Griffin's Revelation

Hadley Chapter 3

I couldn’t believe Daddy brought in more men and men like the Dark Patriots without telling me. He was always open with me and told me everything, or I thought he did. For him to go to this extreme, the threat, whatever it was, had to be big, or he was overreacting.

I would’ve never accused him of the latter in the past, but recently, he’d become even more anxious about me and my safety. He was constantly asking me where I was going and who I’d be with. He’d ask when I expected to be home, and he insisted Rockwell was with me at a minimum all the time outside the house. I asked him more than once what was wrong, but he kept denying there was anything he was concerned about. Well, after today, he wouldn’t be putting me off again.

I’d heard him and a few of his cronies talk about the Dark Patriots around the dinner table before. It was clear from their comments that they respected them immensely. One of his friends, Anderson, seemed to be the most vocal. I’d known Anderson forever, but I couldn’t tell you much about him. He was a mystery, and when I asked my dad, he’d smile and say Anderson was a guardian, and that was it. I knew he worked for the US government, but not what his job was. He gave off a dangerous vibe, but not one that made me fear I was the one in danger.

The five men at our breakfast table emitted this same vibe. They looked tough, capable, and menacing. However, one of them did more than make me think they were dangerous men to mess with. Griffin Voss made me think of long, hot nights wrapped around each other, which was a shock.

I didn’t have an immediate response to men like this. I might note one was attractive but that was it. It took me letting them in and getting to know them. If we click, then it might lead to hot nights in bed. It had been a long time since that had happened. Nowadays, my life consists mainly of work and charity. It didn’t leave me much time for a relationship. Plus, those never worked out.

It was hard to know if a man was interested in me as a person or me as Travis Gerard’s daughter if they even discovered that. If not, they only knew I was wealthy, and that was what attracted them. I didn’t go around bragging about it, but my clothes and the fact I had a guard with me most of the time gave it away. The guys in the past had all turned out to have ulterior motives. If a man didn’t want me for myself, then I’d spend my life alone. It would be a lonely existence, but I had work, a couple of good friends, and my charities to keep me company and busy.

As Griffin was talking, I took in his many attributes. Was it shallow to focus on the physical so much? Yeah, but God, who wouldn’t? He was a fine specimen. He was older than my twenty-seven, maybe as much as ten years older. He was taller than me by at least half a foot or so. He was tan from spending so much time outdoors, I had no doubt.

His dark blond hair was long on top, and he wore it slicked back. The sides were shaved down to almost nothing. There was gray on those sides, but they added to his looks, not detracted. His face was strong with a square, defined jawline. He had a goatee, but he kept it shaved to barely there. I could see a few gray hairs in it, too. And those eyes… he had deep forest-green eyes. His lips were full and a distraction since they made me think of kissing them.

His body was all lean muscle. I knew this by the way his clothes clung to his body. He wasn’t as bulky as several of the men with him, but I knew he was tough. His short sleeves, even though it was the middle of winter, revealed his tattoos. All five of them were in short sleeves, which showed they had tats, but it was him who grabbed and kept my attention. Maybe I was just sex-starved. That had to be why I was sizing him up as my next sexual partner. It had been four years since my last disastrous relationship.

Not to say I was gonna have a relationship with Griffin. For one thing, he was here to do a job. That alone put him in the no-touch zone. I didn’t sleep with our employees. Two, even if he wasn’t in category one, I didn’t see him as someone who was looking to settle down. Although maybe he was already settled. It was hard to tell sometimes. The lack of a ring didn’t mean anything.

The thought of him having a wife and family depressed me. Stop it! You’re acting like a crazy fool. Griffin Voss isn’t for you. Snap out of it! My inner voice told me. That voice tried to keep me from making mistakes, and I usually listened to it. But God, if I thought there was a chance with him, I’d ignore the depressing bitch and jump his bones.

