This is the excuse you need to bring him in. London can’t blame you for taking your precautions. She’d understand if she saw these pictures.
I know I’m grasping at straws.
A few pictures of him with the enemy doesn’t make him guilty enough.
If I’m going to go after London’s ex, I better be damn sure of what I’m doing, and as much as I hate to admit it, I hope I’m wrong.
For London’s sake.
How many more rejections can she take?
“Find out everything you can about the dad,” I say, after a long pause. “This needs to be airtight, and I don’t need to piss off a man like that.”
Carlisle nods.
“Boss, if his dad is as powerful as he seems, just looking into Noah could be a huge risk. Are you sure you want to do that with everything else going on?”
“Are you questioning my decisions? I would hate to have to find someone else to fill your position, but it wouldn’t be hard.”
Carlisle’s jaw locks, and he says nothing.
“Get out,” I finish. As Carlisle leaves, I brace my arms on either side of the desk and inhale. Olivia appears on my third exhale, the pounding in the back of my head having spread around my skull. Wordlessly, she steps into the office and shuts the door behind her. She stops on the other side of the desk and glances from the pictures to my face.
“I just passed London on my way here. Is everything okay?”
I push myself off the desk and press two fingers to my temples. “Does it look like it’s fucking okay? You shouldn’t have come back, Livvy.”
“You and I both know that Dad would’ve found a way to bring me back against my will,” she snaps. “At least this way, I got to do it on my terms.”
“You know he’s going to try and stop you from leaving.”
Olivia’s bright eyes flash. “I’d like to see him try. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that even the great Jack Payne doesn’t know about.”
I snort. “He always did underestimate you.”
It was how she got away the first time, and damn if I don’t admire her all the more for it.
Even with all the dangers lurking around every corner, I can’t imagine walking away.
This is the only life I’ve ever known, the only one I know how to live.
Olivia’s eyes move steadily over my face. “You know, you could leave too. I could help you.”
I chuckle humorlessly. “I think you’ve been gone too fucking long.”
“You know Mathew isn’t going to stop trying to undermine you and looking for ways to get rid of you. Why don’t you just do him a favor and step back?”
I raise an eyebrow. “You honestly think it’s that simple? You can’t just walk away from this life. No one says no to Jack Payne.”
I might have fought for the job, bled, and killed for it, but our father had options.
He chose me because he wanted to, and the minute he did, I turned my back on the life I could’ve had.
Jack Payne is many things, but if there’s one thing he hates more than anything, it’s feeling like he’s two steps behind.
Carrying his name won’t stop him from coming after me if he gets wind of this conversation.
And no matter where we went, London and I would never be safe from him.
