Here With Me (Adair Family 1)

How did we not know?

How is it possible we missed this?

“I haven’t been taking a break or casually meeting with directors and producers. She killed my career!” Lucy yelled right at my ear, and I winced. I felt her body shudder as she tried to control herself. “Bitch killed my career. Every person I reach out to, she finds out about it and kills any chance of work.”

There was no remorse in her voice for sleeping with Rozette Donelly’s husband. She didn’t see herself as anything but the victim in this scenario. And while what Rozette did was vengeful, I realized Lucy couldn’t recognize her own blame.

Lachlan stared at Lucy like he’d never seen her before in his life.

I felt the same way.

She deserved a goddamn Oscar for her performance at Ardnoch these past few months.

“I thought if I could come back to Ardnoch, I could make Lachlan see that only he was equal to me. But he was so distant, off screwing that Scottish nobody down in Glasgow. I got angry. I thought maybe if I made things difficult at the club, he’d need me more.”

“The creepy stalker notes.”

“Exactly. I saw the way Fergus watched Arrochar, and I heard the bitterness no one else seemed to hear when he spoke about Brodan. So I slept with him to try to lower his defenses, get him to confide in me, and lo and behold, our little mechanic had a gambling problem.”

“You paid him?”

“Yeah. I paid him very well to do all the dirty work. He killed the deer. Trashed the studio. Left the notes. I hired a hacker back in the States to infiltrate the security system on the estate. And everything was going smoothly until Fergus got it in his head to stab Mac.”

I seethed at the reminder.

“Not only was it completely off plan, he pissed you off. Which derailed everything because our darling Lachlan got attached.”

Lachlan’s gaze locked with mine, a silent plea in his eyes. He wanted me to take her out. But I needed her fully distracted, or I could lose my head.

“Lucy …”

“Don’t.” She choked me lightly, pressing the gun muzzle deeper into my temple. Just as I was about to take the chance and wrestle out of her hold, she stopped choking me. “You ruined everything, Robyn. I thought if Fergus attacked you, you might go home, but that night in the trailer, you kicked his ass. I had to pay off a skeevy doctor in Inverness to stitch up the moron’s knife wound. And that fucker is still blackmailing me. Not for long, though.”

I didn’t even want to know what that meant. Then something occurred to me. “You had Fergus put you in that freezer so you could get Lachlan back?”

“Very astute. Yeah, I did. It was a risk that didn’t quite pay off.” She said it like she was talking about wearing a risqué dress to the goddamn Academy Awards that got her slammed on the worst-dressed lists. “And I thought it was working. I thought you”—she spoke directly to Lachlan—“were coming back to me.”

He glowered at her.

“I know.” I could hear the sneer in her voice. “I’m disgusted with myself that I even thought a man could make things better when they have always made it so much worse.”

“And Thane?” Was making me think she had feelings for Lachlan’s brother just a manipulative attempt to keep me off her scent?

Lucy tensed at my side. “I didn’t lie. I’m attracted to Thane, but he doesn’t have Lachlan’s clout. He may be from a good family, but he’s just an architect.”

I heard Lachlan growl beneath the gag.

“Still, it was quite clever of me to use him to make you think I had no interest in Lachlan, wasn’t it?”

Clever? There was no word for what Lucy was. I’d never encountered someone with the ability to become whatever she thought she needed to be to achieve her goals.

“What’s the plan here, Lucy?”

“It was always this. After McHugh’s death—and Lachlan’s defection after I put myself in a goddamn freezer—there was no other choice. Fergus wasn’t the brightest bulb. He didn’t see it, but I knew the trail would lead to him eventually. Everything spiraled out of control, and now I have to fix it. This is the only way. I had Fergus lure you here, knowing that all three of you would have to die to put everything to rights.”

She leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. I shivered with disgust. “I’ll be the only one to survive the madman stalking the Adair family. He shot you and Lachlan first, and I managed to get free and wrestle him for the gun. Of course, I’ll shoot myself in the shoulder to make it look more realistic … but I’ll be alive. And I’ll be global news. The person everyone is talking about. Hollywood will be desperate to make movies with me while this is fresh in people’s minds. I’ll be free publicity. There’s nothing Rozette could do to stop me when I’m that bankable.”