Ignoring him, Grant kept his focus on Cantrell. “When were you planning on telling me the truth?”
The senator blinked before telling his assistant, “We’re good here, Jaynee. Thank you.”
Both scared of him and confused by her boss’s directive, the girl’s hesitant eyes moved from his to Cantrell’s. “A-are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“O-okay, Sir. If you say so.” With a final, wary glance in Grant’s direction, Jaynee turned and left the office.
To Martin, Grant said, “You can leave, too, Downing.”
Red-faced, Cantrell’s Chief of Staff appeared to be on the verge of a serious tantrum. “Now wait just a damn minute. I don’t take orders from you.” Martin spun on his expensive shoes and faced Cantrell. “Sir, I really think I—”
“Martin should stay.” The senator looked at Grant. “If you’re here for the reason I think you are, he needs to know what you’ve discovered.”
Grant didn’t like it but refused to waste any more time arguing. “Fine.” He turned to Martin, “Shut the door.”
Downing looked to his boss, and only after Cantrell gave him a single nod of his head, did he do as he’d been asked.Jesus, what a prick.
The second the door closed, Grant laid into Brynnon’s father. “When you called Jake looking for protection, you told him the threat was against you, but Brynnon’s the real target, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Cantrell sighed.
“Why did you lie?”
“First, tell me what happened,” her father pleaded. “Is she really okay?”
“Do you even care?”
Grant knew he should probably watch his mouth, given the powerful position the man was in, but at the moment, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered to him was finding out the truth, so he could keep Brynnon safe.
“Of course, I care. She’s my daughter. Now, tell me what happened!”
“Someone just tried running her over with a fucking car!” Grant’s voice echoed off the thick walls. “That’swhat happened.”
Suddenly looking much older than before, Cantrell plopped down into his high-back chair and shook his head. “Oh, God.” With unshed tears filling his eyes, he looked up at Grant. “But she’s okay? She wasn’t hurt, was she?”
“A bump on the head. I was able to push her out of the way at the last second.”
The man put his head in his hands and held it there. After a few seconds, he wiped his reddened eyes dry and straightened his shoulders.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me by telling me what’s really going on.”
“It’s my fault,” Martin spoke up. “I advised the senator to keep the nature of the threat from Brynnon.”
“No, Martin. You were only trying to help. It was my decision not to tell her.”
Bypassing Cantrell’s comment, Grant narrowed his eyes to Downing. “Why the hell would you do something like that?”
“Because I know Bryn.”
That raised Grant’s shackles. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than you. If she knew the threat was against her, she would’ve been even more stressed than she already was.”
“You kept this from her so she wouldn’t be fuckingstressed?” Grant wasn’t buying it.
