He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tight. “Come on, let’s find a shovel and find what she’s got on the old man. What a fucking asshole.”
Gigi nodded. He’d get no argument from her. “I can’t believe he was putting pressure on your nan to sell. That he took money from someone who wants to tear this place down.”
“It doesn’t surprise me a bit,” he told her as they got dressed and made their way out to the garden shed. He pulled out a shovel and walked over to the old gum tree in the yard. He started to dig on the side closest to the ocean.
“Do you think whatever she buried here is what he was looking for the other day in her study?” she asked, staring around them in worry. Almost as though she expected his dad to turn up at any moment.
“Who knows? Maybe.” He hit something and dug around it before pulling out a tin box, the sort that once held cookies. “Come on, let’s get you out of the sun.”
She wanted to demand he open it straight away but knew he wouldn’t budge. They made their way into the living room and she sat on the sofa next to him. He opened up the tin box. Inside was a folded-up piece of paper, along with a bunch of photos.
She pulled out the photos, placing them on the coffee table. Nausea bubbled in her stomach as she took in the photos of Macca’s father in compromising positions with several different women.
“Shit. She had him followed.” He looked up from the papers. “This is the private investigator’s report.” His eyes widened as he stared at the photos. He pointed to one. “That’s the mayor’s wife. The mayor is his favorite golf buddy. If he found out that good old dad was banging his wife, my father would be in a fuckload of trouble. Holy shit. That’s one of his business partner’s wives.” He pointed to a photo of his father kissing a tiny brunette. There were other photos of him shaking hands with different men and handing them envelopes. “The investigator took photos of him giving bribes.” He turned the photos over to find they were labelled. He glanced down at the report. “Some of them are building inspectors. Others are contractors he probably paid off to work quick and cut corners. Jesus.”
“Is it enough to get him to back off?” she asked him.
He grinned at her. “Oh yeah, baby. It’s enough to fucking ruin him. This will get him off our backs. For good.”
23
“You’re to stay behind me at all times, understand me?” Macca reiterated to her for about the fiftieth time since they’d gotten into the car. She wasn’t counting all the times he’d mentioned it this morning and last evening.
She knew if he had someone he trusted to leave her with, he would have. If he had faith in the local cops, she was pretty certain she would be sitting in a police station right now. But the only person he trusted with her safety was him.
And didn’t butterflies fill her tummy when he told her that?
They’d drove up in front of a huge gray-white mansion nestled in the hills over a picturesque bay. This place looked like it cost millions. But it was so austere and ugly that she’d take Penny’s house over it any day.
Her house now, she guessed. Except she still wanted to give it back to Macca. She didn’t need it now, after all. Because Penny had done what she’d set out to do. She’d found her a home. Anywhere Macca was, she was home.
“I could lock you in the car, but I’d rather you were where I could see you.” He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. She knew if it wasn’t for her presence, he wouldn’t have any hesitation about walking in there. But she didn’t trust his dad not to hurt him, so she was glad she was going to be there as well.
“I’ll stay behind you, Daddy,” she tried to reassure him. “And I will do exactly what you say.”
“Exactly what I say.” He gave her a dark look. “You know what I promised if you didn’t.”
She swallowed heavily. A spanking every night for a week, and even worse, no orgasms for the entire week. It seemed that over these past twenty-four hours since he’d told her he loved her that she’d turned into some sort of sex fiend. She was craving him like crazy.
Macca climbed out of the car. This morning, they’d gone to the library and made a set of photocopies of the photos. They’d stashed the originals back in their hiding place under the tree and brought one copy with them. They’d also scanned and emailed a set to Macca’s boss in the States. Just in case.
Christ, she was nervous as hell. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts as Macca opened her door and reaching in, undid her seat belt. He held out his hand and helped her out then kept hold of her hand as they walked into the house.
Macca had called his father earlier to make sure he’d be home, telling him he wanted to talk about the house. No doubt the jerk thought Macca wanted to make a game plan on how to get the house away from her.
Well, he was going to be in for a nasty surprise.
He hated bringing her here. Hated exposing her to his asshole father. He should protect her from jerks like James McKenzie. And after today, she’d hopefully never have to see him again. He’d wanted to leave her somewhere safe, somewhere far away from here but there was nobody he trusted to watch over her. And he didn’t want to leave her alone and risk dear old dad doing something. Damn, he missed home. Missed his friends.
He knew he’d breathe much easier once they were back on Sanctuary Ranch. Gigi would be safe there and they could concentrate on each other rather than everything else going on here.
Without bothering to knock, he walked inside. Gigi better do exactly as she was told. She squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile. He knew she was scared. But he’d do whatever was necessary to protect her.
“James?” he called out. He’d never call that man father again.
“In the study.”
He strode down the hall and into the study, keeping Gigi behind him for the moment. His father didn’t look up from his computer screen. A power play. He barely refrained from rolling his eyes at the old man’s juvenile behavior.