Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
“They haven’t been able to inspect it officially, but Elsa says there are rumors flying that, preliminary evidence suggests he wasn’t simply caught in the fire. He was caught while setting it.”
Jesus.
Fucking.
Christ.
CHAPTER 19
GIVENCHY
Nora
“How’s Jamie doing?” Chloe asked in my ear.
I was in my closet with Alyona, packing.
Alyona was holding up a black dress.
I shook my head and turned back to Jamie’s suits and my conversation with Chloe.
“I don’t think he knows how he’s doing,” I confided.
“I can imagine,” she murmured.
I pulled out a charcoal gray, bespoke, CKC New York suit and hung it on the valet rail.
I turned back to Alyona who was holding up my Givenchy, pleated-skirt, black silk dress.
I nodded.
She hooked it on a valet rail.
“Just so you know, Judge is going down to meet you guys, and Rix is going with him.”
At this news, I stopped perusing Jamie’s tray of precisely rolled ties to focus on the conversation.
“Chloe, that’s a lovely gesture, but you know how Jamie feels about Judge leaving you and JT to go to the funeral.”
“I know, Judge knows, but honestly, ma belle amie, do you think he’s going to let his father go through this without him?”
Hmm.
“I’ve got Mom, Duncan, Heddy, Beth, and Alex all close to help out,” she explained. “And Judge, who’s his father’s son, so he’s overprotective, asked Gage to stay with me while he’s gone. Gage was all over it. I can, of course, take care of a baby, two dogs and a cat by myself, but I won’t have to. So Jamie doesn’t have to worry.”
“Is Judge going to tell him, or am I?” I asked, nodding my head to Alyona proffering my patent, black, slingback Louboutin pumps.
“Judge is packing. They have to leave soon to head down to Phoenix to catch their plane. He’s going to call Jamie on the way.”
“All right. I’m packing too, dearest. Dru will be here in less than an hour, then we’re away to JFK.”
“Okay, I’ll let you go. Love you. Call if you need anything.”
“I will. Love back to you.”
We rang off and Alyona and I dug into selecting outfits. We were on to accessories when my phone rang again.
It was Charlene.
“Hello, Charlene,” I answered.
“Hey there, Mz. Ellington. Wanted you to know that Arnold is on the way up with a packet that was dropped off.”
“All right.”
“And just to say, if you can get me a date with the guy who dropped it off, I wouldn’t say no.”
I smiled. “Always nice to have a handsome courier.”
“This man was no courier. I think he gets his suits from the same place Mr. Oakley does.”
Oh my.
Intriguing.
I wondered what the package was, considering neither Jamie nor I were expecting anything, and definitely neither of us were expecting anything to be dropped off by a man wearing a hand-tailored suit.
“Thank you for calling, Charlene.”
“Never a problem.”
I ended the call and looked to Alyona.
“I need to retrieve a package delivery,” I told her.
“I can do it,” she replied.
“No, I’ll do it. If you could get started on folding?” I motioned to the suitcases in the corner of the closet with my head.
“Will do,” she murmured, moving toward them.
I went to the door and was standing in it when Arnold got off the elevator.
He gave me the package with a tip of his cap, and I closed the door, holding a thick manila envelope that had my name on the front written in bold, black pen.
The metal clasp was sealed, as was the envelope.
I moved to the kitchen and furtively (my letter opener was in the study, which was too far away for the level of my curiosity, and Alyona would have a conniption if she saw me using one of her butter knives in this manner) slit open the envelope.
Inside, there was a notecard clipped to the thick pile of papers, and on it was another bold, black letter, this one simply an “R.”
My brows furrowed at that, but I pulled it off, unclipped the papers, and drew in a sharp breath at what I saw.
The top was photocopies of bank statements.
And these statements belonged to Paloma.
Under those were more statements.
And those belonged to Chester Lynch.
Beyond that were LLC documents, and Articles of Incorporation, none of which I understood.
I didn’t wish to, but I’d learned how Jamie felt about me keeping important things from him, so I sought him out, and found him with his laptop and some open files scattered across a coffee table in the hearth room.
Heiress was lounging on the velvet couch beside him.
He looked to me, his lovely blue eyes alert, but that hint of dissonance behind them that had been there since he learned his brother had died was unhidden.
“Darling, we’ve had an unusual delivery.”
I sat next to him on the couch and handed him the envelope with the papers on top.