Wife Me Bad Boy (20 page)

I followed him all the way back downtown, toward the area I’d been earlier in the day, and I figured he was going to meet up with Lacey. Probably so that she could show him the ring she’d picked out. I let him get some space, figuring I knew where he was going, but as I watched, I saw that he turned left instead of making the right I’d expected.

When he pulled up outside the loan company, I was really confused. What the hell was he doing there? Had he been following me too?

He parked and walked across the street, dressed to kill. I hopped into the back of the van and fired up the surveillance equipment. I put on the headphones and started twisting knobs and dials.

“I just need another five grand to hold me over.”

It was Rob’s voice. He was trying to borrow money.

“I’m not giving your broke ass another penny, you piece of shit.”

That was the loan-clerk’s voice. I knew it well. I’d spent hours listening to it.

“Come on.”

“You’re so far into a hole, I just can’t throw any more money at you, Rob.”

“You know I’m good for it.”

“Yeah, if I repossess your business or something. You know how many lawyers that would take? I ain’t giving you another penny.”

“I’ve got a big job running,” Rob said. “This broad, she’s rich as heck, thinks I’m in love with her. I’m going to get serious money out of her.”

“Sure you are,” the clerk said. “If she’s so rich, why the hell would she want to get hitched to a dirtbag like you?”

“Hey,” Rob said, getting angry. “Don’t you talk to me like that, you piece of shit. I’m one of the most respected doctors in the city. You’re a dirty loan shark.”

“All I’m saying is that I ain’t giving you any more money until you clear some of the debt you already have on the book, Rob. You know how it works. If you don’t give ten grand to my guys by the end of the month, they’re going to start roughing you up for it.”

“Yeah, I know how it works, you piece of shit. You’ve been waiting to get the collectors on me since you met me.”

“If you don’t pay me back what you owe me, I can’t pay my bills. All I want is you to make your next payment, Rob. Otherwise it’s beyond my control.”

Rob stormed out and got back into his car. I didn’t bother to follow him any farther. I’d learned enough. He was in debt. He owed money to these loan sharks. They’d hurt him if he didn’t make his payments. And he was playing Lacey to get money out of her.

I was overcome with anger. My fist came down on the dials of the monitor hard. The headphones rang out in my ear.

“Fuck,” I said.

What had Lacey ever done to deserve this?

She was a good person, kind and loving and honest and trusting. This fucking prick was trying to play her to get at her money. Hell no. Not on my watch. I’d make him pay for ever even thinking he could try to get away with a thing like that. I’d make him think real hard about his choices in life. And what was more, I’d make sure Lacey never heard a word about any of it.

Rob would have to break off the engagement, that much was certain. But I’d have to make sure Lacey never knew that he’d been trying to rip her off. She didn’t deserve that. She’d been cheated on before. If she found out about this, she’d be devastated. She was the most lovable, beautiful girl in the world, and she kept picking the worst douchebags possible.

“Fuck,” I said again.

I’d make that dirtbag pay.

Chapter 34

Lacey

I
SAT IN MY CAR
for a full minute before turning the ignition. I was in shock.

Positive
. That’s what the doctor said. There was no chance of a mistake. He was one-hundred-percent certain I was pregnant. And it was Grant’s baby. How was I sure? I’ll tell you how. Because no matter what I tried, no matter how I dressed, no matter how much I dolled myself up and tried to make myself beautiful, I still hadn’t managed to get Rob to make love to me. He just straight up didn’t want me.

I was in big trouble. I was pregnant, and it wasn’t with the man I was engaged to.

I called Faith. She was the only person I could think of who would understand.

“Lacey, you sound frantic.”

“I am,” I said.

“What is it? What’s happened?”

“You won’t believe me if I tell you.”

“Lacey. Tell me already.”

“Okay,” I said, catching my breath. “But it’s crazy.”

“Lacey.”

“Okay, okay.” I spilled the beans. “I’m pregnant, Faith.”

“Holy shit.”

“I know.”

“Who’s the father?” she said.

I laughed. “Who do you think?”

“Rob?”

“Nope.”

“What?”

“It’s not Rob’s. I know for a fact it’s not his, because we’ve never actually had intercourse. He’s too busy screwing his secretary, I think.”

