Fool Me Once (First Wives Series Book 1) Read online

  Chapter Seventeen Lori stepped away from her priority seat on the commercial airline slightly frazzled. The hour delay on her flight gave her very little time to commute into Manhattan for her two o’clock meeting with Mr. Crockett and Trina. Thankfully, she didn’t need to stick around the airport for luggage since she only had a carry-on. “I’m late,” she told the driver she’d hired to pick her up from the airport. The second he closed the door and settled behind the wheel, she said, “I’ll pay for your speeding ticket.” He glanced at her from the rearview mirror and sped off. Gotta love New York. Hand gestures and horns, the drivers took a “hold no prisoner” approach to driving in order to get where they wanted. How any of the cars there survived was a mystery. Lori fingered through the files on Alice Petrov and her estimated wealth that she’d obtained before Trina married Fedor. During her flight, she’d spent the first hour reading before lingering jet lag knocked her out. When she wok

  Chapter Eighteen Lori called the driver from the morning’s commute to drive her to Trina’s estate. Within a half an hour, she was en route out of the city and on the phone. “Our client’s father-in-law cornered me,” she told Sam from the back seat. “Explain ‘cornered.’” Lori told her about Ruslan’s actions. “I’m not going to lie, he rattled me.” “I don’t like this, Lori.” “I’m not exactly a fan either.” She watched the city disappear behind them as they entered the tunnel and left Manhattan. “Extra security for you.” “I don’t have anything the man wants.” “If that’s true, why did he approach you in the first place?” Lori hesitated. “I’m calling Neil.” “Sam!” “You can argue, but you’re not going to win. Where are you now?” “On my way to Trina’s.” “You’re staying with her?” “I am.” “Okay. I’ll make sure there’s a shadow for you when you land back in LA.” Lori groaned. “Get over yourself. I’ve had a shadow forever.” “You’re married to a duke,” Lori reminded her. “As if anyone cares about t

  Chapter Nineteen Reed arrived at Lori’s condominium complex before she did. The doorman wasn’t the same man as when he was there several days before. Reed made sure to make eye contact and smile as he moved past the doors and to the concierge desk. The petite African American woman behind the desk smiled as he approached. “Good afternoon,” she greeted him. “Hello. Reed Barlow for Ms. Cumberland in 1208.” She glanced at the computer. “There you are. I see that Ms. Cumberland is out of town until this afternoon. It’s our policy to advise guests to call on our residents when they are home, Mr. Barlow.” Good, they didn’t just let people in. “Lori’s on the way from the airport now.” She kept smiling. “You understand that we need to have you wait for her down here unless she advises us otherwise.” “Perfectly acceptable,” he told her. He removed a photograph from his back pocket, slid it across the desk. “Have you seen this man, by any chance?” “I don’t believe so.” “He’s made threats toward

  Chapter Twenty “I need more information from you,” Reed told his client the following Monday. “What kind of information?” “You want to discredit Wentworth.” “If you say it a little louder, the whole world will hear you.” Reed put his phone to his other ear and stared at his wall while he spoke. “One politician slinging mud at another isn’t news. It’s expected. Besides, my line is secure.” “Yes, Reed. I’ve told you this.” “And you’re looking at his ex-wife to find something.” “Most ex-wives are pissed enough to let something out.” Except Shannon wasn’t pissed . . . she was hurt. “If she’s ticked, she’s not showing it.” “Wentworth is way too clean. The state was charmed enough by his whirlwind wedding and delightful bride to elect him. Even their divorce barely put a dent in his armor. No one is that spotless.” Reed agreed, but he didn’t see a victim here. The public at large wasn’t unhappy with the current governor, nor had they been overly distraught when the man divorced. In fact, the

  Chapter Twenty-One Humidity hit them as soon as they exited the airport. “I could never live here,” Lori muttered as Reed placed their luggage in the back of the rental car. “I spent a summer here when I was a kid, swore I’d never do it again,” he said, keeping small talk going while he kept an eye on the people walking around. Sasha had walked right through first class before sneaking just out of the first cabin and settling two rows back in coach. The back of Reed’s head burned the entire flight. Lori slid into the passenger seat, and he took one more look around before taking the wheel. “If it wasn’t so hot, I wouldn’t mind traveling here more often. The people seem to take life a little easier.” “Nothing slows down in LA.” She pulled her shirt away from her chest a few times, and he twisted the fan on high. “Okay, copilot. Where am I going?” Reed asked. “The hotel. I’ll touch base with Trina, and then we have dinner with Alice’s sisters. Tomorrow we face the board.” Reed removed hi

