One Heart to Give (Heart's Intent Book 1) (13 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Dani rushed into her office. She had a few things to do before the meeting with Anderson Nettles. The sooner it was over with, the better she’d feel. The money he brought to the firm was nice, but she couldn’t stand him. She’d never actually met him, only talked a few times with him on the phone, and had seen him leaving Matt’s office. She avoided him because of the awful conversations she’d had with him. When Matt agreed to take on his case and leave her out of it, she’d been relieved. Now she wanted the man out of all their lives. He made her feel icky, and she couldn’t explain why.

“Do I have any messages?”

“No,” her receptionist shook her head. “It’s been quiet since you left earlier.”

“Good. When Mr. Nettles arrives send him directly to my office. Then you can go ahead and leave for the day.”

Dani left Amy to her tasks and headed to her office. She snatched the Nettles file off her desk. She decided to make a clean break with him. That meant handing him the final bill and not expecting to see a dime from the old man. No doubt he’d refuse to pay on the grounds of her lack of a penis. She sat down and reviewed Matt’s notes. His chicken scratch was hard to decipher at the best of times. Claire usually typed up his notes to make it easier to do a quick read. Without him around and Claire picking up the slack in other areas, she’d not gotten to the file. She sighed and closed the folder. It didn’t matter. Mr. Nettles would no longer be their client after their meeting. Whatever Matt had planned could be sent to the shredder for all she cared.

“Mr. Nettles to see you,” Amy lead the man into her office. “If you don’t need anything, I’m going to head home now.”

“Have a good evening. I will see you in the morning,” she replied to Amy. “Please come in.” Dani stood up to greet Mr. Nettles. She gestured toward a chair in front of her desk. “Have a seat and we can get started.”

“I’ll stand, thank you. This won’t take long.”

Dani frowned. Fine, she was all for a short meeting. She had other things that she had to take care of. After this meeting she’d call Sullivan and actually listen to what he had to say. Mr. Nettles was a nuisance she’d like to put out of her mind.

“All right,” Dani agreed. “We can make this short.” She walked over to the file on her desk and opened it again. She pulled out the final bill and headed back to Mr. Nettle’s side. “As of this moment, Price and Brosen can no longer represent you. Here’s your final bill.”

His face turned beet red. He took the document out of her hand and crunched it up into a ball. When he’d stomped it as much as he could between his hands he forcibly threw it in a nearby trash can. “Don’t think you can dismiss me so easily, missy. I know who you are.”

Dani took a step back. She’d thought him irritating, but harmless. With the evil sneer directed her way she had to reassess her opinion of him. What the fuck was going on? This was supposed to be a simple meeting to end their working relationship. She didn’t know him, and as far as she was concerned never wanted to.

“Mr. Nettles. I don’t know who you think I am or what I did to offend you, but this does conclude our business. I must insist you leave now.”

She hadn’t expected he’d pay the damn bill. Him throwing it in the trash hadn’t surprised her one iota. The anger spilling off of him was palpable. Did he hate women that much? He should go live in the Dark Ages. This was a modern world and women worked in it regularly. She wouldn’t apologize for having a brain and knowing how to use it.

“You don’t fool me. I know what game you’re playing.” He stalked forward. “It’s not going to work. We are settling this tonight.”

Dani took several steps back and swallowed the lump in her throat. Her heart raced in her chest and her hands shook. Why, oh why, did she have to meet with him in person? She could have ended their involvement over the phone. Mental note: never ever invite sketchy people into her office to be alone with her again.

“You’re right. This is settled. Forget about the bill. We will write it off as a loss.” She took another step back. “Let’s end this amicably.”

