One More Day (The Alexanders 1)

“Really? Well, tell that to my brother’s bank account. She was crafty about it, too. She only took smaller amounts at first. Then, once she realized what the limits were, she jumped to higher amounts. I should have known not to believe her woe-is-me story, but she had us all fooled. She’s even better at playing men than you are. Something I thought I’d never see.”

Anger rose in Raina’s chest at the insult. Not on her own behalf. She didn’t care what Nick thought of her. He had good reason to hate her and she wouldn’t have expected anything less. But her sister had nothing to do with their feud.

“Insult me all you want, but leave my sister out of it. I don’t believe she stole anything. I think you just hate me so much that you want to hate her, too.”

“Ask for proof,” Sam whispered. He hovered at her shoulder so close he could no doubt hear the entire conversation.

“Send me some proof,” Raina demanded.

“Proof? Like a bank statement? Why, so you can get his account number and steal from him, too?”

“Damn it, Nick. Do you want your brother’s money back or not? I know Ridley didn’t steal from him, but someone did. If I can figure out who it was, maybe we can reverse it somehow.”

“It’s not about the money. He loved her, Raina. But you all don’t care about that, do you? That’s how you girls do it. Make a man fall for you and then rip his heart out.” He paused, his angry breaths coming over the line like static.

Sam raised his eyebrows at her. He’d been with her long enough that he’d pretty much seen and heard it all. He’d handled stalkers, obsessive fans, and jealous boyfriends and she never kept anything from him. In order to keep her safe, there couldn’t be secrets.

But this thing with Nick—he didn’t even know what had happened the night they were together. She turned her back to Sam and fought to bring her emotions under control. Some things were too personal to share, even with him.

“Are we still talking about Jackson and Ridley?”

The only response was the soft click as he hung up.

Raina squeezed the phone as tightly as she could bear. It was better than giving in to the overwhelming urge to throw it across the room.

“Do you think she did it?”

Raina turned at the question. Sam was at the minibar, which was cleverly hidden in an alcove in the living room of the suite. He held up one of the bottles and she nodded. She could definitely use a drink.

“No.”

“Honestly?” Sam stared at her for a moment before turning back to the drinks. The next thing she heard was the tinkle of ice hitting glass.

Raina heaved a sigh and sank down on the couch. “When we were teenagers, we used to help our mom at the diner where she worked to earn spending money. One day, Ridley had a customer who was particularly flirty. Older guy, nice suit, going bald but still in the comb-over phase of denial. You know the type.”

Sam nodded his agreement and turned back to pour a generous amount in each glass.

“Anyway, after an hour or so, he finally left, leaving the money to cover his food on the table. When Ridley went to pick it up, she saw he’d left behind a twenty-dollar bill when he’d only had a cup of coffee and a muffin.”

Sam handed her a glass and sat down on the other end of the couch. He didn’t interrupt, although she could see his confusion.

“Do you know what I would have done in her position?”

Sam shrugged and took a healthy swallow of his drink.

“I would have pocketed it without a second thought. Do you know what Ridley did?”

Sam sat back, comprehension dawning. “She wanted to give it back?”

“She chased the poor man for two blocks to give him his change. Imagine her surprise when he told her he’d left it on purpose. As a tip. She’s always so surprised when men flirt with her.” She smiled at the memory.

Sam shook his head. “So, she was a good kid. People can change.”

“Sure they can, but I don’t think the core of a person changes so easily. You see, she wasn’t giving the money back because she thought she’d get in trouble or because someone was watching. She was actually worried that he’d need the money. She cares about people. Any of the rest of us would have considered it his loss and our gain. But not Ri.”

“So, she’s not a thief and this is some kind of mistake.”

“It’s not a mistake. I don’t think someone mistakenly wired this money into my sister’s account. I think someone did it on purpose and I think I know who. I think it was Nick.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “You think he’d steal from his own brother just to make your sister look guilty?”

“I think he hates me enough to do just about anything. He’s a financial genius, so I’m sure a little bit of wire fraud isn’t out of the realm of possibility. I just need you to prove it for me.”

“It seems a little far-fetched, but I’ll see what I can do.”

She checked her phone again, surprised to see that Nick had actually sent her the bank statements as she’d asked.

“Look. Here it is.” She handed Sam her phone and watched as he scrolled through the e-mail attachment.

“Oh, she definitely didn’t do it.”

“Well, I know that. But why are you suddenly so certain?”

He leaned over and pointed to something on the screen of her phone. “This is Ridley’s regular bank account, right? It’s under her real name.”

“Yeah, so?”