I tuned back into the conversation in time to catch Griffin telling Rockwell he’d been a Navy SEAL. Rockwell was being an asshole, and I didn’t like it. He could be condescending and superior at times. I hated when he did that. It was my only excuse for what I said next.

“I guess he told you. Navy SEALs, DEA agents, Army Special Forces, and Marine Raiders make them very qualified to lead and assess threats. Don’t be mad. You can’t always be the best every time, Wayne.”

I knew I scored a hit when he flushed and his face tightened. I only called him Wayne when he was being annoying or an asshole, and he knew it. He and I knew each other pretty well after four years of him being my main bodyguard. The man followed me everywhere except my bedroom and bathroom. I originally had been free of him in the house, but lately, he kept popping up when I was home to make sure I was okay. It was annoying, and I needed to talk to my dad about it. Having a guard in the house with me was unnecessary. Yes, we had a few roving the grounds, and occasionally, they might come inside, like when we had company, but those reasons weren’t the case with Rockwell.

“Just because someone was a SEAL or those other things doesn’t mean they know everything. These guys probably have been out for a while. If you don’t use those skills, you lose them,” Rockwell said as his comeback once he stopped smarting from mine.

I was about to defend the Patriots, more specifically Griffin, but my dad beat me to it. “I can assure you, Rockwell, that Griffin, his whole team, and everyone who works for them are more than fit for this work, and they keep up their skills. They can’t tell us about many of their assignments. It’s for those reasons and others that I asked for them. Now, enough of this. Eat. Your food is getting cold. We’ll resume this discussion afterward in my study.”

I knew that tone. He wouldn’t allow anyone to argue. Silence descended as we got back to our meal. As we did, I couldn’t help but sneak peeks at the Patriots, especially Griffin. I found him fascinating. Eventually, we finished, and we all got up and followed Dad to his study. When we got to the door, he stopped.

“I’d only like Hadley and the Patriots inside. The rest of you can relax. Porter will show you to the living room. If you need anything, just let him know.”

Porter had popped up out of nowhere. He was good at that. He always seemed to know what Dad wanted before he said it or called him. Porter haunted the halls, and you never knew when he might appear.

The guards exchanged uneasy glances, but they didn’t say anything. I saw Rockwell about to burst as he tried to hold back whatever he wanted to say. The board members, which consisted of Dewitt, Maynard, and Monroe, protested. The only ones missing were Truman and Fleming. I knew they’d be doing the same if they were here. It was odd they weren’t.

“Travis, this involves Gerard Industries. We’re the Board. We should be there for this talk. We have to know what the threat is so we can help you protect yourself and the company,” Dewitt argued.

Dewitt had been Daddy’s best friend for ages. Usually, Dad listened to him, which was why I was shocked when he shook his head no. “No, I don’t need you in there. The exact details need to be kept to the fewest number of people possible. It’s for everyone’s protection. It doesn’t directly involve the company, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Even if it doesn’t, we might have insight that could help,” Monroe added.

“He’s right,” Maynard chimed in.

Out of those two, Monroe was the one to speak up, and Maynard followed him. Maynard never seemed to have an original thought, but I knew he was brilliant at his work. That was why he was on the board. All five of the members were brilliant in their own ways, and that made them ideal for our board of directors. The company excelled even more with their insights.

“Sir, maybe one of us should be with you,” Ellis suggested. He was Dad’s main bodyguard, and he oversaw the other guards.

“Ellis, I appreciate that, but I’m in no danger from the Patriots or my daughter. Stay and relax. Hopefully, this won’t take long, and then we’ll fill you in on what you need to know. Come, we’re wasting time. Hadley, here, hold my arm,” he said as he held it out to me. I walked over and took it. I swear, for a second, it trembled, but when I looked at his face, I saw that he seemed to be in control. We led the Patriots inside, and then Porter closed the door behind us.

“Please be seated wherever is most comfortable,” Dad told them as we took a seat together on the loveseat.

