Page 88 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

I watched with horror as the thief climbed the stairs to the bedroom, as he tried in vain to open the alarmed door. It was impossible: the only way you could access the compartment was from the key in my safe. When the alarm was triggered, the thief had run out, rushing down the stairs, not even bothering to shut the door behind him. He disappeared into the garden, and I watched as he snuck out through the gate before it could shut.

The thief had been and gone before Laura and I had even driven out of the valley the other night. Whoever it was, they’d known I was leaving. They’d picked their moment carefully, taking no chances.

I went to the safe first, and took the key. Then I went to the room and collected the journal. Finally I went to the yard and got a spade.

There was only one person who’d known I was going out of town early in the evening that night. And there was only one person who would have known the password. And one person who knew the location of the secret room the thief had tried to access.

“Laura,” I said, softly, as if I was praying it wasn’t true.

Chapter 29

Laura

“Where’s Kyle?” I said weakly.

“I sent him up to bed after dinner,” David said quietly. “Thought maybe we could talk.”

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s talk.” David and I sat in the kitchen and discussed the break-in. David told me about what had happened; the alarm, the way he’d narrowly escaped Lakeview that night.

“Look,” I said. “Maybe you’re in the clear. You had your face covered, right?”

“Of course,” said David. “There’s no way he could have figured it was me.”

“Except if he remembers you coming through the gate the other day!” I said, exasperated. David rested his hand on his chin and looked at me.

“What’s our next move?” he said.

“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “We ask him. Actually ask him.”

“Ask?” said David. “And what if we’re right? What if he isn’t who he says he is? What if he does know something about Conor? He’s just going to leave, Laura.”

“No,” I said. “He wouldn’t.” Lucien wasn’t going to leave, was he? He loved it here. At least, that was all I could tell myself. The thought of him up and vanishing in the middle of the night was too much to bear right now. I was a mass of confused feelings. I wanted to be loyal to Lucien. But I couldn’t tell my brother to drop this whole thing now. David was obsessed.

“The door wouldn’t open,” said David.

“You need the key,” I said.

“Where is it?” said David?

I blushed. How could I tell David where I’d first seen the key, dangling around Lucien’s chest? I know he suspected that I was sleeping with Lucien. It would have been almost impossible for me to hide it. But that detail didn’t matter now. Because the key wasn’t round Lucien’s neck any more. And nor was it hung up in his bedroom.

I thought for a moment, while David looked at me. His eyes shone under the dingy lamp in our kitchen.

“The safe,” I said. “It must be in the safe.”

David nodded. “All right,” he said. “Talk to him tomorrow and tell him you’re gonna work late. Catch up on all the stuff you’re behind on.”

“Excuse me?” I said. “Why do I have to work late on a weekend? David, I haven’t seen my son in two days, I—”

“Please, Laura,” said David, reaching across the table to take my hands. “You need to know. We need an end to this.”

“An end to what?” I said. “I don’t even know what it is we need to end?” And in some ways I was right. Weren’t things with Lucien good? Weren’t we happy together? And hadn’t I felt over the last few days like I could finally see a future with him? Now that my fear of Lucien had peaked, now I felt as if I finally had a shot with him. Having told him about Conor had made it almost possible to let go of the past.

But David wouldn’t be ignored. And I knew in my heart that he was right. Something was up. And Lucien wasn’t who he said he was.

“So what are we going to do?” I said softly.

“Easy,” said David. “You tell him you’ve got a lot to do. You go up. You take the key and get the journal when he leaves his office. And then we can find out what it is he’s hiding from us.”