After dropping Sandy back off at home, Penny pulled into the parking lot with Jay sitting beside her. He hadn’t said much, but the scowl on his face remained. When she switched off the engine, he mumbled, “I’m going to need five minutes with my tablet.”
She understood this had to do with his mother, and she could use a few minutes afterwards to tell him what her mom had done. “I’ll leave you alone.”
Getting out, she intended to help him, but he held the frame firm in his grip and stepped down. His grimace softened her heart. He deserved better than that physical pain.
Walking backward, she kept an eye on him until they reached the door. She swung around to open it first. Looking back, she watched his nose turn upward. “You don’t have to take care of me, Pen. I’m not a cripple.”
She leaned closer. “You just left the hospital, Dimples.”
Holding the door, she pushed back to let him pass. His wrinkled nose didn’t scare her off. She held back a smile, though, staring at his thick crop of blond hair.
Following behind him, she sped up to pass him when the doorman, McCarthy, stepped in their way, stopping them. Taking his hat off, he held it at his chest when speaking to Jay. “I’m sorry for what happened, sir. The doorman who let people into your condo has been fired and is facing pending criminal charges. He’d been hired only last week, and we’re looking deeper into his background now to see what the check missed.”
Penny covered her hand with her mouth. What had her mother done? And what should she do? Jay kept his voice confident and steady, touching the man’s arm. “I’m sure you’re doing everything possible.”
McCarthy nodded. “The police have all the videos and pictures of your assailants.”
A chill ran down her body. More than one. Biting her lip, she stopped moving. Jay didn’t look fazed. Her gaze shifted to his clear blue eyes. He knew more.
Jay smiled at the man. “I appreciate everything you did.”
He sounded nice. Her eyes darted back and forth between the men while the doorman went back to his post. Blinking, she missed something. But what?
Putting his hand on her back, he told her, “Let’s go upstairs, Pen.”
She nodded. Finding what to ask took more effort than four years of education. She hit the button for the elevator. Tapping her finger on her face, she asked, “What did McCarthy do?”
He looked down and his entire face darkened. “He saw the tapes in the back room and sounded the alarm downstairs. He is the reason I’m still in Miami. Those men were attempting to find my business records.”
The doors closed in the elevator. She came closer to him to look in his eyes and ask, “Is Penelope Financial on the up and up? Or are you involved with illegal people and things, Jay?”
Stepping back, he flinched like she had hit him. She’d clearly asked the wrong way. He shook his head. “I’m not, but I’m shutting down a business that was.”
“You’ve been nothing but great to me. And I’ll sound like a brat, but I have to ask anyhow. Does this involve your mother?”
He let out a deep breath before coughing. Putting her hand on his arm, she hoped she’d help him with that pain. Pulling back, he closed his eyes and focused. “Yes. I’m telling you again, Penny. You should call a cab, go get your car, and leave town.”
The doors opened into their home. She stepped out first. “Let’s go in. I’ll make us dinner, and I’m not leaving because of your mother. What my mother did, maybe, but yours doesn’t scare me.”
As he followed behind her, she stepped into the kitchen. He stopped at the counter and put his hand down. “Penny, this isn’t a game.”
After taking some baking powder and butter out of the refrigerator, she set up her ingredients on the counter.
And in that moment, it hit her. When had her last period been? Her breath caught in her throat and she refused to look him in his eyes. Instead she gazed past him and tried to breathe. “No, my life is not a game. I won’t be a pawn to my mother’s plot. Go do your thing with the tablet. I’ll make dinner, and then you tell me some more.”
Going back to the fridge, she found hard bread. She’d pick out parts to make breadcrumbs.
From across the room, she heard his low voice. “What else do you want to know?”
Putting her supplies on the counter, she gazed up. His pained expression eased her questions. “What were those men after? Why did you get me to move in here to begin with? What’s going on?”
Walking to the kitchen, he stepped past the counter and came close before asking, “The truth?”
She glanced up, her lips opened. “Nothing else but”
His face turned white as he turned around. “Follow me into my office.”
After brushing her hands on her jeans, she did what he asked.
