Calling in the authorities at this point would complicate things.” My steps halt as I address the Night Eagle team members in the conference room at the office.

The conference room is directly above Jacob’s office on the second floor of the building. A long table, more than enough room for all the members of the team, plus any other guests or clients we might be meeting with, stands in the middle of the room. A large screen covers the opposite wall, and when we use it, a blackout screen lowers to cover the windows.

After Rayne and I arrived at the office, she headed straight for the restroom to clean up. I wanted to go with her, more than anything, but she insisted I go and brief the team on what happened and start mission planning. If there’s anything I know how to do, it’s falling into strategy mode, so I did as she asked and pulled all the guys into the conference room.

Telling them as a group that I have a son was the weirdest and best experience of my life. Their faces mirrored what I’m sure mine looked like when I first found out, minus all the pain. But then they were with me, ready to plan out all the ways we were going to fight for my family, make sure above all else that they stay safe.

Jacob nods, steepling his fingers together while his elbows rest on the table. “I agree. We’ll call in the WPD and the SEC when the time is right, but this isn’t it. We need to find evidence. And we need to find out where Horton is holed up. If this is as important to him as we think it is, he won’t have stayed behind in Phoenix. He’s hired people to do his dirty work because that’s what men like him do…they gather a staff around them.”

“Yeah, the bastard can’t do anything on his own. So far he’s hired a private detective, who I’ve collected a file about. He’s a thug whose only talent is knowing how to be a slimy asshole. He tried to take Rayne right out from under me. And he almost succeeded.” The anger rushing inside of me every time I think of what could have happened can’t be contained. I slam my fist down on the table.

“Brains, we’ve got this. No one will get to her again.” Ronin’s voice is determined with his promise, but I can’t be sure that Rayne is safe until we take Wagner Horton down.

Jacob glances at me. “Can you burn through the software security protocols Horton Tech uses?”

Sucking in a breath through my teeth, I shake my head slowly. “I’m good, but probably not that good. We need to pull in someone to help.”

Jacob strokes his chin, contemplating me. “I have someone in mind. I’ll call her. She’ll be here this afternoon.”

“Her?” Ronin’s voice carries a note of curiosity.

Jacob beams a bemused glance at Ronin. “You got a problem working with women?”

Ronin leans back in the plush leather chair. “No, sir, of course not. I was just surprised.”

Jacob nods. “Until she gets here…Ghost!”

Grisham sits up straighter in his seat, his head snapping to attention. “Sir?”

“Tactics is your thing. Brief ’em on what the team will do once we have the evidence needed to take Horton down with the SEC.”

A small smile crosses Grisham’s face as he pushes back his chair and stands. I find a seat and prepare to listen, because Grisham fucking loves this part of the job. Planning missions, talking strategy? It’s like Christmas for him, every single time.

“We can’t get specific until we have a location for him and know exactly what we’re dealing with geographically.” Grisham moves to the front of the room and plants both hands firmly on the table. “But we can use the people he’s hired so far in order to get to him.”

Walking over to the laptop that will feed directly to the projection screen, I quickly tap the keys to pull up the file I created on the private investigator who followed Rayne to Olive’s home.

“Kevin O’Shea owns a small firm here in Wilmington.” I roll through O’Shea’s dossier for the team, indicating the location of his office, his past work history, and pulling up a photo for them to focus on.

It’s lunchtime by the time we conclude, and I pull Jacob aside to let him know I need to run out of the office.

He frowns. “I want you working with the hacker I called this afternoon.”

Nodding firmly, I look him straight in the eye. “I know. And I’ll be here. I want to bring this son of a bitch down more than anyone. But there’s something else I need to take care of right now, and I want to get it out of the way. I’ll be back with plenty of time to work with your hacker.”

He studies me, probably noting the extra lines around my eyes that I’m sure have formed there out of worry. Never has a case hit me like this. It’s never been personal for me. Making sure that Rayne and Decker are safe is my top priority now, and if there’s anyone who understands that, it’s Jacob Owen.

“Handling all of this okay? You have to eat, and you have to sleep, son.” Jacob’s voice is gruff, even when he’s concerned. It’s just how he’s made. He’s a scary motherfucker, but I know him well enough now to know that he cares deeply about each and every member of his team. He’s got three daughters of his own, and he’s recently reconciled with his wife, but each one of us is like a son to him.

“Yeah. I know. Doing my best.”

After a pause, Jacob scratches his chin and continues. “I see the way you look at her. You’re not just working on a client’s case, and you’re not just protecting the mother of your kid. It’s more than that, and we all know it.”

