Dani stood, facing her husband. “I moved that money, Julian. I used Vanessa’s system because I didn’t want to tip you off. It seems I didn’t do a good job.”
“Why would you do that?” Julian asked, his brows coming together.
“Because you’re very stubborn about certain things, my sister being one of them,” Dani replied. “Because she was about to lose her house, and it’s not about Val. It’s about my nieces. I can’t let them be homeless.”
“You sent Val money?” Julian asked. “Fifty thousand dollars?”
Vanessa knew the story. Dani had explained that her sister was a terrible person who Julian and Finn both loathed. But she had two small girls Dani adored, and she couldn’t turn her back on them. She’d thought Julian wouldn’t notice the money being gone.
It seemed like Julian knew a lot of things he shouldn’t.
Dani started to argue, but all Vanessa could think about was how Julian would know what was on the rat-trap computer she’d left behind when she couldn’t go back. Deke hadn’t brought it with him.
Deke, who had a key to her place because he was “checking” up on things.
Deke, who worked for a security firm. Who did investigations. The same firm Michael worked for.
“Danielle, anything I have is yours.” Julian had moved into his wife’s space, his hands on her hips as he stared down at her. “If you want to buy your sister’s mortgage out, you can. I only ask that…”
“Well, I didn’t put it in her name,” Dani shot back. “I know her too well. She would sell the whole thing and come back to me after she spent the money. I own the house. She lives in it.”
Vanessa’s brain was still working, still putting together pieces that fit into a nasty puzzle. Michael was an investigator. He didn’t attend The Club. He had his own club. He’d given her some excuse on why he wanted to explore, but the logical explanation was that Julian had known she was lying, and he needed someone to figure out why.
“Forgive me, Danielle. I should have come to you in the beginning.” Julian had his forehead resting against his wife’s, their intimacy plain for anyone who was watching. “Let’s call Finn and take the afternoon off so we can talk. Wolf can get the children from school, and we’ll go down to The Club like we used to.”
There was so much love between them. Dani had two men who adored her, a whole family who craved her attention. She took care of a sister who apparently didn’t deserve it.
Vanessa was always the one who didn’t deserve care. She wasn’t sure why, but the world told her that again and again and again.
Her own sister hadn’t wanted her love and attention when she was dying.
“I would like that, Master,” Dani said softly.
Julian would do anything to protect Dani. Even hire someone to investigate her new “friend.”
She wouldn’t have trusted anyone who worked for him or who’d been in The Club for a long time. “It was smart to go with the training Dom. He even told me what he did, and I never suspected him.”
She should have.
“What?” Dani had turned her way.
She knew this wasn’t Dani’s fault, but she didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with it right now. She merely needed confirmation of what she knew had to be true. She kept her eyes on Julian. “Michael Malone is investigating me, isn’t he?”
She’d made it easy on him. She’d fallen right into his hands the first time they’d met. Julian had watched to make sure his plan was going to work.
“Vanessa, all I knew was…” Julian began.
“What do you mean Michael is investigating you?” Dani had stepped back. “Honey, he’s your training Dom. I know he works for McKay-Taggart, but no one would try to trick you like that.”
“What is the blackmail he found on the system at my sister’s?” She ignored Dani’s explanation. It was obvious she didn’t know what her husband had done. She tried her best to go cold. She didn’t want him to see her cry. She wanted him to confirm that she’d been sleeping with a man who had hopped into her bed in order to prove what a criminal she was.
Julian sighed and ran a hand over his head, smoothing back his dark hair. “It was something about you sleeping with your stepson. I’m not sure if you were the one being blackmailed or the blackmailer. I thought perhaps it was why you took the money. Vanessa, I’m sorry. I didn’t understand what was going on.”
“You could have asked her.” Dani was suddenly looking like she didn’t want to take that trip down to the dungeon. “Julian, she’s sleeping with him. She’s in love with him.”
“And I didn’t mean for that to happen. We don’t know that Michael doesn’t have real feelings for her. It certainly wasn’t my intention to do anything more than find out what she was doing.” For the first time since she’d met the man, Julian didn’t seem to be in control of the world.