Chapter 16
Paisley
“Hi.” I slowly open the door to Brinley’s room. “How are you doing?”
It’s been a week since the threat, and Polly won’t let her leave because she really likes her. I do too. She’s super shy and quiet, but really sweet. I’ve been hanging out here a bit more because Royce won’t let me be home alone.
I wouldn’t want to be, either. I’m scared shitless. Not gonna lie about that. Being with Royce and always having someone else around makes me feel safer.
Brinley sits up from the bed and smiles at me. God, she looks so different than she has in the past. Her hair is super shiny, and her skin isn’t so pale.
She hasn’t opened up about her past or why she lives out of her car, but she’s really nice. I always thought she was anyway. “Hi. I’d say I’m a five and a half.”
That’s good. The highest number yet. “That’s great. Hope you don’t mind if I hang out. Royce went to the office.” Plus, truth be told, she is a stranger, so nobody wants her here alone when Polly goes to the store. One of the guys is outside just to be on the safe side even though this house is a fortress.
Her cheekbones are more prominent when she smiles. “He sure does love you.”
“Yeah, he does. I got lucky.”
“Hmm.”
“So, uh, what do you do for fun? To keep yourself occupied?”
She swings her feet back and forth. “Well, when I’m not fighting off men who want to rape me or digging through the trash to get some food, I sleep. I like to sleep as much as I can because it makes time go by fast. I just want to be able to wake up one day and not be in this life anymore.”
I don’t know how to respond to that. My heart goes out to her, but I only offer a smile and then ask, “Want to go downstairs and watch a movie?”
“Whatever.” She shrugs and stands up.
I follow her downstairs, and we sit on opposite ends of the couch. She holds up a picture of me on my sixteenth birthday. “You got a car for your birthday?”
“Yeah,” I reply sheepishly.
“Wow. You have the perfect life.”
“I don’t,” I tell her. “I, uh, my birth parents died when I was nine, and I was in and out of foster care until I was fourteen. Then my luck turned around when Erik and Polly adopted me. I don’t know what I did to be so blessed, but I thank my lucky stars every night because I know it could have been so much worse.”
I rub my hand on my belly.
She watches the movement. “Do you know what you’re having?”
“No. We wanted it to be a surprise.” I laugh and then explain, “Well, I wanted it to be. Royce wants to know, but I think it’ll be better this way.”
“I bet it’s a boy.”
I smile. “Why do you think that?”
“Just a guess.”
“I don’t care what it is as long as it’s healthy and happy.”
“I’m sure it will be. You’re young and healthy and so is Royce.”
Just hearing his name still makes me smile. “Yeah. I hope so.” As long as someone doesn’t hurt us, all signs point to happy and healthy. I put in a funny movie, hoping to lighten the mood, but before it starts, I go make some popcorn.
It takes a few minutes, but the tension releases from the room. A scene with Hunter Dean comes on, and we both sigh. “He’s so dreamy.”
“He’s really cute.” She blushes.
“I know. Royce’d kill me if he knew I said that. Apparently, he’s a jerk in real life.”
“How do you know that?”
I lean in closer to her. “Don’t tell anyone, but Royce said he hired them to do security for something, and it was a disaster. He lied and put one of the guys in danger. He got blacklisted from the company after that.”
“Oh, wow.”
“Yeah, you don’t mess with one of us. You do, and you get everyone on your bad side.”
She nods. “Yeah, I bet. It must be nice to have that many people at your back.”
“It is. I used to be so scared all the time, but when I was adopted, that fear went away. I hate that it’s back.” I wipe beneath my eyes. “I just don’t want anyone to hurt my baby. I don’t know what I’d do if that happened.”
Royce
My fist slams into his stomach, and he collapses on the ground, crying like a bitch. I grab him by his collar and yank him up, then push him against the wall.
“I didn’t do it,” Chad screams at me, tears dripping down his face. “I swear I didn’t. I’d never hurt her. God! Don’t hit me again.” Jesus, what a pussy. I only hit him one time.
Carter puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Look at me.” I jerk Chad’s shirt, and his head wobbles back and forth. He opens his eyes, then squints and flinches even though I didn’t do anything. “If I find out it was you—”
“It wasn’t, I swear! I left the same night she turned me down and—”
I shake my head. “Now you’re lying to me.”
“Okay, fine,” he wheezes.
“And what did you do that night, Chad? Did you sit and think about how much you fucked up? Think maybe you could have a piece of her after all?”
“No!” he screams. “No, I swear. I would never hurt her!”
“Then where the fuck were you? I know you don’t have the balls to hurt her, but you have the money, don’t you?”
His face pales even more.
“Yeah, I know all about it. I know everything, Chadwick.”
“That has nothing to do with Paisley.”
I press my arm against his throat. “Don’t you say her fucking name.”
He claws at my arm, and I loosen it enough to let him breathe. “I didn’t want the money.”