I meet his gaze head-on. Denying nothing. Because, damn right it was more than that. I’d always protect a client with my life if I had to. But this is Rayne. I’ll protect her with my heart.

He nods and gives me a hard clap on the shoulder. “Go do what you need to do. And get back here by two.”

“Understood, boss.”

In the outer office, I find Rayne at work on her computer at her desk. She smiles when she sees me, but the same worry I feel in my gut is evident in her eyes. “Hey, you.”

“Hey, yourself.”

She inclines her head toward the hallway that leads to the lounge. “You wanna go heat up some delicious leftovers?”

She leans forward, theatrically cupping her hand around her mouth and using a stage whisper. “Leftovers. It’s my first time having leftovers for lunch. I usually just eat peanut butter and jelly or takeout. But you see, there’s this really hot guy I know who cooks like a damn chef. And he made me dinner last night. So today for lunch? I’m having leftovers.”

Chuckling, I match her stance, leaning over the front of her desk. “Wow. He sounds like someone you should keep around.”

Her eyes sparkle with mischief, and a thick chunk of her hair falls over her shoulder. My body hums with our closeness, urging me to close the distance and kiss her. But I resist, holding back to continue the banter.

“Oh, he is. Because he can cook, and I love to eat.”

My eyebrow arches. “That’s the only reason?”

Glancing around, she beckons me closer. Rolling my eyes, I lean in farther.

“No,” she whispers. “He’s also a total boss in the bedroom.”

I try to keep a straight face; I really do. But her deadpan expression causes the laughter to erupt out of me, and when I lose it, she finally does, too.

When our laughter dies down, my expression grows serious. “Hey. I’m going to be out of the building for a bit. I want you to stay here, all right? No going out on your own. I need to know you’re safe.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Okay. Where are you headed?”

I don’t want to tell her. The last thing I want to do is add to the clusterfuck of emotions she must already be feeling. She was attacked this morning. She knows there’s a man out there who wants to hurt her. I want to keep her as calm as I can without adding to her stress level.

“Just an errand.” Keeping my tone nonchalant, I lean down and kiss her lightly, tasting spearmint on her lips.

Backing away from her desk, I point to her. “Stay put.”

Eventually, after it’s all said and done, I’ll tell her. Just not right now. Not while she’s got Horton on her plate. No matter how this afternoon plays out, it’s going to hurt me. And I can deal with my own pain. I just can’t stand the thought of adding onto hers.

When I stop at the tall, black Iron Gate, my stomach twists. I told myself I’d never come back here the day I left. But now, due to circumstances I never predicated, I’m here again.

It’s the last place I want to be.

But I have to do this now. I have the woman I thought I lost and the son I never knew I had in my life. They’re filling a hole in the deepest part of me, and I need to confront my grandfather, especially before we tell Decker tonight that I’m his dad. I need to know why. How could he have taken this away from me? What did he think he was accomplishing?

It’s eating me alive, not knowing.

I roll down my window and touch a finger to the buzzer. The tinny sound makes me wince, and then the speaker crackles as a voice comes through.

“Yes?”

“My name is Jeremy Teague. They’re not expecting me, but I’m their grandson.”

Silence falls on the other side of the speaker. I wait, staring through the gates onto the winding, asphalt drive. The house can’t be seen from here, no way. That wouldn’t be nearly ostentatious enough.

Sighing, I lay my head back against the seat and wait some more.

Finally, the crackling on the speaker is back and the distant male voice speaks again.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Teague. You may enter.”

The gate swings backward and, ignoring the sinking feeling in my gut, I inch the Land Cruiser forward and travel up the long driveway.

Perfectly manicured flower beds, along with the sharpest, straightest hedges in the history of hedges line the driveway before I round a curve and it opens up to sprawling acres of rolling green lawn. And then the house comes into view.

It’s white brick monstrosity with big-ass pillars and a plantation feel to it that screams “I wish we’d won the Civil War!” Just the sight of it causes me to shiver. It’s funny because the entire time I was growing up, I thought everything was fine. I knew my grandparents had an absurd amount of money, but I was raised to be thankful that they’d taken me in to raise me after my parents died. They were kind to me, if very set in their ways. Everything about their life and their home was formal, and I didn’t realize there was any other way to live until I entered my public high school.

