“And if you find out she did steal from Julian’s company?” Si prompted.
“It was Dani’s,” Michael corrected.
Si chuckled. “I assure you no matter whose name is on the company, it’s all Julian’s. Are you planning on paying him back?”
“I’ll handle it for her, and I’ll make sure she’s never again in a position where she needs to steal from anyone.” He would protect her. “If she took the money, she had a good reason. She needed it.”
She might be using it to pay her attorney fees. The lawyers wouldn’t keep working if they didn’t get paid. He would take care of that, too.
“I don’t think that will mean anything to Julian,” Si pointed out. “He’s not known for his kind heart when it comes to people who fuck him over.”
“I’ll make sure he understands.” He could handle Julian. At least he hoped he could. If the situation upset Dani, Julian would be completely unreasonable, and Michael would have to protect her from his wrath.
He would do whatever he had to do to make sure she was safe. Even if it meant convincing her to give up on the lawsuit.
“You’re serious about her,” Si said softly.
“I am.” He’d known he was through fooling himself when he’d seen her with the kids. He couldn’t pretend she was nothing more than a good lay. His heart was involved, and that meant things had gotten very complicated. “I have to decide how to handle the investigation. My first instinct is to hide the fact that I had different intentions.”
“It always comes out,” Si replied. “Whether you tell her now or she finds out later, she will find out.”
Yeah, that seemed to be the general consensus.
“Then she should hear it from me.” He’d been thinking about it for days, his gut in knots. Except when he was in bed with her. When he was making love to Vanessa, he forgot about everything but her. In those moments the world fell away, and he was content.
Was he about to lose her?
“She should,” Si agreed. “You need to make her understand that the feelings you have are real even if they started out as something else.”
“I don’t think that will matter as much as me being the one who called the press down on her head so she would need a place to go.” He wasn’t proud of that now.
Si’s eyes widened. “Bloody hell. I’m glad I’m out of this business. Finding missing persons is so much cleaner a job. I don’t miss the days of subterfuge. You might not tell her that part of the story until you’ve been married a couple of years.”
Maybe she’d forgive him if they had a couple of babies. She would have to, right?
He was thinking of marrying her. Not thinking. He was planning on marrying her.
There was a knock on his door and then Deke was walking through.
Deke had a laptop in his hands and a frown on his face. “I have something I need to show you.”
Simon took that as his cue. “I’ll be down in my office if you need anything. And we’ll plan that dinner.”
Michael nodded and then turned to Deke after the door closed behind his cousin. “What’s going on?”
“I’ve got movement on a couple of fronts.” Deke settled into the chair across from him. “First, you should know that I’ve identified the PI who wrote the report Junior sent your mother. He’s your usual investigator. Mostly works divorces and insurance scams. I believe he’s still following Vanessa around.”
“Yeah, I picked up a tail a couple of days ago.” He’d thought it was probably press, but he hadn’t wanted to worry Vanessa. “He’s been following me after I drop Vanessa off. I started taking her into the parking garage instead of dropping her at the front door. I’m using the rain as an excuse, but I won’t be able to forever.”
“I can go talk to the man,” Deke offered. “Try to get a feel for how long this harassment is going to continue.”
“Excellent.” It was time to start protecting her. “Take one of the lawyers with you. I want him to understand Junior isn’t the only person with an interest in Vanessa. What else do you have?”
“I think it’s safe to say that Ruby was our hacker,” Deke continued. “I’ve been watching the kid to see what she does when she’s not around Vanessa. MaeBe’s been on some of the same boards, posing as a high school hacker, and she’s gotten Ruby to talk a little. You won’t fucking believe who she’s looking into now.”
He didn’t want to guess. “Julian?”
Deke shook his head. “Kyle.”
“Why would she look into Kyle?” Michael couldn’t help but remember how Vanessa had studied Kyle that first night at The Club. She’d been fascinated with the younger man. Was Ruby doing some background on her friend’s secret crush?