“They didn’t find her,” I cut in. “They won’t.” I made sure of it. When I left Payson, all I could see was red. My mind was blank and my feet moved with a mind of their own. They will no longer be a problem.
Jarrell’s voice is low as he speaks again. “Do you know who it was?”
Not off the bat, but I have a very good idea who sent them, but I don’t voice it. “Not yet,” I reply, lying.
Griffith mutters something under his breath. “This isn’t a coincidence,” he says. “She doesn’t just wander into a construction zone the same day someone shows up armed….”
“No,” Jarrell replies. “It’s not.” The line goes quiet, and when Jarrell speaks again, there’s an edge to it. “Griff, see if you can find out who it was.” Griffith hesitates, then the line ends. “Ledgar,” Jarrell says, speaking in a hushed tone. He doesn’t say thank you. He doesn’t need to, but it’s there in the way he speaks now.
“You’re welcome,” I reply cocky.
“There’s something you need to know.” I don’t interrupt, just listen. “She’s not adopted…” His words hit me like a stab to the chest. “She’s mine.” I say nothing as guilt floods my senses at what he just said. I can’t act like I care now, because I didn’t before I took her to bed. But his words explain everything. “People have been after her ever since her mother droppedher off with me,” he continues. “Not constantly, but enough I stepped in when I had to.”
“When you had to?” I question. “She’s of your blood.”
“You didn’t let me finish,” he adds. “I kept it quiet to protect her. All records have been sealed until the day I die. No one needs to know.”
“Why tell me then?”
“Because the moment it becomes public…”
“She becomes a target,” I finish. I understand what he is trying to ask me, but I need him to say the words.
“No one should have been able to find her,” Jarrell says to himself. “Someone must’ve recognized her there.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I say firmly.
“I’m certain you will, and Ledgar…promise me something.”
I don’t hesitate as I answer. “What is it?” Silence stretches as he contemplates if he really wants to ask me what I think he is about to.
“Protect her,” he states slowly and deliberately. “When I’m gone,” he adds. That is the part that lingers in the air, because he’s not asking me, he’s telling me. I don’t question why he decided to tell me this, or why he thought it was wise to ask me to protect her. He talks as if he knows something else is bound to happen, but to him.
“I will.” The words leave my lips without hesitation. The moment she stepped foot in my office,she was mine.She will always be mine. The line stays quiet for some time, before he speaks again.
“Good,” he says, ending the call.
I lower the phone slowly, my eyes drifting to the monitors again, scanning them for any sign of her moving about. My mind shouldn’t go there. I should make her leave my penthouse and return home, but I can’t. She wouldn’t be safe. The only placeI can protect her is by my side, and only the devil himself can separate that.
CHAPTER 30
Payson
It’s halfpast eleven and he still isn’t here. I don’t know why I decided waiting up for him was a good idea. Or even if staying here, with him, was the best decision. The door finally clicks, and I sit straight up from the couch. My pulse picks up as he steps inside, closing the door softly behind him. He doesn’t look surprised to see me, but something feels off. “Couldn’t sleep?” He asks, barely above a whisper.
“Something like that,” I reply.
He nods once, sets down his keys, and shrugs off his jacket. “I’m going to shower,” he says, like I haven’t been lying here waiting for him. He doesn’t walk over to me, just walks past me, leaving the room feeling colder than it was before he walked in.
I sit there for a second or two, trying to convince myself that I am imagining it. That maybe I just assumed we were both on the same page, pushing things past the breaking point and moving a whole hell of a lot faster than we should. I stand, before I can overthink it and talk myself out of it and follow him. The bathroom door is cracked, steam already filling up the room.I don’t knock, just step silently inside. He’s already under the water, back to me, muscles tense in a way I haven’t seen on him. Not in these past few days anyway. I undress quickly, stepping in behind him. He stills when he hears me. “Payson….” He drags my name out like he’s trying to fight something. Too little too late.
“You’re avoiding me,” I say, stating the obvious. He doesn’t answer me, though, and I can’t help but wonder why. I step up to him, wrapping my arms around his center, laying soft kisses on his back, as I guide my hands lower.
He turns, finally looking at me. His eyes are haunted, like he’s been hit with the most devastating news. “Bad idea,” he says sharply, and I smirk.
“Stop me then.” He doesn’t. He lets me run my hands along his body until I reach his cock, hard and waiting. For a second I think he might actually stop me. I begin pumping him, slowly at first but picking up my pace as his head falls back. His breathing picks up the faster I pump, running the tip of my thumb over the head every so often. “If you didn’t want me, then why did you ask me to stay?” I whisper.
His jaw tightens and he looks me dead in the eye. “I didn’t ask,” he replies.