“Oh, we’re going to end it, but there will be nothing friendly about it.” He sneered. “You should be dead. This is what happens when you delegate. Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t trust others to do a job you can do better yourself.” He kept moving toward her with purpose. “The person I hired couldn’t stomach killing a little girl. So they paid someone to make you disappear into the foster system. I found out when he confessed all to me a few hours ago. He claimed it was the only way to ensure the Brady family never found you. He figured it was a win-win situation. I got what I wanted and you would be allowed to live out your life. No one should have been able to figure it out. The stupid man didn’t count on your resemblance to your mother. To think you’ve been under my nose all this time.” He laughed evilly. “If I’d met you sooner it would have been clear to me. Instead, I insisted on dealing with your partner. It’s rather ironic when you think about it.”

He pulled out a gun from his jacket and pointed it at her. She froze in place. What the holy hell was going on? Why did he want to kill her? Even if she was the missing Ella Brady that didn’t make sense. At least he couldn’t claim this was all because he believed she’d done a shoddy job on his case. Damn Sullivan for not telling her everything. If he’d warned her who was responsible for her kidnapping maybe she’d have been prepared for this. Anderson Nettles had her at a disadvantage. He knew everything, and she had a limited amount of information to go on.

“Violence never solved anything. Put the gun away before someone gets hurt.” She held her hands up. “I’m begging you. Please.”

“Violence can solve a lot if you do it right.” He laughed. “You had to know you couldn’t hide forever, Ella.”

What did he gain from her death? She’d only found out she was Ella Brady earlier today. How had he gotten the information so fast? It wasn’t common knowledge. She was left with one option. Stall—and for as long as possible. It was the one thing she could do. Maybe if she got lucky she’d find a way out of the mess she found herself in. When she saw Sullivan again she planned on screaming at him and punching him in the face. She blamed him for the situation. Why had he run away without telling her all she needed to know? His reason had been he’d dumped enough on her. Surely he’d have realized at some point Anderson Nettles might realize who she was and act on it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Play dumb, Dani. He might believe you’re clueless
.
He doesn’t have a lot of faith in female’s intelligence.
“I’m Dani Brosen.”

If she’d had more time, she might have been able to do something to avoid this situation. Now all she could do was pray she could talk him out of murder. What were her chances of that happening? They didn’t look good with her staring down the barrel of a gun. One click on the trigger from Mr. Nettles and there would be no more Dani Brosen left in the world. She wouldn’t have a chance to meet her family. There would be no deciding if she wanted to know them. He’d take that all from her. He’d already done it once. She’d not allow him to do it again.

“Drop the act. I know Sullivan Brady came to see you early. If that hadn’t sent up red flags, my spy in the Brady household sure did.” He kept moving toward her. The distance was closing between them, and before she knew it he was a mere two feet in front of her. “Are you ready to die?”

She took a calming breath. If she kept him talking long enough maybe she could find a way out of the situation. “Even if I am Ella Brady, why would you want to kill me?”

“Because he’s going to lose everything he owns to you.” Sullivan breezed into her office. “And now he’s going to prison.”

Anderson Nettles froze. “I should have known you’d show up. You’re always dogging my heels. But you’re too late. Your sister’s going to die, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. At least you get a front row seat to see her end. When I’m done with her, I’ll take care of you.”

“No, don’t hurt him.” She may not know Sullivan, but she didn’t want to see him wounded either. There had to be a way to get through to Anderson Nettles. “I will sign anything you want. You can have whatever it is I’m supposed to be taking from you. I don’t want it.”

“I don’t need anything from you. As long as you die, it’s mine. You’re not officially Ella Brady. When you die, you’ll be Daniella Brosen, attorney at law. The Brady family hasn’t had time to resurrect you from the dead. With your demise, I keep my company and can forget you ever existed.”

Oh shit.
She was supposed to inherit Nettles Unlimited? That was almost as shocking as having a gun pointed at her. No, the gun was worse. Still she could do without both. All she wanted was to live a normal live and continue to love Ren. Was that too much to ask?

“As if I’d want your company,” she scoffed. “It has been run by you. It has to be tainted by your evil.”

“Then it’s good you’ll never have it.” He cocked the gun and raised it. “Time to say goodbye to your sister, Sullivan.”

