Addy is safe, this time.
Carter, Kat’s crazy ex that she left behind when she moved here, is still out there. He shouldn’t have been an issue. According to Kat, she’d found him cheating, which is why they weren’t together anymore after being together since high school. But I know his type all too well; I grew up around them. Men who grew up without rules, able to do whatever they want and buy their way out of anything with mom and dad's pocketbook.
I’d bet he was shocked when she left, thought she would stay for anything just to keep him. Most women do.
Natasha was a great example of that. I think at one point she might have had genuine feelings for them, but greed twisted those feelings, and in the end, she was willing to do anything to stay with them. To get the Lawson last name and a piece of the proverbial pie. Even though she couldn’t stand me.
I disgusted her; she told me so herself.
Carter was wrong, though.
Kat left him and came here to build a new life on her own, and from what I saw, she was doing a damn good job, even beyond my family's infatuation with her.
If Carter was already upset that she left, I’m sure her success wasn’t helping.
Desmond, Father, and Vince had the pleasure of meeting him last month when they visited him regarding his stalking tendencies. Apparently, his cheating had been a blessing in disguise, and not just for them.
Kat deserved better than him, a misogynistic, materialistic, rich boy who never really worked for a damn thing he has. He’d expected her to come running back, but she didn’t need him, and now that she has them, she never will again.
“What ya thinkin’ ‘bout?” Desmond jumps over the back of the couch and lands on the cushion beside me. I only just manage to keep hold of my book because of years of dealing with his antics.
“Nothing,” I say and cringe, knowing I answered too fast.
“I’ll take curvy waist and red hair for 500.”
Who needs brothers when your cousin is annoying enough to be three all on his own?
“Just because you have a one-track mind doesn’t mean I do. Not all of us are constantly thinking about Katherine, Des.” I realize my mistake a second too late when his lips curl up, and I see the way his eyes light up.
He pushes up, and I wait because I know this isn’t the end of it; it never is with him.
“I never said I was talking about Kat, but if the shoe fits.” Even with his back to me, I can hear the smile on his face. I grip the book hard enough to crinkle the page, but it's that, or I’m going to throw it at his head.
I knew he was taunting me, even before he sat down, and still I played into it.
I sit alone for the next hour with my book open, unable to read a single word as thoughts of Kat and everything else swirl around in my head like a tornado stealing every bit of my concentration.
It’s not until Addy comes running into the room, her laughter ringing around the room and pulling a smile to my lips despite the spiral I was just in a moment ago.
“Oli! Oli, help me!” She runs and jumps into my arms. I toss my book aside and catch her, but only just.
“What’s wrong, Addy?” I ask, panic gripping me as she looks back over her shoulder, as if afraid someone is after her. She’s breathing hard as if she just ran a marathon and seems in a hurry.
It feels like it takes forever for her to answer, but when she does, it takes all the panic out of me.
“Mommy’s coming! I’m supposed to be hiding, but she always finds me.” She pouts, crossing her arms, and I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out of me.
She’d had me in a panic. It’s silly, really. In our own home, we’re very secure—much more so than at some random children's museum. Anyone who came here in an attempt to harm Addy wouldn’t have any hope of surviving. If Ruby didn’t tear them apart, Vince or one of his guys would handle them.
It’s not like it’s never happened before.
With as much money as our company makes, and the fact that we built it from the ground up. We’ve had targets on our backs for a while now, but we try to keep it off of Addy.
I guess we should have known it couldn’t last forever. We just need to do better and deal with this asshole before he becomes a bigger problem.
They can always be a bigger problem.
I stand, wrapping an arm tight around Addy so that she doesn’t fall since she’s busy pouting, and walk across the room.We’re in the far left of the house, in one of the few sitting rooms with couches and a few books on the wall. The entire house is furnished, yet not all of it sees the same level of use.