“Oh, Lacey.”

“That doesn’t matter. I don’t care about that. I’m used to it. I’ve got bigger issues.”

“A baby.”

“Grant’s baby.”

I could practically feel Faith nodding her head on the other end of the line. She’d seen the tension between me and Grant in the weeks since her wedding. She knew what had happened, or at the very least, she had her suspicions.

“Well, are you happy about it?”

And that’s when I burst out crying. I didn’t know how to answer that. I mean, I knew the baby was a blessing, a gift from God, but these weren’t exactly the best circumstances in which to have it. If I was with Grant, I’d have been over the moon to be having his baby. But I wasn’t with Grant. I was with Rob.

“Lacey, stop crying. It’s not the end of the world.”

“I know,” I said, sobbing.

“It’s not, Lacey. You have people who love you. We’ll help you through this. Grant will help too.”

“Grant hates my guts.”

“No he doesn’t.”

“Well, he doesn’t want to have a child with me, that’s for sure.”

“How did this happen?”

“How do you think it happened?”

“I mean, didn’t you and Grant use protection.”

I took a deep breath and stopped crying. “No, we didn’t. Grant didn’t want to.”

“He didn’t want to?”

“He said, let whatever wants to happen, happen. It would be fate.”

“Well then, he’s going to get what he asked for.”

“I don’t think he meant it quite this literally, Faith.”

“You know what the funny thing is?” Faith said.

“What?”

“Jackson and I were talking today about trying for another baby.”

“Oh,” I said, wiping my tears away. “Faith, that’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you.”

“Oh, Lacey,” she said. “Where are you? I’m going to come over and look after you. We’ll make this all better.”

“No, no. You’ve got Sam and Jackson. You don’t need to be watching me like a baby. I’ll be fine. Just don’t tell anyone what I told you.”

“I won’t.”

“Especially not Jackson. He’ll have to tell Grant if he finds out, and I want to think of a way to tell him in my own time.”

“You can count on me, Lacey.”

“I know I can, Faith. I love you, you know?”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

I hung up and gathered my nerves before making my way back home. When I got home my plan was to go straight up to my bedroom before anyone saw me, but Grant was in the hallway.

“Lacey, are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Grant.”

“You’ve been crying. Did Rob do something? I’ll kick his stupid ass.”

“Grant, calm down. Rob didn’t do anything,” I said, but then I realized I’d need an excuse for the tears that had obviously been on my face. “It’s just, I’m really sad that he’s not showing more interest in this wedding. It’s his wedding too.”

Grant smiled at me warmly. “You look like you could use a bite to eat,” he said.

I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want anything, least of all company, but before I knew it I found myself nodding. “All right,” I said.

“Good. I’m going to cook for you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“It would be my pleasure, Lacey.”

Grant sat me at the counter and opened a bottle of wine.

“Just water for me,” I said, thinking of the baby.

“My pleasure, Lacey,” he said, as he took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and opened it.

“Why are you being so nice to me lately?” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Flower shopping. Looking at the ring. Cooking me dinner.”

He shrugged as he put some water on the stove to boil. Then he started cutting an onion.

“Is pasta okay?”

“It’s perfect,” I said.

I watched as he prepared the meal. He’d never looked sexier to me than he did right then. Slowly, as I watched, it began to dawn on me that I wasn’t just watching Grant, the best friend I’d ever had. I was watching Grant, the future father of my child. The thought gave me goosebumps.

“Lacey, are you all right?”

I nodded, taking a sip of water.

“Let me just tell you something about men,” he said.

“Okay.”

“It’s not always their words that tell you what they’re thinking, or what they want. Sometimes, it’s their actions.”

I smiled. “Are you telling me that Rob’s going to get more into this wedding, even if he doesn’t want to talk about it with me?”

Grant shook his head. “No. All I’m saying is that actions speak louder than words. Especially with men. We don’t always know how to say what we feel, but if we’re smart, we know how to show it.”

Chapter 35

Grant

I
COULDN’T SLEEP THAT NIGHT.
I lay in bed thinking about Lacey, and all the things guys had put her through. The worst part was that I was one of them. And it was time I changed that. Enough was enough. Sooner or later, some man had to step up and protect Lacey, and that man was me.

