It had beentwo weeks since the fire, and there were no leads on the mystery man who’d saved the kids. I was dealing with shipment issues and a few brawls at establishments I owned that had caused the police to be called. Thankfully, I had them on my payroll, but it always put them in a bad mood when I required their services. These issues were a huge problem for my business.
I’d figure it out. I was about to head downstairs for breakfast when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Paul.
“Hey, Boss.” He spoke before I could.
“Paul, what’s going on?”
“Something interesting, actually. I was out last night with that lady that works at Kaleidoscopes, you know?”
“I do, in fact, not know. Is it important to the story?” I looked over the railing from the elevated loft on the second floor that could see into the main area of my home. Everyone was congregating in the kitchen/dining area.
“Kinda. So Lacey said the other night—her and this other employee were closing, she had to run out. This guy told her Lorcan Anders stopped by looking for information on the person who saved Owen, Olivia, and Matteo from the fire.”
The smile I wore a moment ago while watching my family disappeared in an instant. “Why the fuck would Lorcan want or need to know that? It has nothing to do with him.”
“Right. Got me thinkin’. He left after his brother’s death, his tail between his legs. Last year he came back, and now you got all these problems bein’ thrown at you, you know?”
I gripped the railing and tried to calm myself. I didn’t like to yell around the kids—it frightened them—but my anger was about to blow.
“Are you suggesting Lorcan is behind all this? He left with nothing, loyalties stripped.”
He hummed. “Want me to look into it more? I mean could it be revenge or something?”
“See what you can find out.”
“You got it, Boss.”
The call disconnected, and I descended the stairs to the first floor. My home had been the dream and project of Ella, my wife. I didn’t know much about architecture, but it was a work of art. Thirty-four-foot ceilings in the foyer and a seamless flow, she’d called it, for the lower level. Every living area was connected, and there were expansive rooms, eighteen-foot ceilings in the grand room, more windows than there were walls. You could see out, but no one could see in. The fireplace was the main fixture; it was huge and practically took up one whole wall.
She’d loved the idea of elevated lofts upstairs where there was the lounge, game room, and reading room. The bedrooms and my office were closed off for privacy.
“Morning, Gid,” Dean greeted me as he sat at the table. Rita was placing a huge platter of scrambled eggs in the middle.
“Morning. Geez, Rita, are you feeding an army?” I chuckled and took my seat at the head of the table.
“The way this one eats, it’s possible.” She hooked a thumb at her son.
Matteo rolled his eyes but was piling up food on his plate as if he were never going to get the chance to eat again.
“Liv and Owen have kindergarten this morning, Toni and Raff will take them and stay on site. Matteo, Tate and Carl will drive you to school and stay on the premises.”
“Is that necessary?” Rita’s eye twitched and her lip quivered.
“It is. Dean, Alex is with you all day today wherever you go, Rita, if you need to go out, Jeff goes with you.”
I knew they had more questions and I’d answer them, but not around the kids.
“Is this about the fire?” Matteo asked. The kids had time off from school due to the incident and were returning today.
“Nothing for you to worry about—I’m just being cautious. Your dad told me someone did this, and well, I want to be sure my family is safe until I they are dealt with.”
Matteo was a smart kid, and there was no way he didn’t understand what I was saying. He simply nodded and started shoveling food into his mouth.
A coupleof hours later I was in the city and meeting with Paul, Danny at my side. I had several businesses, but I did most of my work either from my home office or the twenty-second floor of the Hendrix building.
I sat at my desk, and Danny and Paul sat in the seats in front of it. Paul was telling us what he’d found out.
“Lorcan has been busy this last year, silently slithering his way back into the fold. Lacey said he’s been helping indebted businesses, like Kaleidoscopes, and giving himself a huge percentage of their income. He has like ten places his name is on. Nothing big or noticeable, but stepping stones. He’s climbing to the top.”