Sullivan had been inching closer to Anderson. But he wasn’t close enough to stop him from pulling the trigger. A loud
boom
filled the room, followed by a burning pain in her chest. Dani glanced down as blood spread over her white blouse, turning it a dark red. Her hands were shaky as she touched the crimson stain. It was surreal as she stared down at the red liquid on the tips of her fingers.

Dani hit the ground before she knew she was falling.

“Noooo,” Sullivan yelled and jumped Anderson. He punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. That didn’t stop him from pummeling him even more. He kept beating him over and over again. His face was tinged with red as his fists hit Anderson until he knocked him out.

“Stop,” Dani managed to croak out the word. It was barely above a whisper. Sullivan didn’t seem to hear her. She tried it again. “Stop. Sull…” She couldn’t voice his full name. Dani choked over it as she spit out the liquid pooling in her mouth.

“Oh my God,” he rushed over to her side and kneeled before her. “Hang on, Dani. We will get you help. Don’t die on me.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket at hit something on the screen. She assumed he was calling for help. “Yes I need an ambulance as soon as possible. My sister’s been shot. Her attacker is unconscious too. Please hurry.” He set the phone down and stared down at her. There was so much worry etched on his face. If Dani had the strength, she’d comfort him. She was losing all feeling in her body; it almost felt like she was floating. His hand shook as he brushed it over her hair. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop this.”

I’m sorry too, Sullivan.
She couldn’t say anything. Strength was draining from her. She’d finally found love. Ren was everything and more. Then she’d found out who her family was. Of course her life would have to fall apart. She was feeling way to damn good for something not to go wrong. A tear fell from her eye and trailed down her cheek. Why hadn’t she told Ren how much she loved him? What’d she been afraid of? Now she might never get a chance to tell him. If she had one regret, it was not opening up fully to him. If she made it through this horrible ordeal, the first thing she’d do was kiss him and tell him how much she loved him.
God, please, don’t let me die.

“Dani,” Ren shouted and ran to her side. “What happened,” he turned toward Sullivan and demanded. “I tried calling several times. No one is answering the phones around this place. Dani’s cell went right to voicemail.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been going crazy trying to reach her.”

Sullivan sat back and let his head fall into his hands. “The bastard shot her. I wasn’t fast enough to stop it.”

Ren shook as he ripped open her blouse. “The bullet’s still lodged inside her. She’s losing too much blood.  I don’t like her color. I need something to put pressure on the wound.”

“I will see what I can find.” Sullivan stood up and exited her office.

The pain was lessening. Probably because she was dying, or maybe it was the shock. Dani had no idea what was going on. It all was surreal to her. This wasn’t really happening. Any moment, and she’d wake up from the nightmare she found herself in. She wasn’t really watching her brother and the man she loved talk about her. Nope. She’d wake up, any minute now. Why wasn’t she waking up from this damned awful dream already?

“Can you talk?” Ren lifted his hand and cupped her cheek. “No, don’t try. I’m going to do everything I can for you. Don’t do something stupid and leave me now. I’ve finally found you again, and I’m not losing you now.”

I love you too, Ren.
If only she could say the word aloud one time. Then she could die in peace.
Welcome to my shitty life
. This is where every decision she made led her. If she hadn’t second guessed everything and trusted her instincts she’d not be lying on her office floor in a pool of her own blood. She might even be happy and have a family with Ren.

“I found these hand towels. They will have to do until the paramedics arrive.” Sullivan kneeled back down beside her. “Hang on, squirt. Mom and Dad will never make it through losing you again.”

Way to put the pressure on, Sullivan. Now she had to worry about hurting two people she didn’t remember. Ren was all that mattered. Parents whom she didn’t know would have to take a back burner.

“Shut up,” Ren said with vehemence. “Don’t add any stress on her.” He glanced down at Dani. “I’m going to put pressure on your wound. It’s going to hurt.”