Chapter 29
Ledgar
I slam the door to my office shut. The noise from the casino fades as I move to sit behind my desk.
I run my hands through my hair, pulling, letting out a long ragged breath as I do.
I contemplate on what I need to do. Do I call my brother and Jarrell, or do I pretend nothing just happened.
It’s not the first time for that to happen to me, but that wasn’t directed at me.
I think. And I can’t just ignore that. I pull my phone from my pocket and hit the dial.
The line connects quickly as Griffith answers. “Brother,” he says sharply.
“I’m patching in Jarrell,” I say, dialing his number.
“Talk.” No greeting, no wasted time. He knows if I call something is usually up.
“Someone breached the construction level. They were armed, organized, and shot up the ceiling in one of the rooms.”
“What else?” Jarrell asks.
“This wasn’t random. They were looking for someone, and knew they would be here,” I continue. Silence stretches for a blip.
“Who?” Griffith cuts in, his voice sharp. It sounds like he’s up moving around, due to the noise coming from the background as he speaks.
I lean back against my chair, my gaze drifting to the security monitors. “She shouldn’t have been there,” I say instead.
Jarrell is the first to understand. “Payson.”
“Yes.”
Griffith exhales sharply. “How the hell…”
“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 dropped her 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 place I can protect her is by my side, and only the devil himself can separate that.