian businesses. I also looked for suspicious companies that could be tied to either Blossom or her flower shop. I found nothing."
The silence of my beach house no longer felt so suffocating. I slowly closed my eyes. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I knew it. I fucking knew it. Blossom wasn’t the type of woman who’d hurt an innocent person just for profit.
Every ounce of tension I'd been carrying around since reading that report yesterday eased from my shoulders. I'd let myself believe the worst. I'd allowed a few paragraphs from Tony's report to make me question everything I thought I knew about the woman I loved.
She wasn't tied to Italy. She wasn't tied to Marcel. She was innocent. Whatever had her nervous about admitting who she was, it wasn’t tied to my family.
"Looks like she's clean," Tony said.
The breath I'd been holding finally escaped my lungs.
"Thanks," I told him.
"No problem."
Neither of us spoke for a few seconds. My gaze drifted toward the red tulips sitting on the center table. She'd told me they represented undying love. Maybe she'd been telling the truth after all.
“I know you were looking for ties to the Marcel incident. There are no monetary ties. Do you need me to look into anything else?” Tony asked.
