The familiar wall of monitors and equipment that Rick surveyed filled an entire wall. There were a dozen homes, plenty of coming and going . . . lots of conversations that they most often didn’t listen in on.
Judy slid her arms around the broad shoulders of her husband’s back. He reached up and kissed one of her hands before clicking into his computer and bringing up one of the houses.
The image of Gabi standing over the sink in the kitchen of the Tarzana home looked innocent enough, then Judy realized the shake of her shoulders. She was crying, which cut Judy to see. “Oh, no. I thought she was doing better.” Judy looked away, feeling like she was invading the other woman’s personal space.
“I did, too. Russell told me she had a visitor, so I searched the video.”
Rick cued the images, turned up the volume.
“Who is that?” Judy asked when a tall man walked in behind Gabi. His business suit told her he had money. He looked directly into one of the cameras and frowned.
“I’m not sure.” Rick pointed at the kitchen feed. “Notice how Gabi is ignoring him.”
“She’s upset.”
“Pissed, listen to her voice.”
Why do you care?
“Wow. She’s spitting venom at the man,” Judy said.
“Keep listening,” Rick told her.
It didn’t take long for Judy to realize that the man was a client for Alliance, then Gabi laid into him. You have what you want. We’re married and will stay that way for the duration of the contract.
The strange man stared at her and said, Eighteen months is a long time to keep secrets.
“Oh, my God.” Judy sucked in a breath. “Did he just say what I think he said?”
Rick turned in his chair and lifted both eyebrows. “He sure did.” He pointed back to the live feed and zoomed in.
There, sitting on Gabi’s left ring finger, was a rock the size of Judy’s thumb. “She didn’t.”
“I think she did,” Rick said.
Judy turned from the monitors and headed for her office to retrieve her purse.
“Where are you going?” Rick asked, following her.
“To talk to her. She’s obviously upset. My guess is no one knows what’s going on. If Meg and Val knew, Meg would have called me.” Meg was Judy’s best friend and Gabi’s sister-in-law.
“I’ll take you.”
Judy pushed her hand on Rick’s thick chest. “No. She’s still not completely comfortable with men. I’ll go.”
“I guess it’s pizza for me tonight,” he said with a grin.
“Save some for me, Green Eyes.”
He kissed her and patted her butt as she walked out the door.
The doorbell buzzed several times before Gabi moved from the kitchen counter to answer it. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Judy’s face behind the peephole, but she was.
Running her fingers under her eyes, Gabi knew it was useless. She’d been weeping since Hunter left, the reality of what she’d done set in.
She opened the door and tried to smile.
Judy’s face filled with sympathy, and her first words brought fresh tears to Gabi’s eyes. “Oh, hon . . . what happened?”
Judy pushed inside, kicked the door closed, and dropped her purse on the floor.
Gabi accepted the other woman’s hug and cried. “I-I got married.”
They stood in the hall for a couple of minutes, Judy tried to soothe her over with soft words. Who would have thought a woman a good five years younger would be the one comforting her?
“C’mon.” Judy led them into the living room where they sat on the couch. “Start at the beginning.”
The thought of letting it all out, every detail, was tempting. But what would be the point? Judy was a direct link to her brother, and if Val found out that Hunter had blackmailed her into marriage, she’d have to contend with his wrath instead of focusing on clearing her name.
“His name is Hunter Blackwell,” Gabi told Judy.
“An Alliance client?”
“Yes.”
“If he’s a client, how is it you married him?” Judy asked.
Gabi shook the truth from her tongue. “He needed a wife, fast.”
“Why?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” There was no way around that truth. Gabi knew that fact shook Judy. “But he’s a friend of Blake’s.”
Judy seemed to like that piece of information. “Did Sam approve?”
Gabi shook her head. “Jordan’s really sick. She asked me to deal with Blackwell.”
“Deal with . . . not marry.”
The image of the justice of the peace asking her if she’d take him as her husband shot into her head. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“I don’t think—”
“Twenty-four million.”
Judy stared, open-mouthed. “Oh.”
“Yeah . . . oh!”
They were silent for a minute, before Judy asked, “So if you wanted the deal . . . why are you so upset?”
Half the truth came out. “Memories.”
Judy grasped both Gabi’s hands and held them in her lap. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
She thought she’d loved Alonzo when he convinced her to elope. The memory was clouded, where the image of Hunter vowing to be her husband was fresh in her head.