Rowan growls, his eyes flicking up to check the van again before refocusing on the road ahead of us. “You think this is a game, Jeffrey?”
“Isn’t it, though? Hasn’t it always been a game for you? Trying to destroy me? And my granddaughter is just the latest tool you’re using to achieve what you’ve always wanted.”
My head whips to the side, staring at Rowan’s clenched jaw.
Is that why they want me? Am I nothing more than a pawn in a game I never agreed to play?
“Hannah is not a fucking game,” Rowan forces through gritted teeth. “Now, unless you want to be calling a cleanup crew for the van of assholes behind us, I suggest you call them off. Now.”
His tone leaves no room for argument, but I know my grandfather well enough to know he never backs down from a fight. He prides himself on winning, and even something as simple as a surrender is a hit to his ego that he won’t accept.
“You can make all of this go away so easily. All you have to do is pull over and hand her over, and then you can go back to being the lowlife criminal you are.”
Rowan scoffs. “If you think I’d go back to life as normal after losing Hannah, you clearly haven’t been paying attention. Sheismy life. Now tell your lackeys to fuck off because there’s nothing I won’t do to protect what’s mine.”
He ends the call, but the tension bleeding from him is so thick it’s hard to breathe.
I open my mouth to ask if he’s okay, but I don’t get a chance before another call comes through, followed by a string of obscenities.
“Listen here, you fucking cunt?—”
“Whoa,” Asher’s voice comes down the other line. “I know I piss you off, but?—”
“Shit. Sorry, Ash.”
I follow his eyes as he glances over his shoulder at the van that’s still tailing us.
“Let me guess, Jeffrey Malone?”
“How’d you guess?”
“There are few people on earth who can get under your skin like he can. What’s going on?”
“He has someone following us. Lights off. Dark van. He called to gloat and to give me an ultimatum.”
“Sounds about right. Where are you?”
“Ten minutes from home, but I’m going to try to lose this asshole. Don’t want to lead him straight to the house.”
“I’m leaving the city now. Let me know if you need any backup.”
“Will do.”
“You okay, Little Doe?”
“Yeah,” I say as confidently as I can manage, but the shake in my voice is obvious.
“It’s okay if you’re scared, Han. Rowan will take care of you.”
“Always,” he confirms.
“We’ll see you at h—the house.” I catch myself before I say the word, but the tension in Rowan’s shoulders eases for a split second.
The call ends, and silence falls over us once again.
This has been a really weird night.
“Hold on,” Rowan says a moment before the car jerks forward, and this time I don’t bother stopping myself from doing just that.