  Chapter Twenty-Two Reed caught the whites of Sasha’s eyes as they walked into the lobby of the hotel. She slipped into the hotel bar while he and Carl, Trina’s bodyguard, walked the women up to Trina’s suite. Lori had made it clear she needed to talk with Trina alone before the meeting with the board. Once the three of them were in the room, he made his excuses and made his way to the hotel bar. “Here to buy me a drink?” Sasha asked, tipping her amber-filled glass in his direction. Reed waited until the bartender moved away to get him his beer. Watered down liquor was a better idea than anything hard he might be tempted to slam. “You work for Petrov.” It wasn’t a question. Her sigh might be seductive to a man who didn’t already feel the need to protect another one. “I work for the highest bidder, just like you.” “I’m not like you.” “Which is why you’re down here talking to me instead of watching over your woman.” His back teeth started to strain under the pressure he placed on them. “T

  Chapter Twenty-Three “Change of plans,” Lori announced when she walked into the room at the hotel. “You finally decided to try skydiving?” Reed teased. He was sitting by the window, his laptop open. “You wish. No . . . but horseback riding might come into play.” She moved to the closet and removed her suitcase. He closed his computer. “Horses include luggage?” “You’re a funny guy.” Reed moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “I crack myself up all the time.” He kissed her neck. Her spine chilled. “None of that. We’re going to Trina’s.” “Across the hall?” “That would be a bit crowded. No . . .” Lori rolled out of his arms and into the bathroom to gather her toiletries. “Alice left a ranch to Trina.” Reed moved to the doorway, leaned against it. “Let me guess, one of those houses is right here in Texas.” She picked up her makeup bag and patted Reed’s cheek as she walked by. “Funny and wise.” “I take it today’s visit to the oil company went well.” “It did. Trina is finally star

  Chapter Twenty-Four Reed rolled his special pen in his hand while he glared at the flash drive microphone sitting on his desk. What the hell was he doing? Was this how good cops turned bad? One case? One twist of ethics that turned them into douchebags playing for the wrong team? At some point in this investigation he’d sold a tiny bit of his soul. Because the more he learned about Lori and her gaggle of rich and lonely friends, the more he felt for them. And who would have thought that was possible? God, what the hell was wrong with him? He knew sleeping with her had been a bad idea the first time he’d done it. He couldn’t help himself. And now . . . he didn’t want to help himself. He felt like an addict every time he drove to the city. One last time, he’d chant. Plant the bug, make his excuses . . . then she’d smile and the lawyer in her would stop at the door and the flirt wearing a thong would come out. Yeah, he wasn’t going anywhere. Because Ruslan was gunning for her. And Sasha w

  Chapter Twenty-Five When another week passed without so much as one sighting of Ruslan and his men, Lori shooed off the bodyguard. “Neil isn’t going to be pleased,” Cooper told her as he tried to talk her into changing her mind. “Good thing Neil’s opinion isn’t needed here. I might feel a little guilty if I thought you’d be out of work, but I know that isn’t the case.” “The Harrisons will be back in a week.
I can hang until then.” Lori felt the need to pack Cooper a lunch to send him on his way. “And I’ll talk to Sam in a week. Sooner if I need to. Now c’mon . . . you’re a young guy. I’m sure there’s some hottie out there waiting to spend time with you.” Lori stood behind her desk and checked the time. Her next client was in five minutes. She’d scheduled the time to buzz Cooper off between clients to avoid argument. It wasn’t working. “Just because everything is silent doesn’t mean there aren’t things in play.” “That may be, but my life has been interrupted enough because of one man’s