His study was huge. Not only did he have a big desk and loads of bookcases, but he also had a large seating area like a living room. It had a loveseat, two couches, and a large chair with a coffee table in the center of the rectangle they created. I saw there was coffee and ice water in the middle of the table along with the necessary cups, glasses, and sugar and cream to doctor the coffee. I doubted these men took it any way other than black. This setup was thanks to Porter.

Remembering my manners, I made the offer. “Gentleman, may I get you some water or coffee? Just let me know how you take your coffee. I know this one contains French vanilla creamer, but the other will be half and half. If you want something else, we can get Porter to get it.” I knew my dad liked his coffee, and he hadn’t had nearly enough at breakfast, so I was busy fixing one for him. I was taken aback by the scowl Griffin gave me. What had I said?

“We’re more than capable of making our own coffee, Ms. Gerard. There’s no need to wait on us,” he said rather gruffly.

“I know you’re capable. I’m just offering. I do this often, you know. I’m right here with my hands on the pot. And please, call me Hadley.”

“You go ahead and get yours. If we want some, we’ll get it,” he said.

Deciding not to get into a spat over something so simple, I let it go. I finished preparing Dad’s and then made a cup for myself. It wasn’t until I relaxed back in my seat that they got coffee or water. I was right. Those who had coffee all took it black.

“Now that we’re all settled, I want to say thank you again for coming to help with this. It means more to me than you know,” Dad said, breaking the silence.

“We’re happy to help, although it would be more helpful to us so we can make our plans if we knew exactly what the threat is. All we were told was there was one, and it involved severe consequences,” Griffin told him.

All of this was news to me, so I jumped in. “Daddy, what in the world is going on?”

He reached over and took my free hand. He gave me a loving smile—one I’d been receiving my whole life. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say anything until I had everything in place. I told you we received a threat last week.”

I nodded. “Yes, but why not tell me then? You always do. Let me guess, they plan to destroy your evil company. That’s the typical one.”

He shook his head, so I made my second guess. “Then they plan to take you and ask for ransom. Kidnapping is always a close second. Have they demanded money to leave you alone?”

He shook his head again. He looked so somber. “What then?” I asked.

“Let me catch these guys up, and then I’ll answer that. Gentlemen, as you can imagine, with the work I do and the wealth I’ve accumulated, I’m often a target. I usually get two types of threats. Either they see the research and development we do as evil and want to destroy my company to prevent more needless killings. Mainly radical groups or activists fall into this category.”

As he paused, Griffin spoke. “We’ve seen that often. They want to end death and war but are prepared to kill to do it, so what makes them any different? They don’t understand righteous kill versus murder.”

“Exactly. The other group is those who want to profit by kidnapping me and holding me for ransom. There are the typical death threats with it if I don’t comply. You need to know that I’ve kept my daughter out of the limelight of my life for this very reason. Did you know before you met her that I even had a child?” They shook their heads no. It was true. Most people had no idea. It was for a reason.

“That’s because I’ll do anything to protect her. I lost her mother, and I won’t lose her,” he said through gritted teeth. Any mention of my mom made him this way. Not because he disliked her memory but due to the pain of it. I squeezed his hand, and he gave me a faint smile.

“Sir, Travis, I read somewhere that your wife died in a car accident,” Griffin said.

“That’s what we told everyone, but it was a lie. We didn’t want to sensationalize it more than it already was. My wife and I always kept her and Hadley out of the media. My company was rapidly growing, and the more money you make, the bigger the target you are. Of course, there were those who knew about my wife, but they didn’t know we had a child.

“My wife was several years younger than me. I married later in life. I know some of those who knew about us thought it was a case of a young gold digger going after an older man’s money, but that wasn’t true. We loved each other very much. She was my everything. When Hadley was nine, my wife Hailey was kidnapped coming from the doctor’s office. She had her bodyguard with her, but he was overpowered and killed.”

He paused to swallow and take a drink of his coffee. Wanting to spare him, I took over. “My father was informed when my mom didn’t come home, and a search was conducted. It was while they were doing the search that he got a call from the kidnappers. They were demanding a hundred million dollars in the next twelve hours, or they’d kill my mom.”

