The woman behind the desk pushes her glasses up her nose and lets her eyes linger over the three of us. They stop on Aurora, and her eyes widen. I’m about to ask her what the fuck her deal is when Martin himself appears from a doorway just across the hall.
“Owen,” he greets.
“Mr. Riggins,” Owen counters. He’s got his game face on.
“Right. Mr. Riggins, Mr. Riggins.” He nods to me. “Ms. Steele, I presume?”
“This is my fiancée,” I tell him. I release her hand and move mine to the small of her back.
“Come on in,” Martin says, refusing to make further eye contact. “Lucy, hold my calls,” the bastard says like he’s something special. Little does he know we’ll have his fucking job if this isn’t cleared up.
“Yes, sir,” Lucy says, her voice shaking.
I’m not sure what this chick’s issue is, but it’s not my problem either. It’s time to get some answers.
“Martin,” Owen says, deliberately using his first name. It’s a kick in the nuts to him, knowing that Owen refuses to let him use his own. “What have you got for us?” Owen turns to Aurora and points to one of the guest chairs directly across from Martin’s desk. She takes the hint and moves to sit. I stand behind her with my hands on her shoulders, with Owen standing next to me.
“Well, I’m afraid that I don’t have the best news, Mr. Riggins,” he says, his gaze locked on me.
“You’re stalling.” Owen crosses his arms over his chest.
“Well, it appears that Ms. Steele’s fiancé has withdrawn the funds from their joint account.” He smirks.
My blood boils.
Fiancé? I’m her fucking fiancé, or at least I’m going to be. I look down to find Aurora turns in her seat, peering up at me. There is confusion written all over her face. My gut tells me that this isn’t her cheating on me or playing me for our money.
Looking up at Martin, I pin him with a deadly stare. “I need a name.”
“Elijah Davis.” He smirks.
“What?” Aurora is out of her seat. “That man is not my fiancé. Not anymore. We were engaged, and he stood me up on our wedding day,” she says before the first tears begin to fall. “How does he even have access to this account?”
“You opened the account together,” he says, holding a folder out.
Owen grabs it and takes a look at what’s inside. “These are copies. I want the originals. Now,” he adds.
“No, we most certainly did not. I don’t want anything to do with him. My sister and I opened that account when we moved to Nashville.”
“Well, I-I—” Martin stumbles over his words.
“Let me tell you how this is going to go. You’re going to leave this room and not come back until you have the originals in hand. If it was electronic, I need to see the date and time stamp of the signature. And before you tell me you don’t have that information, don’t waste your breath on the lie. I know you do.” Owen tosses the folder in the chair and takes a step forward, placing his hand on the desk. Leaning over, his voice is lethal. “I want those documents. You have one hour to retrieve them, or Riggins pulls their money, and this bank will be hit with a lawsuit that will have the walls of this six-story building crumbling all around you.” He stands to his full height. “We’ll be here waiting.”
“R-Right. I-I’ll just go get those,” Martin says, hurrying from the room.
“Grant,” Aurora cries. “What’s going on? How could Elijah have access to my account?”
I don’t know what to say to her. My mind is still trying to catch up to my heart that tells me she’s not in on this scam that’s being played. That this isn’t some ploy for her to extort money from me. I know her. I know she’s not capable of something like this, but the years of women chasing me and my brothers for our money…. Hell, Royce’s ex-wife comes to mind, and my mind is a little slow to get on the same page as my heart. So, I keep my lips clamped shut because I’m not sure what to say or to think right now. I’m smart enough to know she didn’t do it, but these conflicting feelings are racing through me. I just need a minute. Instead of my words, I place my hands back on her shoulders and give them a gentle squeeze.
“Rory.” Owen sits in the seat next to her, placing the folder on Martin’s desk. I watch as he reaches over and takes her hands in his. “I trust you. I need you to know that before we have this conversation. However, I need to ask these questions for the sake of absolute clarity. You with me?” he asks her.
“Y-Yes.”
“Who is Elijah Daniels?”
She keeps her eyes on him as she begins to tell the story. “He was my fiancé.” She goes on to tell him about the mental and verbal abuse he threw at her and how he pretty much ignored her when her gran died and then left her sitting at the church just minutes before they were supposed to be married.
“Bastard,” Owen seethes, his eyes catching mine.
I can’t speak for the anger coursing through my veins, hearing the story all over again. My arms ache to hold her, to take this all away. I remember the night she told me her past, and my mind finally catches up. She has nothing to do with this. I know that. I feel like a fucking tool for even considering it.
“When did you open your account here?” Owen asks.
“When we moved here. I had a small inheritance from my grandmother. I used most of it for the lease on the bakery, and the little I had left went into my account here. They gave me a loan for the renovations. That’s how this mess started. I got a letter telling me that my payment failed.”
“Is there anyone else on the account?”
She nods. “Aspen.” Her tear-filled eyes find mine, and I break. After walking around her chair, I drop to my knees and cradle her face in the palm of my hands.
“We’re going to figure this out. I promise,” I say, leaning in and kissing her forehead.
“I’m sorry. When he showed up at the bakery, he wanted money. He said I owed him, and he looked… crazy. I just blew it off to him being him. He told me that he would get it one way or the other, but I didn’t take his threat as serious. His words hurt me for so long, and seeing him… it was like my time with him didn’t exist. You healed me, Grant, and I just wanted him to go away. I ignored him, and he left. I haven’t heard from him since.”
“He came to see you?” My voice is tight. I don’t want to yell at her, but fuck me, she should have told me about this. She nods. “Why didn’t you tell me?” My question seems to light something inside her. A fire I’ve never seen before. She sits up taller, squaring her shoulders, and although tears are still falling from her eyes, she locks her gaze on me, and I know that whatever she’s about to say is going to tip my world on its axis.
Chapter 28
Aurora
“He stole my life from me. He annihilated my spirit and broke my faith in men. He tore me down and left me when he knew I was the most vulnerable. I’ve told you the basics, but do you know what it’s like for a man to tell you to not eat for at least a month, if not longer, in order to look good in your wedding dress?” I pause when Grant’s hands drop from my face and his fists clench. “Every day he would ridicule what I was wearing, how bad I looked, and what I was eating. I gave up everything I loved for him. I stopped baking. I stopped eating the foods that I loved to create, and I ate what he told me to eat. It sounds petty when I say it out loud.”