In his office, he took a seat on the stairs leading up to the second-floor patio. She stopped moving and opened her arms. “What’s here?”
He pointed out the staircase and his eyes became stormy. “Go behind the staircase.”
Laughing, she asked, “What are you pulling here, a secret room? I don’t see anything”
Standing up, he gripped the banister and put his hand on her back. Taking her hand, he put it on the wall. “Push on that panel.”
A door opened when she pressed her palm there. “I’ll give you the extra remote. If you are going to stay here, we need to make some new rules for the next few days.”
“Jay, you’re scaring me.”
“This is a safe room.”
She couldn’t blink for a moment. “I’d prefer locks and a door.”
“In three days, maximum, everything will be settled. I should have acted sooner. But if someone comes here and you can’t get out, go into that room and close the door.”
“And the computer’s in here?”
He rubbed his neck and his face darkened again. “It’s what my mother’s men were after. I have files linking Mueller Enterprises financially to organized crime.”
Covering her mouth, she gasped. “Wait, I almost worked there.”
“I know.”
Dropping her hand, she touched his arm. “That’s why you chose me?”
Offering a small smile, he asked, “For my date or to live with?”
“Date first.”
His smile grew. “No. You can think on your own. That was the biggest part. And you’re too genuine to lie to me.”
Heat rose in her cheeks. She needed to tell him her mother’s plot. “And to live with?”
He shook his head and paced back and forth. “I hoped I could spare my dad. I figured if you saw my mother there, you’d tell me. Then I’d have to buy out his business and put him in early retirement, ending any connections to my mother’s friends.”
Fumbling for the right question, she blurted out, “Your mother?”
Leading her out of the small room, he sat in his office chair. She couldn’t let him leave. She needed to know. Following him, she pulled herself up to sit on his desk. He held his head up with both hands. His shoulders released tension. “Remember sophomore year when I went on the ‘summer abroad’ trip and couldn’t talk online?”
She listened. “Yeah?”
Fury entered his eyes fast. His body stiffened. “I wasn’t studying. She had me kidnapped for the insurance money.”
Her body ached for him. She could hold off telling him about her mother for now, giving him space. She told him, “You’re safe, here with me now. But I’m confused.”
Pulling his head back, he held her hand. “You’re not like her, Pen. She’s controlling and owed these people money for investing. I was insured. She paid them off with the insurance money, ensuring everyone lined their pockets on Dad’s dime and getting her favors that she needed to ensure she owned everything Dad touched.”
He rolled his chair over to his laptop on his desk, his nostrils flaring. “I’m going to shut Mueller down now. I want you to leave and not be part of this.”
Standing up from the desk, she crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere. I trust you, and I have to explain about my mother.”
Opening up a program, he focused on his laptop. “Fine. Later. In the next few days, if something happens in the middle of the night, get in that room and wait it out.”
Her heart plummeted and her hands went clammy. “You’re trying to scare me now.”
He gazed away from his work and stared at her. “Look at me, Penny. You shouldn’t stay here.”
Part of her agreed. She should leave. “But you’re the one in danger. You’ve got a black eye, some nasty bruises, and a cracked rib.”
His arms flailed. “Let me ask a question. Would your mother kill you?”
She couldn’t breathe. She had to tell him the truth. “No, but she’d have no qualms about using me to get what she wants—”
He gave her a slow, secret smile that stopped her short. When silence clung in the air, he drew his lips in thoughtfully. “It’s why I have a hard time saying no to you. You understand.”
She forced a demure smile on her face. She’d tell him about her mother once he typed out whatever he needed to on his computer. “So, what are you going to do exactly?”
Lines of concentration embedded in his brow as he went back to work. “Buy out her connection with Mueller Enterprises. I’m hoping this means the rats flee the ship, and my parents can take the money they get and retire.”
She eyed him thoughtfully. “You’re not looking to keep any of those mob characters around, are you?.”
Without looking at her, he kept his head down. “You shouldn’t be here. I don’t deserve someone like you.”
“I’m going to make dinner. Do the right thing, Dimples.”