Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“No.” Garrett could see through this. “I wouldn’t take that deal for anything in the world. Keane wouldn’t take it either, even though he fully believes Olivia will reject him once she knows what happened in the past. He still won’t take that money. He certainly wouldn’t take it in exchange for the one thing he’s found that makes it all worthwhile. I’m not going to tell you his story. That’s his, but talk to your brother. There’s a reason Lucas wanted him to have this chance.”
“You won’t take the money?” Jack sounded confused.
“You cannot buy me, and in this case I’m going to speak for my Dom, too. He won’t take the money and he’ll take his chances in prison, though you should know it’s the one thing he’s feared for years.”
Jack considered him for a moment. “You’re speaking for your Dom?”
“Could Sam speak for you?”
Jack sighed and reached for his wife’s hand, tugging her up and onto his lap where she settled in like it was something she had done a million times before. This was the comfort of a long-term marriage. She calmed him and made him feel safe enough to be vulnerable. “Of course he could. He always could. Since the day we met.”
“Now that I do understand.”
Jack seemed to breathe in his wife’s scent and relaxed. “I’m going to have to apologize. I hurt him and I shouldn’t have. I hated the look in his eyes when he walked out.”
When he’d said I’m no one’s son.
“You could start by talking to the sheriff and getting him to back down. You have proof it wasn’t him,” Garrett pointed out. “Getting him out of that cell will go a long way to fixing things. Once you get to know Keane, you’ll understand he’s exactly the type of man you want on Olivia’s side.”
Abby gave him a beatific smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The door came open, and Sam was suddenly in the doorway, a worried expression on his face. “Jack, we’ve got trouble.”
Garrett immediately stepped forward. “What is it? Is it Keane? I’m his attorney.”
Jack frowned as he gently guided Abby up. “You are not. You are a corporate attorney. We’re getting him the best criminal defense lawyer in the state if I can’t convince the sheriff he’s got evidence to exonerate Keane.”
“It’s not Keane,” Sam said. “It’s Olivia. She’s been arrested.”
“What?” Garrett wasn’t the only one who said the word. Abby and Jack were right there with him.
“She’s lost her damn mind. She said she was going to talk to Keane tonight one way or another, so she slapped the shit out of that Jessica girl, though I will say she did that before she said the stuff about talking to Keane. I think she really wanted to do that, and the girl deserved it. So then when the girl ran away, Olivia told Jimmy he could arrest her or she would call Betsy Ann, since he was flirting with the girl, and he caved. They’re taking her back now.”
“You know they could have done that without actually arresting her,” Abby said with a frown. “I knew she would do something like this.”
“He didn’t book her or anything,” Sam allowed. “I think he was trying to get her not to tell his wife. I think we can get her out.”
“Don’t.” Garrett held a hand up. “She wants to talk to him.”
Jack turned to him. “She’s heard the news. What if she’s going in there to tell him off? We should talk to her first. Didn’t you say Keane thinks she’ll reject him?”
Garrett’s head shook. “She won’t. That’s Keane’s insecurity showing. It has nothing to do with her. I always knew if she loved us, his past wouldn’t matter. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s going to make her love him more. Let her deal with him. She knows what she’s doing. She’s not allowing him to sit in there alone brooding about losing her.”
“But she’s in a cell,” Jack said. “It could be dangerous.”
“Jimmy won’t let anything happen to her.” Abby slipped her hand back into Jack’s and Sam moved to his other side, surrounding the Dom with their affection. “He knows you would be upset, and I believe he peed himself the last time you came around with a complaint. Let Olivia do what she needs to do. Besides, you need to call your brother and tell him you’re not firing his favorite coworker. He’s threatening to come up here, you know.”
Jack sighed. “I’ll do it.”
Garrett had some questions first. He couldn’t help but put a few things together. Ruby had told him earlier that Jessica Fellows was in Texas. Was she here looking for her man? Or was she here for other reasons? “We need to talk about this witness. You said it, but I forgot her name.”