  Chapter Twenty-Six Reed placed both hands on the wall in his office and cringed. Lori made a decent living working the legal end of Alliance alone. Million-dollar mergers from which she made a percentage. No need to go to court. No need to file extra papers. Write up a prenuptial . . . execute a prenuptial. What a scam. Only none of it was illegal that he could see. There might be a question of morality, and certainly in the case of Trina Petrov, someone, somewhere was going to question the legality of a fake marriage resulting in her ending up with half a billion dollars. And yes, Paul Wentworth and his fake wife, Shannon, wouldn’t be very credible if the facts leaked to the public. He had the information his client needed. Not the proof, but enough to deliver, collect a check, and walk away. Reed knew, without a second look, he wasn’t going to deliver this information to Senator Knight. She’d find out the public facts. Lori Cumberland worked with the rich and famous, and she was the

  Chapter Twenty-Seven All night he’d wanted to confess. The trip was his way of taking her miles from home, where she couldn’t run off, where she had to listen to his story and how he’d managed to get where he was. And somewhere, in all his fucked-upness, he would convince her he wasn’t a bad guy. Only now, she was sound asleep in his arms, and he was staring out the open window, letting the sound of the ocean keep him company. He’d tell her in the morning. Slowly, his body sank into the mattress and his mind numbed enough to sleep. A buzzing woke him hours later when the sun started to brighten the morning sky. Half-awake, he recognized his cell phone was the source of his alarm. Because the ring had been silenced, the only sound was the buzz and vibration on the bedside table. He rolled over, planning on ignoring it and enjoying the warm body snuggled next to his, when the thing went off again. He flung his arm out, grasped the thing, and took a quick look at the flash on his screen.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight Reed’s first thought was to call Danny, but then he switched gears. He picked up speed on the freeway in an effort to catch up to the black sedan taking Lori home. The desk and valet at the hotel delayed him long enough to give Lori a fifteen-minute head start. The phone through the system in his Jeep rang several times before Cooper picked up. “Cooper.” “It’s Reed. I need you to be at Lori’s when she gets there.” “Is she okay?” The tone in Cooper’s voice said he was waking up. “No. I fucked up. She’s not thinking straight.” “What the—” “I’m sure you’ll hear the details, but what you need to know is she is still being watched. Petrov has a woman following her. Five seven, looks like a Russian movie star, complete with an accent, although she spoke at least two languages. Who knows how many more. So she might be able to disguise herself.” “How do you know all this?” “Not important. Just be there, Cooper. Lori should be back home within the hour. If she won’t let you

  Chapter Twenty-Nine Once Lori stopped crying, Avery made her get dressed so she could drag her away from her condo. Cooper shadowed them while a new set of men moved around her space, searching for more bugs. This time placed by Reed. Sam met them with bags of food from a local restaurant and several bottles of wine. Avery Ubered in ice cream and chocolate. With all the breakup food covered, the three of them sat around Avery’s living room with music playing in the background. Sam was the hardest to look at. Lori trusted the wrong man, and now everything the woman had worked for was at risk. “I’m so sorry, Sam.” Fit for the occasion in yoga pants and a big sweatshirt, Sam crossed her legs under her. “Okay . . . you’ve said that, now let that go. Whatever Reed did, or is doing, isn’t on you.” “I trusted him.” “We all trusted him,” Avery said from her kitchen, where she gathered dishes for their lunch/dinner/whatever meal it was when you only ate once in a day and planned to be pissing d

  Chapter Thirty “What are we watching?” Reed had his unwelcome partner park up the street from a mail center. “I managed to acquire a credit card number from Sasha. It was sent here.” Rick peered out the window. “What makes you think she’s ever coming back?” “She might not, but until she uses the card, it’s all I have to go on.” “How often have you been sitting here?” “Whenever I wasn’t with Lori. And when I was, I had a colleague helping out.” “I thought you said you didn’t like partners.” “Colleague, not a partner.” “How sure are you that she works for Petrov?” The question made his head itch. “She knew of Petrov . . . and she knew of the person who hired me.” “So she’s good at what she does.” “Yes.” “How soon will we hear from your contacts with the fingerprints?” Reed told them about the wineglass and cell phone. “Takes a day to run through the database. The fact she had the card sent here points in the direction that she might be local.” “That was my guess, too.” Rick looked at the

