Page 35 of Falling for Love

Tristan leans forward in his chair. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal. Confidentiality goes without saying.” He inclines his head and waits for me to speak.

“Taylor has a … situation.” I go on and detail her problem with Senator Chandler Cross and my phone call to the man. “He’s more than two steps ahead of his opponents. If it didn’t stand to hurt our club, I’d have to admire his chess play.”

Tristan scrubs a hand over his face, then says, “Kaylee had an asshole ex, too. But he wasn’t a threat to anything but his own ego, though he did give breaking us up his best shot.” He rubs his thumb over his lower lip. “As for the Charleston club—”

“I’m not going to let him derail us any more than I’m going to allow him to continue to torment Taylor. She’s mine and I’ll protect her with everything I have.”

“That makes her one of ours.” Tristan smiles, but it’s more of a pulling of his lips that reassures me he’s not kidding around. “We’ll figure out all the angles,” he tells me. “Starting with me talking to our lawyers in Charleston to see what we can do about any attempts to screw up obtaining those permits.”

I pick up a pen left from the desk and roll it between my palms. “One of my cousins, Damon Prescott, is married to a PI. Her name is Evie Wolfe. Now Prescott.”

“Retired football player.”

“Right. I’ll give Evie a call and see what she can dig up on the senator. He’s got his hands in so many pies, I can’t imagine there isn’t a trail of some kind for her to follow. Anything I can find to induce him to back off.” Sometimes it pays to have so many relatives in the area.

Tristan nods approvingly but he leans forward, his expression serious. “I mean it when I say I have your back, but we’re dealing with someone with the right connections. This might be a fight we can’t win.”

I brace my hands on my desk and rise to my feet. “I won’t accept that.” Not for our business and definitely not for Taylor. I’m going to free her from that son of a bitch and then she can decide what she wants for her future.

I’m hoping that’s me, our baby, and the family we could be.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Taylor

It’s only been three days since I was honest with Jack about Chandler and though I’m glad I shared this with him, my ex lived up, or should I say down, to my expectations of him as a first-class jerk. Apparently, he’s been having me watched, already knew about Jack, and threatened to undermine his new nightclub.

I’m due home soon and though I considered leaving early, now that Jack is on Chandler’s radar, returning won’t change anything. It will just give the senator what he wants while hurting someone I care about.

Despite my worry, Jack doesn’t seem concerned. He’s hired a private investigator to look into Chandler’s dirty dealings, and his lawyers are preparing to take on the senator if there are issues with the permits. I admire his calm. I, on the other hand, am not sleeping well and it’s been hard to enjoy my time here when, internally, I’m freaking out.

As a means of exerting some kind of authority, I don’t return any of Chandler’s messages, no matter how unsubtle they become. He’s angry and wants me to promise I’ll be home in time for that festival so he can look the part of the powerful senator with the doting woman on his arm. I’m in no mood to pacify him. I don’t worry he’ll throw me under the bus because of my so-called involvement with his campaign fraud. Should he pull that trigger, I’ll pull mine and we’ll both go down. Not something Senator Chandler Cross wants to happen.

I’m on my own this morning. Jack has a meeting with his partners, so I walk downstairs to the lobby. I approach the front desk and discover on the daily hotel paper that there is a yoga class on the beach in ten minutes. It sounds like the perfect antidote to anxiety, so I rush up to my room to change and hurry outside, walking past the restaurant and the sitting area until I finally reach the sand.

I spend the next hour under the Florida sun, breathing deep, inhaling the scents of salt water and coconut sunscreen, stretching, and finding some measure of peace. By the time the class ends, I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in a long time.

I gather my things and slowly walk back to the hotel. I’m just about to open the door when a familiar voice says my name. I stiffen and turn to see my cousin David sitting in a chair in the outdoor dining area to my right.

He gestures for me to join him.

I have no choice since I don’t want to make a scene. I step around his chair and ease myself into the one across from him. “What are you doing here?” I ask, not bothering to say hello or make small talk.

“I’ve been here,” he says, a smarmy smile on his face. “I should thank you for picking such a lovely place to vacation. It’s made my duties of keeping an eye on you much more pleasant.”

How did I not know I was being watched … and by someone I know, no less? I can’t believe this man is related to me. My mother’s sister, my aunt Natalie, is such a good, kind person. Her son? Not so much.

I lean back in my seat, fold my arms across my chest, and wait for him to explain why he’s revealed himself to me now.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Taylor. Chandler isn’t happy you haven’t returned his texts or calls.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Does he expect me to want to have a conversation with him after he threatened Jack’s livelihood?”

David leans forward, arms on the table. “Jack is the problem. The senator doesn’t want to be embarrassed in public by you being seen with another man.”

I scowl at him. “That’s ridiculous. Nobody in Miami knows who I am. It’s just another excuse to try and control me. I’m doing what Chandler needs me to do. The rest of my life is mine to live as I want.”

He lets out a put-upon sigh. “You don’t believe that any more than I do. Listen to me for once. Do as he asks. We all have to bow to the man, so why make your life harder by being difficult?”