Page 5 of Crossing Every Line

He could see the indecision in Jonas’s face and knew he’d made the right call. There was something in the papers, even a small thing that would help make sense of this ridiculous will. Jonas laid his hand on top of the stack, then finally let it go.

“I want to read it as well.”

He turned to Kendall. “This is none of your concern.”

“Considering you now own fifty percent of my house, it sure the hell is my concern.” Spite and anger coated every word.

Jonas gathered his briefcase and jacket. “I’ll leave you to it. Call me if you need anything explained.”

Shane had trusted Jonas in every way but this. If his father asked Jonas to do something, he’d do it. No matter how close Shane and Jonas had become, he knew the man’s loyalty was with Larry. Even in death.

He followed Jonas out, stopping him at the door when they were alone. “Why didn’t he want me to know?”

“You know your father. There was always a reason for the things he did.”

Shane stared down at his too-new shoes as they blurred before he put the grief aside, letting anger back out. At least anger got things done. “He should have trusted me.”

“Please don’t press this issue, Shane. Let it go.”

“I can’t.”

“What he did was for the good of his employees and to make sure you could have your freedom someday.”

Shane’s shoulders stiffened. “What does that mean?”

“Lawrence knew about your furniture business. He knew your heart wasn’t in the construction business.”

He stepped back, folding his arms, digging his thumbs into his chest to keep from shaking Jonas. No one knew about his workshop. The pieces he sold were mostly out of state, out of his father’s realm of influence. They were just his, built and sold under his mother’s last name—without the charm and easy salesmanship of Lawrence Justice. He’d wanted—no, needed—to prove something to himself. Not because he was a Justice of California.

“This is a way to start over. Away from all this. Lawrence’s people will be all right. I promise.”

Shane frowned. “What does that mean?”

Jonas shook his head. “Just think about it.”

Shane closed the door after him. He needed a drink, needed a way to extinguish a little of the insanity that crawled under his skin. Everything he’d ever known was being taken from him. He wandered the lower level and found himself in his father’s study. The heavy scent of leather and the tang of lemon were so familiar they were as effective as a blow. He grabbed the decanter of whiskey off the bar and fled the room.

He found her in the conference room. The heavy mass of curls that hung over the back of the chair surprised him. Her head was resting on her hand as she flipped through the papers. She seemed at ease, until he noticed the fingers gripping her hair. His palm tingled in reaction.

A fondness for long hair could be ignored. Plenty of women had long hair, but the pale, almost white strands shot with gold lured him closer. Like moonlight and sunshine rippling together. He banged the decanter down on the table. The fanciful thoughts died with the clatter.

She jerked to a sitting position, steel rebar replacing her spine. She didn’t turn to face him. Instead, she pushed a half dozen pages down the table. “When Mr. Murray said this was full of legal jargon, he wasn’t kidding. It’s like reading Shakespeare with a side of Latin for footnotes.”

He swallowed a biting comment and sat down next to her. None of this was her fault, and he had to control himself. The only way they could make it through this mess was to cooperate with each other. “We’ll have to do the best we can.”

“Yeah, well, I forgot my legalese decoder ring.” She didn’t meet his gaze, keeping her eyes on a spot near his hands.

“Why do you care?” He fisted his fingers. “I mean, I know why I do.”

Her attention finally latched on to his face. The fierce light was back in her eyes. “I don’t want you near me or mine, Mr. Justice.” The shaky woman from earlier was gone as if she’d never been.

“Then it’s in your best interest to find what I need to know, Miss Proctor. Because if this will is right, you and I will be living out of each other’s pockets until we come to a decision on what to do with our property.”

She pressed her lips together in a tight line before relaxing. Her mouth was a touch too wide, her lips soft and distractingly full. It was a far too sinful mouth to belong to such a tiny, fine-featured woman. Add in the hair, and she could have climbed out of a mythology textbook. The sirens had nothing on her power. The tip of her tongue flicked out to wet her lips as if she knew where his thoughts had gone.

He turned away, focusing on the papers in front of him. “Until we figure out what’s going to happen, you’ll be my guest.”

“No, I have a flight to catch in three hours.”