“But you took it.”
“Yes! I took it. My parents made me. I was fifteen.”
“Where’s your baby now?”
For the first time, I see unadulterated anger slash across his face. He leans into my arm and despite the pressure cutting off his air supply, he yells, “I don’t fucking know where it is. I don’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. They made me sign the fucking papers, and they took her away. I haven’t seen or heard from them since.”
“And I bet that kills you,” I taunt him. “Your girl got away, and she took your baby. Shame it happened once but then you meet another girl, and she leaves you and gets pregnant, I bet—”
“I was at a hotel fucking some random women, okay?” He falls back against the wall in defeat. “I left your house, and I got wasted and got laid because it made me feel better about my shitty fucking life. I was going to go home the next morning, but they were still there, and the morning led to the afternoon and then we spent another night fucking, and before I knew it, I’d been drunk at a hotel for days.”
I drop my arms, and he wipes his nose with the back of his hand.
“My life is a fuckin’ joke, man, all right? I felt like shit, and I did something that made me feel better about it. When I was going to leave, I realized there was nothing for me in New York. There’s nothing for me anywhere, so I just never left.” He lifts his head. “I would never hurt her or do something to threaten your baby.”
Without another word or threat, I turn on my heel and leave the hotel room. Carter follows, and I get into the passenger seat of his Jeep.
“That was hard to watch.” He pulls out of the parking spot and heads back to Royal.
“Yeah.”
He sighs. “Fucked up, man.”
I simply grunt. It’s really a fucked-up story. Chad got a girl pregnant when she was fourteen, and he was fifteen. Girl’s parents paid him a quarter of a million dollars to shut him up. Her family moved away, and there is no record of the daughter ever having a baby.
He’s the only damn lead we have, and since he’s been paying with cash at the hotel, it took us this long to find him. I want to have it be him, so I can put an end to it, but frankly, I believe him. Which means someone else out there wants my baby.
* * *
“We’re at a dead fuckin’ end. There haven’t been any more threats, no notes, no phone calls, no tails,” my dad tells the group of men sitting at the table.
The companies’ merger has been successful, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the capabilities of my father and his men than I am right now. We’ve worn out all of our resources and have gotten nothing.
No information is more frustrating than anything. It’s nearly impossible to follow an invisible lead.
“We’re sure this note was directed at her? The hospital is right there. Maybe someone got the car wrong?” Lincoln says.
“What the fuck are you saying? You think she—”
“No. Whatever you’re going to say, no. Nothing bad about your girl, just the possibility that maybe the note was meant for someone else. Any other cars there around that time, have we looked at their owners to see if any have protection orders filed, anything like that?”
“We won’t lessen our protection,” Erik states. “That’s my grandchild someone threatened. But it’s not a bad idea. Q?”
“I’ll get on it,” he replies, already looking at his laptop.
We’re mulling over more options and throwing out ideas when the door opens. The Ace guys start a slow clap, and the few Royal guys—Damien, Brenden, and Lincoln—look around with confusion at the man who just entered.
“Well, look what the motherfuckin’ cat dragged in.” Gio pushes out of his chair and sticks his hand out.
Noble takes it, and they pat each other on the back. Erik does the same and then Carter. By the time he makes it to me, I’m already out of my chair. I smile at him, and he punches me in the gut. I grunt at the force, and the rest of the guys laugh. They all sucker-punched me when they found out about Paisley and me. He just totally caught me off guard and got me good.
“Asshole.” He slaps the side of my face, and I look up at him. “You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
“Nope. Not even a little bit.”
He laughs and takes the seat next to me.
“Gentlemen, this is the elusive Noble,” Erik introduces him to the new guys. “I’ve already filled him in on what we know so far. He’s gonna jump in on the rotations for protection detail.”
Erik holds up his finger and answers his phone. “Hey, baby.”
Everyone grumbles as he walks out of the room and talks to Polly.
“How you been, man?”
He shrugs. “Alive.”
Typical Noble answer. Cryptic. Nobody knows the details of Noble’s past. The only thing we’re positive about is that he was a cop, and he lost his wife and daughter. I suppose we don’t need to know the particulars to understand why he is the way he is.
I ever lost Paisley and my kid… I don’t think I’d survive, to be honest.
Noble is the perfect bodyguard because he admittedly doesn’t have a life. He’s able to be gone for months and months at a time without worry. Which is where he’s been.
“Okay. See you guys soon.” Erik walks back in the room. “Did you remember the Pop-Tarts for Brinley? Okay. Love you, too.”
“Brinley?” Noble asks.
“The girl I told you about who drove Paisley here and is now living in our guest room.” Apparently, they’ve already talked about the entire situation.
Noble sits up, and the whole room thickens with tension. “You got a picture of her?”
“Why?”
“Her hair red?”
“Yes.”
“Get me a picture.” He stands. “Now.”