Rob wouldn’t use her for money, and Lacey would never even know he’d tried. I’d make certain of that. I drove into San Francisco on my motorcycle, the cool night air clearing my head. First thing I had to do was pull off the job I’d been planning. I had everything I needed in my backpack. Timers, charges, circuit breakers, a gun, plastic explosives. I also had false plates on the bike and a fake California driver’s license. I was dressed in a tight-clad, black leather suit and my helmet had a black visor.

I pulled up outside the loan company at exactly ten minutes after midnight. I waited in the alley and watched the building. Five minutes later, right on time, the two security guards came out of the building and walked to a donut store six minutes away. It was an unauthorized abandonment of their posts, but they both went, together, every single night. I had twenty minutes before they’d be back.

I walked like a cat along a side alley until I reached an access door to the loan company. I tried the door. It was locked. I knew it would be. I knew also that it wasn’t attached to the alarm system. I looked at the lock. It would take too long to pick. Instead, I attached a small amount of plastic explosive to the keyhole, stuck a fuse and timer into it, set it for thirty seconds, and stepped back behind some dumpsters.

The lock popped with a small explosion, about as loud as a firecracker, and the alarm didn’t trip. The guards would have heard it, but the guards were at the donut shop.

I opened the door and immediately began counting down from sixty in my head. The alarm would trip sixty seconds after that door opened if I didn’t disable it first. The access panel was in the corridor. I found it and quickly opened the screws on the cover with a screwdriver. Then I rewired the circuit board for the alarm system, based on schematics I’d downloaded from the alarm company’s own website. It wasn’t easy to do with my gloves on and I prayed the circuit worked.

With ten seconds to go, I took a step back and waited, counting down silently in my head. At zero, the alarm tripped, but the circuit didn’t engage, and the rest of the system had no idea there was a break in it. If I’d screwed up that part, I’d have had four minutes to get out before the loan company’s private security contractor showed up. But everything seemed okay. I listened for the secondary alarm and it didn’t trip either. I was good.

I went down the corridor, past the guards’ post, and into the safe room. I could have picked the safe, but not in the fourteen minutes I had available to me. Instead, I attached more plastic explosive to the bolt engagement mechanism, wired them to a detonator, set the timer for forty seconds, and went back into the guard post, shutting the door behind me.

The explosion this time was louder. The building shook. If anyone had been there, they’d have realized what was going on. But the guards were still blissfully unaware, munching on their frosted donuts and sweet coffee.

I went back into the safe room. The door was intact but I was able to retract the bolts manually and it swung open. Inside were hundreds of personal checks. This was the way people paid for the loans, with post-dated checks. I gathered them all up, put them in a steel bin, poured fuel on them, and lit them on fire. All those people could keep their paychecks this month. It might give them a chance to get out of the cycle of debt they were in.

Then I took out the loan ledgers, with the details of the people who’d taken out small loans during the past few days, and added them to the fire. It was as simple as that. They were poor people, unfortunate, but tonight they were catching a break. They were all off the hook for the money they’d borrowed.

Then I loaded wads of cash into my backpack. This was the money the company loaned out, and it was in neat, ten-thousand dollar stacks, delivered freshly by the bank. I counted sixty of them, six-hundred-grand. Not bad for a night’s work.

There was a computer on the desk by the safe and I opened the login terminal. I had the username and password from my surveillance and I ran a search for Rob Crawford. I shook my head when I saw the search results. The prick owed the loan sharks two and a half million dollars. He’d never be able to pay that back. He’d bankrupt himself, and Lacey, trying to buy off the debt collectors. Even his plastic surgery business wouldn’t be enough to get him out of that hole. I wondered what it was that got him into such a mess. A gambling addiction? A hooker addiction? Drugs? I shook my head. I printed out the record so that the loan sharks wouldn’t lose it. Then I wiped their records, immediately erasing the debts of all the people who’d ever taken a payday loan from the company. They were all free. All of them except Rob. I didn’t feel like extending him the same courtesy. Besides, the loan sharks weren’t about to forget a loan that big, even if I had deleted the record.