It was the first time I’d attended public school; my grandparents had always enrolled me in private. But when it became clear that college and professional football were a real possibility for me, I begged my grandparents to let me play at the public school level. I wouldn’t get nearly the standard of competitiveness in the private school sector that I would in the public school. The people I met there, the guys on the team especially, lived lives that were on the opposite end of the spectrum from my eye. I was introduced to family dinners and mall shopping trips, cheap beach vacations and field parties. Suddenly, it was so very clear how stuffy and snobby my grandparents and all of their friends were. I was embarrassed to bring anyone to my house, and that was fine by my grandparents.

When I started dating Rayne, she was the very first person I brought to meet them, and they weren’t welcoming. They never came right out and told me they didn’t like her, but she never felt welcome at my house and I didn’t blame her. I didn’t know what to do about it at that point, though. I’d never gone against my grandparents’ wishes before. My grandfather wanted me to play Division I college football as much as I did, so the transfer to public school wasn’t as big a battle as it might have been otherwise. But Rayne? She was never going to fit into their scene.

Following the curve of the driveway around the side of the enormous house, I park in front of the five-car garage and take the walkway to the front door. After ringing the bell, I stand silently on the covered parch, not realizing that I’m holding my breath.

The man who answers the door wears a black blazer and slacks, a crisp white shirt showing underneath. He clears his throat before he speaks, and I recognize the formal voice from the speaker at the gate.

“Welcome home, sir.” He bends at the waist in a grand bow that makes my eye twitch. “Your grandfather is waiting for you in the study.”

Fucking hell. The study.

It’s the place my grandfather receives guests of a business nature. The butler turns and begins to escort me into the foyer. As soon as I’m standing in the grand two-story entrance hall, with a black-and-white-tiled floor, I place a hand on his shoulder.

“Thanks. But I can take it from here. I remember where the study is.”

With a disapproving sniff, he turns away from me and stalks toward the kitchen. Sighing, I head in the opposite direction.

Toward the study.

The tall, mahogany door is ajar. During the short walk from the foyer to the grand room covered wall-to-wall in books, my anger and resentment built. With every footstep I think of all the things I lost because of him. Being there for Rayne, my son’s birth, every monumental moment of Decker’s childhood up until now. By the time I push the door open, the thought of knocking politely is nowhere in sight.

Pushing the door open, I stalk inside and don’t stop walking until I’m standing directly in front of the man who raised me.

He stands in front of a large picture window, but as I approach he turns to face me. The years haven’t been as cruel to him as they should have been. He stands tall and erect, the same height that I am. At over six feet tall, I’m no slouch and neither is Mason Teague. His hair is stark white, but lies in thick layers on top of his head. His handlebar mustache is distinguished, and bright green eyes, so similar to mine and Decker’s, peer at me with shrewd intelligence.

“How could you do it?” The words are grinding out of me before I’m able to stop and think about what I really want to say.

And it’s no matter, because the only thing I really want from him is an explanation that makes sense. A good reason for him to have taken away the love of my life and hidden the fact that I was having a child of my own. Because if there isn’t a good reason for that, the only logical explanation is that the man who raised me is pure evil.

The sharp expression on my grandfather’s face doesn’t change as he evaluates me. He takes in my appearance with cool detachment: the long hair pulled back, the plain white polo shirt and jeans, the tats peeking out from my sleeves. I’m nothing like the man he wanted me to become, and his disdain is evident.

But then he shutters his expression and returns his gaze to my face. Innocent nonchalance plays there.

“Well, hello to you, too, my boy. Welcome home.”

I bark out a laugh of disbelief. “This hasn’t been my home for a long time. This isn’t some heartfelt family reunion. I want answers. And I want them now.”

He doesn’t flinch at the steel in my voice, but then I wouldn’t expect him to. He adopts a leisurely pace as he walks toward the deep leather armchairs on the other side of the room. Even past the age of seventy, he walks upright and without the use of a cane. His body looks physically fit in his golf shirt and slacks.

When he reaches the chairs, he sinks down into one and gestures loosely toward the other. “Have a seat, my boy.”

I’m so pissed my voice is almost a snarl. “This isn’t a social call. I know what you did, and I want to know why.”

With an irritated sigh, he crosses one leg over the other and places an elbow on the thick, rounded arm. Glancing down his nose with a bored expression on his lined face, his lips pull thin. “What exactly are you referring to, Jeremy? I’ve had a long life, during which I’ve made many decisions. On behalf of myself and on behalf of my family. But contrary to what you believe, I’ve never wanted anything but the best for you.”