  Chapter Thirty-One Reed’s ass had melded to his desk chair as he searched the Internet for pictures from the cruise to get an image of Sasha. Trying to find out the names of the people on the airplane he had shared with Lori en route to Texas was a waste of time. TSA had shut those things down like the locks at Fort Knox. Pounding on Reed’s front door shook him from his caffeine coma. He reached for his gun, loaded the chamber, and slowly walked to his door. “Put it away, Reed.” Sad that Reed had already learned the sound of Rick’s voice. He relaxed the grip on his weapon and opened the door. “What now?” Rick ducked his head into Reed’s apartment. “Dude, you need to clean up around here. Women hate slobs.” “Everyone’s a critic.” He opened the door wider. Rick didn’t bother walking in. “C’mon.” “Where are we going?” “Sasha used the credit card.” Reed shook the dark away. “’Bout time.” He ran through his apartment, turned off his computer, grabbed his cell, his keys, and put on a jacket

  Chapter Thirty-Two “Sam’s on line two, she said it’s an emergency.” Lori accidentally pressed the wrong line. “Sam?” “I’m on hold for—” She disconnected the man on the line, pressed the next one. “Sam?” “Lori?” “What’s happening?” Her heart was pounding. Sam didn’t cry wolf, and emergencies were never mentioned unless it was. “I need to know exactly how you met Susan Wilson.” “The new client?” “Not a client. I scheduled a quick meeting to get a feel for her. Before I had an opportunity to really speak with her, Rick and Reed showed up.” Lori’s head spun. “Reed? What was he doing with—” “I don’t have the details. They ran out the door. The woman is obviously not who she says she is. No new clients on either end until further notice. Now tell me again how this woman approached you . . .” Once the call with Sam was over, Lori pushed away from her desk and stormed into her lobby. Her resident loiterer glanced up, smiled, then looked back down to his book. “Cooper!” He snapped his eyes up.

  Chapter Thirty-Three “I don’t have it.” Petrov slowly rubbed the edges of his fingers against the Colombian cigar. “That isn’t the right answer,” he said into the speakerphone. “I need more time.” “You’re out of time.” “Wasn’t it I who told you about Alliance? Wasn’t it I who led you to the lawyer in the first place?” “The lawyer who is physically surrounded by security and cameras. A lawyer who has managed to tighten up one loophole after the other in less than a week. A paltry woman who is no longer the easy target you claimed she would be.” The cigar snapped in his hand. “Another week.” “Belinda, do you know what I do to people who disappoint me?” “These things take time.” “Four days.” “Petrov!” “Four. Days.” He ended the call and rang for his help. “She’s a loose end. Take her out in three days, sooner if she makes contact.” A half nod and his guard backed out of the room
. Petrov looked at the broken cigar in his hand before crushing it inside his fist. All week long her head was b

  Chapter Thirty-Four Reed answered his phone without looking at the number. “The favors keep adding up, Reed.” He dropped the fork that was halfway to his mouth. “What the—” “Warehouse.” Sasha rattled off an address as he scrambled to find a pen. He wrote the information down on his hand. “Is it Lori?” he asked. “Her brother. Who all of you overestimated to be able to fend for himself.” Reed’s brief relief was followed by renewed panic. “Why Danny? He doesn’t know anything.” “Leverage. Desperate people do desperate things. Might wanna hurry. Petrov’s men are coming for the woman holding him, but will think of him as collateral damage and take the shot without asking. Bring backup. I draw the line at killing anyone for a job.” “How many men?” “She has two, I count three of Petrov’s goons. None of these men have tasted a carb in five years.” “Stay out of the way.” “Ahh, you care.” He hung up in reply. He walked right up to the terribly hidden camera in a vent, stared at it, and read off t

  Chapter Thirty-Five He jumped out of the Jeep, running. Sandwiched between a cardboard factory and a building warehousing something in the fashion industry sat the botanical warehouse Sasha identified as housing Danny. It was Sunday, and the unions did a great job of making sure work halted for the weekends. Outside of a few cars scattered around, there wasn’t any outside activity. He felt the mist known as Sasha nearby. He practiced evasive maneuvers in an effort to not give away his position as he moved from building to building. The sporadic windows of the botanical warehouse were close to the eaves of the two-story building. None of which were accessible to him . . . or anyone else. He swept his eyes over the rooftops and didn’t see movement. The massive door to the warehouse was open by an inch. Instead of considering that route, where he would have placed a guard if he were holding someone hostage, Reed looked for other options. The north side of the building presented itself. Ou