Just One Night (The Kingston Family 1)

“Are you ready?” Melly returned, lipstick touched up and a Chanel handbag on her arm.

“I’m ready,” Aurora said.

“You two go on. I’m going to check my messages and then go find Linc. Aurora, I’ll call you tonight.” Jordan smiled and watched them go.

Ignoring what Aurora had said about her assessment of Jordan and Linc’s relationship, Jordan pulled out her phone, surprised to see a message from a number she didn’t recognize. She hit play and discovered it was Suzanne Ashton, Kenneth Kingston’s secretary. She’d given the woman her phone number in case she remembered anything about the deal Jordan and Linc were looking into. From the urgency of the voicemail, the woman clearly wanted to talk.

Tapping on the number, Jordan waited and Suzanne picked up.

“Hello, Jordan?” Suzanne said.

“Yes, hi. Did you remember something?”

Suzanne was silent for a moment, then said, “I never forgot but I couldn’t talk in the office. I didn’t want anyone overhearing and reporting back.”

“To who? What’s going on?” Jordan asked, sitting back down on the bed.

“You know Kenneth and Wallace Franklin were close, right?” Suzanne asked of Linc’s father and the company CFO.

“Yes.”

“Well, Wallace was aware of Kenneth’s quieter deals. He helped move money and allowed him to do things Linc didn’t know about. And this current contractual situation you were asking about? The man Kenneth went into partnership with was Beckett Daniels,” Suzanne said. “I didn’t want Wallace to know I was revealing information they expected me to keep secret.”

“Thank you, Suzanne. The revelation won’t be tracked back to you. I promise. And I’m really grateful you called me.”

“Of course! Mr. Kingston, Linc, I mean, was good to me. He kept me on and made sure I didn’t lose my job after his father died.” Suzanne sniffed. “If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to call after office hours.”

“I will. And thank you again.” Jordan hung up and glanced at the ceiling, trying to put pieces together.

Beckett Daniels. Beck. She knew the name. He was a definite competitor of Linc’s in many real estate deals, and they’d gone to college together and had once been close. She’d assumed they had drifted apart. But that’s all she knew.

Grabbing her purse, she headed to find Linc and fill him in on what she’d learned.

* * *

Linc sat in the study behind the desk in the corner. Since his father had had an office on the other side of the house, his mother used this room as her sanctuary, and for some reason, he’d retreated here now when he needed to think clearly.

He could wrap his head around his father doing sneaky deals behind his back. But even with Kenneth’s illness, Linc couldn’t comprehend him risking the company, and if he had tried to do such a thing, why would Wallace have let him?

No matter who he asked so far, he’d hit a dead end. No one he’d called knew where Wallace had disappeared to, and clearly the person pulling the strings, Kenneth’s so-called partner, was keeping Linc dangling. And he wanted to know why.

A knock sounded on the door and he glanced up. “Come on in!”

Jordan opened the door and stepped inside. She was wearing a pair of black leggings and a white boxy cropped top that revealed a strip of skin above the waistband, and one look made him drool. Black Chucks completed the cute, sleek outfit.

“Am I interrupting anything?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No. Come sit.” He rose from behind the desk and walked around to join her, lowering himself on the couch.

Her floral scent surrounded him, and he wanted her in his lap now, his fingers in her hair, her lips on his. Instead he took a look at her face and knew immediately something was wrong.

“What happened? Is there a problem with my mother and Aurora?” he asked, knowing how panicked Aurora had been about meeting Melly.

Jordan shook her head. “God, no. They’re like this.” She crossed two of her fingers in the air. “But Suzanne Ashton called me.”

He stiffened in surprise. “Now? On your cell over the weekend?”

She nodded. “I know who your father’s partner is, and you’re right about Wallace helping him hide it. And apparently it’s not the only secret deal.”

Jaw clenched, Linc nodded, glad to know his instincts were right. “Wallace,” he muttered. “Okay, and the partner?”

“Beckett Daniels.”

Linc jerked in his seat, shock running through him. “Beck,” he said, a roaring sound in his ears, and he forced himself to focus.

Beck. Linc’s rival in business, but their past worried him more. Beck was clearly still harboring anger and resentment against him, and the bitch of it was, Linc didn’t blame him. But a man with an emotional grudge was an unpinned grenade waiting to explode.

Linc had never told anyone what had happened between him and Beck. His father hadn’t known, which meant to Kenneth, Beck had been a convenient person with whom to do business, but to Beck? His father and his illness had made him easy prey to get to Linc.