20. Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Keaton
The pitching machine spat out a baseball at a hundred miles per hour, and I hit it with all the aggression burning inside of me.
Thwack!
The sound of my Victus bat hitting cowhide was hands down the most satisfying thing ever. Never failed to soothe my nerves, and neither did the view of palm and plumeria trees, rugged cliffs, and the ocean beyond the batting cage.
Except today.
That fire yesterday had been my screwup. Whoever was behind the threats had let me know that they’d done it because of me. Luckily, nobody had gotten hurt. Not seriously anyway.
After sprinting back into the building, I’d found Wentworth and two other guys putting out a small fire that had started in the band’s mixer. The Darkwater Refuge fire chief had declared it an accident due to a damaged cable, which, of course, was wrong.
Another baseball shot toward me. Fastball.
I hit it even harder than the curveball before.
Someone had damaged that cable. But who? Who was behind the threats? Who on earth would endanger the lives of so many people?
Even with her reservations about me taking charge of LGD, Regina would never wreck her own company’s image. If she wanted to get rid of me, she’d simply sack me. Aaron would do the same.
Did I have rivals I wasn’t aware of?
Another fastball came at me.
Thwack!
“You are going to break the net,” Alfie said from behind me, safely posted outside the batting cage in the shade.
Located in the south of the island, Champion’s Rock offered tennis courts, a golf course, and baseball batting cages. I came here almost every noon to clear my head in the fresh air. Three times a week I brought Alfie with me. The kid preferred to watch me bat over playing himself.
“You think my hits are powerful enough to break the net?” Never taking my eyes off the pitching machine, I wiped sweat from my brow with my upper arm. The sun beat down on me as if trying to prepare me for hell. I was pretty sure that’s where I was headed after my newest conclusion.
Layne had to go.
“When do I get to meet your wife?” Alfie asked, as if reading my mind.
Screwball.
Thwack! Another hit that reverberated up my arms.
I let the bat sink and stepped aside, so the next ball wouldn’t smack me in the head while I faced Alfie. “You really wanna meet her, huh?”
Gripping the wire mesh, he gave me a toothy grin. “Yes.”
“You’re gonna steal her from me, you little charmer.”
“Is she pretty?”
Good question. Was she?
A picture of her in that red dress popped into my head. Her smooth, tanned leg. The way she’d kissed me.
But there was something else about her. Some kind of glow that left me mesmerized.
I retook my spot up in the batter’s box. “She is.”
The machine spat out a fastball, and I hit it.
“I want to meet her. You never let me meet anyone.”
For a good reason. Most people in my circle wouldn’t understand why I hung out with a fifteen-year-old kid who had Down syndrome. Why I needed him. I was scared they’d hurt him. So no, I wasn’t going to let them anywhere near him.
Layne was different, though. Empathetic. If I hadn’t already decided to get rid of her, maybe I would’ve introduced her to Alfie.
“Maybe. We’ll see, okay?”
Alfie huffed. “Okay. Can you tell me another story about Monroe?”
I froze. The pitching machine sent another round, the baseball narrowly missing me and hitting the wire mesh behind me. Hearing someone say Monroe’s name caught me off guard every time. No one in our family talked about him or what’d happened. How I had silenced his sweet laughter forever.
I’d told Alfie a story about Monroe a couple years back, and ever since, the kid wanted to hear more.
My chest tightened as I shut off the pitching machine and opened the cage. “Come on in.”
Beaming, Alfie skipped inside, and we settled on the concrete.
“One time, Monroe, Tatum, Wentworth, Kimball, Kingsley, and I played baseball in our backyard. I hit the ball a little too hard, and crash , right through our parents’ bedroom window.”
Alfie snickered. “Not good.”
“No, it was not. Our mother was very upset and asked who it was.”
“Uh-oh.”
“I was about to turn myself in when Monroe said it had been the neighbor’s cow.” Even Regina had cracked a smile.
Alfie started to laugh, and man, his giggles sounded so much like Monroe’s that my gut contracted.
“The neighbor didn’t even have a cow.”
He doubled over, laughing. This right here was the reason why I couldn’t back down from the CEO position. If I did, I’d fail Alfie, and Monroe, too. It wasn’t like I could right my wrongs—too late for that. But I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to do the right thing.
So, stepping down wasn’t an option, which meant I had to make sure Layne was safe. Staying married meant she was automatically in the crosshairs that were meant for me.
Problem was, I couldn’t file for divorce, or Lincoln Grady Distillery was history. But if Layne filed for divorce . . .
I had to push her to do it.
And already knew how.