Throwing my head back, I roar with ironic laughter. Walking toward him, I’m moving at a pace slow enough to read the heading on a file lying atop his tidy desk: MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: TECHNOLOGY CORPS. With an inner eye roll, I take note.

I thought the old man was retired, but apparently he just can’t keep his hands out of the inner workings of his company.

The company that he always assumed one day, after a brilliantly successful college and NFL career, I’d take over.

“You know what? Using your only grandson as a guinea pig for some insane doctor’s science experiment just for the chance he might go pro is one thing. You fucked with my life back then, and thank God I caught wind of it. But attempting to force the girl I loved to abort our child?” I take a menacing step closer to his armchair. “That’s sick. I would have done right by her, been there for both of them! Dammit, I wanted that chance!”

He regards me with his trademark cool stare. His feathers aren’t ruffled; his emotions are in check. And it infuriates me. I want him to yell, to scream at me. To tell me that he was pissed that I got a girl pregnant back then and he was trying to get back at me. Any feeling at all would be better than this indifference.

“So, Granddad? What do you have to say for yourself?”

He tilts his head to one side. “How did you come by your information?”

With a dark chuckle, I turn around and run shaking hands through my hair. He’s unbelievable. Really fucking incredible.

“My information came directly from the source. You see…with all of your meddling and manipulating, you failed, ultimately. You might have driven Rayne away, and thank God you did, because she was strong enough to raise my son on her own. But she and I couldn’t be kept apart forever. You get that? We’re supposed to be together. She’s back in my life, and I’m getting to know my son. His name is Decker, and he’s amazing. And you’ll never get to know him, because of your own selfish ego. How does it feel?”

He sits up straighter. “You’re in contact with your son?”

Whirling back around to face him, I realize I’m not going to solve anything by being here. In fact, coming here at all was a huge mistake. There’s no getting through to this man; I shouldn’t have even tired. He’ll never give me the answers I want. And no explanation he could ever offer will take away the pain of what he did.

My hands fall to my sides with limp indifference. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m in contact with my son. In fact, my son and his mother now live with me. So your plan, all those years ago? It’s dust. And I hope you choke on it.”

He jerks to his feet, his calm veneer now shattered. His face is an angry red, his lips twisted into a snarl that I’ve never seen on his face before.

“You idiot!” he shouts. “Everything I did back then, I did for you. But if you have him in your life now…it isn’t the time for your stupid pride! You need me. And you have a responsibility to pass on my legacy to my great-grandson!”

I stare at him with sheer disbelief, my mouth falling slack. “You mean the grandson you never even wanted to exist?”

He walks toward me, stopping directly in front of me so that we’re almost nose to nose.

“You’ve always been willful,” he hisses. “I knew that. But I didn’t know you’d be stupid enough to cut your son out of the destiny he deserves.”

“Mason!”

The sound of my grandmother’s voice pulls me around to face the door. She strides forward, stopping when she stands beside my grandfather and across from me.

“Jeremy.” She reaches up to touch my face, but I jerk away. “You’ve been away for so long. We’ve missed you.”

My grandmother looks exactly the same as she always has, with a head of white, perfectly styled hair. Her clothes are elegant and refined, and she stands up straight and stately. They’re both the picture of good health, with more lines collected on their faces.

“Not enough to apologize for what you both did to me. You knew, right, Grandmother? After all these years, you never wanted to come clean?” My tone is accusatory as I turn my anger on her.

“A baby at that age would have ruined your life.” Her tone is matter-of-fact. “We were only doing what was best for you.”

I stare at her, and she continues. “But now that our plans all those years ago didn’t work out the way we wanted them to, we can see the opportunity we have now. We want you to come back, Jeremy. Back to our family. Come work with your grandfather. Become the businessman we always knew you could be. And now that you have a son, you have someone to pass the legacy down to.”

My grandfather nods, smiling like she’s saying everything he believes to be true.

Stepping back, I let out a sharp bark of a laugh and scrub a hand over my face. “You were playing God. Both of you. And now that you’ve found out that Rayne thwarted your plan, you want your grandson in your life? I’ll never let that happen. You don’t deserve him. Either of you.”

Shaking my head, I slowly back up toward the door and look at my grandfather. “You know what? I think my son is gonna be just fine. And any destiny that has to do with you and your goddamn company isn’t one I want to pass on to my boy.”

Turning, I walk toward the door.

“Don’t you walk away from me, boy! We’re not done here! Everything your grandmother and I did, we did to secure your future! And I won’t regret any of it!”

The words sting my back, but I don’t stop. I keep walking, and I don’t intend to ever look back.