Daddy's Angel (Montana Daddies 7)

“Larry ever see you unlock your computer with your password? Any chance he knew it?” Aleki asked.

She rubbed her pounding head. “Yeah. It’s likely he knew it. Oh God, you really think she planted those letters?”

“The file was put on your computer at 2:48pm yesterday. Gaby didn’t even try to hide her tracks. Any idiot could figure that out.”

“It’s only the first three letters,” Dominic said, looking over Aleki’s shoulder. “Because they didn’t know about the fourth. Their story was so weak it was ridiculous. She’s off her meds? Seriously? She hired someone to deliver the letters? She got Larry to go along with it all? They must think us all idiots.”

“They’re blinded by greed,” Caleb rumbled. “Always have been the most self-centered, morally corrupt people. Don’t know how my girl was even born to the same family.” He turned to her “I’m proud of you for standing up to them, Squirt.”

“For so long I just wanted them to notice me, to love me, now I’m thinking I might have been better off if I’d always stayed in the shadows.”

“Arianna Silvers never belonged to the shadows,?

?? Caleb told her. “You shouldn’t have been relegated to the background and you never will be again. Some things are sent to make us stronger. And you are the strongest person I know.”

She leaned into Caleb and he wrapped her up in his arms. “Don’t know what I would have done without you all these years. You were my only real friend for so long. Then you brought me two more friends.” She looked over at Wolfe and Aleki. Wolfe just smiled.

Aleki leaned back in his seat. “Brothers, babe. He brought you brothers.”

“Family doesn’t have to be blood,” Wolfe added. “You might think you lost something today when really you gained something. Freedom. They held you back. They kept you down. They wanted you under their command, doing their bidding. That’s not what family is. Family supports you. They make you better just by being there, by loving you. And you’ve had that for years.”

Tears blurred her eyes. She nodded. “You’re so right.”

She stood and gave Wolfe a hug then Aleki.

“Someone take a photo,” Aleki said jokily. “Might as well torture that man of yours. He seems the possessive type.”

To her shock, someone did take a photo. She turned around to glare at Aric who just grinned at her. “Shall I put it on Instagram? Singing sensation’s secret love. Has a nice ring to it, yes?”

“Don’t you dare,” she growled. She strode over to the prince. “Give that back.”

He just whistled and put the phone in his pocket. She put her hands on her hips, giving him a stern look. “Do you think I won’t grab that out of your pocket?”

“Ahh, please do, I think the headline would read, The princess of pop meets her very own prince.”

Tavi groaned. “That was a terrible one, brother.”

“No good? Hmm. I shall think on a better one.”

She gave up on Aric. She wasn’t worried about photos going on Instagram. She knew he wouldn’t really do that and right now, it was the least of her concerns.

“How did they get the letters though?” Kassim asked. “Do you think they just re-typed them?”

She rubbed her forehead. “I took photos of them to send to Caleb. Soon after Bain and Dominic arrived, Larry demanded I send copies to him as well. I didn’t even think about it. . . he claimed he wanted copies so that he was kept up-to-date on what was going on. In case the police wanted to talk to him or something. I just gave them to him to shut him up. I guess he typed them out into a word document.”

“Not your fault, Squirt,” Caleb told her.

She just couldn’t believe any of this was happening. And she really wanted Bain.

“Shouldn’t Bain be back by now? How long a chat is he having with them?” she asked Dominic.

Dominic frowned. “I’ll try calling him.”

She needed him. Needed to have him reassure her that he believed her. That he loved her.

Those motherfucking bastards. He stepped out of the stairway, having run the whole way down ten flights of stairs rather than wait for the elevator and risk losing them. He walked into the foyer just in time to see them walking past.

“I want a word with all of you,” he said, storming up to them. How dare they make up lies like that?