“Okay, I’m going to talk and don’t stop stroking until I’m done, okay, T?”
He had his head thrown back and was paying minimal attention to me now, getting lost in the feeling of his own pleasure. He had always been selfish, but now I saw the depths his indifference actually reached. I quit pretending to talk to him anymore and looked at my man.
“When I was about eight my dad was killed in a car accident in Scotland. My brother and sister were five and two at the time, and life was really hard for us. Money was tight, and we didn’t have much, so I took on the role as man of the family and shouldered that burden for four years. Even though I was young, I felt like I needed to be the one to make sure we were all safe and protected. When I was twelve, Mom met Dean where she was working at a local construction company that was working on his newest building project. It was love at first sight for them both, and lucky for us, he fell in love with us kids, too. He knew we were a package deal. I imagine it’s very close to the same feeling I had when I met you.” I said looking right into Ladd’s deep blue eyes.
“Connie, you say the sweetest things. God, I’m so hard for you, sweetie.”
I was doing my best to tune him out, while I shared this part of my life with my man. “Well, every word is true. My mom married Dean and we all moved to the States not too long after that. We had a good life, but I always held onto those protective instincts I had taken on when I was younger. I wanted to keep all the people I loved safe and happy, but sometimes, I put my heart on the line, and I would end up getting hurt in the process. I needed to keep myself, my heart, safe, too, I realized. To remind myself of this, I got this tattoo.”
Troy was still not looking at me or listening it seemed. He was chasing his pleasure with a single-minded purpose now, so I looked back at Ladd and finished my story.
“Do you know anything about dragons? They collect treasure, gold, jewels, anything worth anything, they horde someplace safe and protect their treasure with their life. I chose my dragon to protect my greatest treasure, my heart and my love. He sits there and stares down anyone who would steal my happiness or my love and reminds me to protect my heart instead of giving it away.” Ladd was looking at my dragon now, seemingly realizing what it had meant to me when he had kissed the dragon’s tattooed head that first night we made love. He looked me in the eye, and I nodded to him. “That’s right, love, I don’t give my heart lightly anymore. I protect it at all cost until I find that one person who deserves it. You paid homage to it without even knowing it, and it meant everything to me. It was just another example of how perfect you were for me. One of hundreds of things I knew made you my perfect man.”
Ladd was looking so serious, and I glanced down to see Troy getting close now, his grunts and groans more annoying than anything else. He sounded like a bad porn soundtrack. I really needed this charade to be over, so I looked over at Rhett again. He was staring at Ladd with a slight smile on his face, then when he noticed me looking, he met my eyes and smiled big. “Welcome to the family,” he mouthed with a shit eating grin and gave me a thumbs up and a nod. I noticed some movement behind him and looked over to see Remy frowning at me. He glanced over at Ladd, then back to me and mouthed, “Hurt him and they won’t find the body.” Well, that went well all things considered. I was finished with this charade.
“Ladd, come here, babe, I need a kiss,” I said loud enough so Troy would hear it over his theatrics.
The noises stopped almost immediately, and Troy looked at the screen to see what was going on. Ladd walked over and straddled me, giving Troy a view of his back and ass as he leaned into me and kissed me for all he was worth. The reaction was instantaneous.
“Connie, what the fuck are you doing? Who the hell is that?” He screeched, so upset he didn’t even bother trying to cover up his raging boner.
“Troy, this is Ladd, my new boyfriend I told you about. I told you to leave me alone. I’m just ensuring that you’ll actually do it. I’ll let my lawyers explain what I need from you.”
“Your boyfriend? What do you mean your lawyers?” Troy was looking a little green now, and his wood was now officially chipped. “He didn’t say anything about lawyers. He promised me this would be easy. It was supposed to be easy money. God damn it!”
Rhett and Remy walked out, Remy waving hi, “Yeah, we’re the lawyers. Now, who are you talking about and what money?” Troy looked like he was closing his mouth and Remy continued, “Nope, asshole you don’t get to clam up now. We recorded everything you just did and even had your permission to do it. We can send this to the news agencies, and your dad would be on the nightly news by tomorrow, so I suggest you share, motherfucker, before I get cranky and hit send on the emails I have pulled up and addressed already.”
Troy swallowed hard. “Okay fine. After I texted Connie the first time and got his snarky reply, I decided to cut my losses and move on.” He looked at me and continued. “But the next day, this guy messaged me online saying he saw I was in a relationship with you and he had information that you were cheating on me. I messaged him back and told him he was mistaken, but he was very insistent that I try to get you back for some reason. He told me your new guy was bad news and that I should want what was best for you. I kept resisting, and then he told me he’d pay me ten thousand dollars if I got you back and away from your new guy. Money was tight after I was kicked out of the house when I broke up with the couple from hell, so I agreed. I thought it would be easy money, but you kept being stubborn.”
He looked pissed at me now, for not playing along with his manipulation. Fucking asshole.
“This guy got really mad the longer it was taking, then he started trying to threaten me, but he didn’t really have anything. He started sounding crazy actually. And the only time I talked to him on the phone, he sounded drunk. What am I going to tell him now?”
Ladd had turned sideways in my lap to watch Troy on the screen, and he asked the million dollar question. “What is the guy’s name?” I think we all had an idea who it might be, but we needed confirmation, and luckily, we were still recording.
“His name is Parker Radcliff. He said his first and last name like I should know his name for some reason.”
Yep, I’d have bet money on it being that asshole.
Rhett chimed in now. “Okay, Troy, we’re done. We're keeping this recording, and if you say anything to anyone, especially Parker, we’ll send this recording out to the press, and we’ll send it to your grandparents for good measure. You might not know it, but you have a moral turpitude clause in you trust contract. If you do anything deemed immoral by your grandparents or the executor of the trust before you turn twenty-eight, you’ll forfeit the entire amount which when I checked yesterday was worth in excess of two-point-five million. I suggest you get a boring job and become celibate for the next few years or you'll be a big disappointment to me, boy.”
Troy for the first time that night, looked serious and sad. I’d never seen him that way before, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked sorry for his actions for the first time in his life. He looked towards Rhett and responded, “I got it, sir, and you’re right. Consider me gone, Connor, and for what it’s worth I’m sorry. It looks like you have a good thing going. I’m happy for you, really.” He glanced around at everyone one last time and then said, “Before I go, you need to know, that guy Parker isn’t right. He kept going off about Ladd and the Eldridges which I assume is his family. Anyway, he’s determined to make you guys pay for something he thinks you did to him. The last time he contacted me was the only time we actually talked on the phone. He was drunk and ranting, but he did mention something about fire and a building and something about an inspection. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I realize I’m a selfish asshole, but I’m not an arsonist. I thought you should know.” He gave a little wave, and the connection was lost.