“Christ,” Beau hissed. The others looked equally pissed off.

“Dad agreed to pay them, but he said he might need longer to get that amount in cash. They didn’t believe him and said he either did it or she would be sent back to him in pieces, so Dad scrambled to get the money. He called in all the favors he had to get the money. He promised to pay his friends and business acquaintances back. He had the money but not in available cash, as you can imagine. He didn’t tell his friends and business acquaintances what he needed the money for. He got the ransom together and had an hour before they were to call and tell him where to drop the money when there was a box delivered by courier to the gate. He opened the box to find my mom’s finger inside. He knew it was hers because it had her wedding rings on it.” I had to stop and take a deep breath. I knew this all secondhand. Dad explained it when I was older. At the time, I was kept in the dark.

“Do you need to stop?” Griffin asked in gruff concern.

“No. You need to know this. Daddy was frantic as he waited for them to call. When they did, he told them he had the money and not to hurt her anymore. He asked for proof of life. They put her on the phone. After she spoke to him, they told him where to leave the money. Of course, they’d all along told him not to involve the police. He didn’t. He had one of his men make the drop, and there was a note there, as agreed, telling him where to find my mom. When he and his men got to the location, it was too late. The bastards had killed her anyway.”

Tears ran down my face and Dad’s. Griffin swore, then got up to pace. His guys were scowling darkly. “Did you ever find the men who did it?” Griffin snarled.

“Yes, I did. I hired some people who were good at finding unscrupulous people. You understand that they were not my usual colleagues, but they got the job done. When those animals were found, I had them rounded up,” Dad told him.

“You had them killed,” Benedict said flatly.

Dad didn’t answer. Smart. He’d already told them too much. I didn’t want to see my dad in prison if they decided to speak of it.

“Travis, we’ll never speak of this to anyone. Your secret’s safe with us. I can tell you, if that had been my wife, I would’ve done the exact same thing. So after that terrible tragedy, you worked even harder to keep your daughter out of the spotlight, I presume,” Griffin guessed.

“I did. I never took her out in public with me. She used a different last name when she attended school. It’s been hell not to acknowledge her. The day my wife was killed, they didn’t just take her from me. They took Hadley’s mother and our second child. She’d been to the doctor that morning to confirm her pregnancy. We’d been trying for a long time to have another baby.”

All of them swore this time. Tension was high. I needed to divert it. “Dad, what does this have to do with the threat you received last week?”

He stared deeply into my eyes. I knew before he said it what he was about to say. My heart jumped. “It’s important because the threat isn’t against the company or me. It’s against you. The person or persons who made it said if I don’t speed up production on our latest project, you’ll pay the price. I was assured they could get to you, and you’d suffer a fate worse than death before they killed you. You’ll be sent back to me in pieces.” His voice broke.

“Like hell, they will! We won’t let that happen,” Griffin snapped.

“Wraith is right. We won’t let that happen,” Beau said adamantly.

“Wraith?” I asked in curiosity.

“Sorry, Wraith is his nickname from the military. Some of us call him that,” Beau explained.

I liked it for some reason. I could see him moving in and out of enemy territory without them knowing it. How, I didn’t know. I just did.

“That’s why I asked for you. Anderson has told me about you and your company. He trusts you, which means I trust you. I want you to seal this place down so no one and nothing can get to my daughter. She has to be protected at all costs.”

“Daddy, I understand why you’d react like this, but you can’t keep me as a prisoner in the house. I have things I have to do,” I reminded him.

“Ms. Gerard, going shopping or to the salon aren’t things you need to be doing when there’s a threat to you. Those can wait,” Griffin said bitingly.

His assumption that I wanted to go out for frivolous things pissed me off. I wasn’t an empty-headed socialite. It also disappointed me. I expected more from him than to make assumptions. I now knew what category to put him in. I squeezed my dad’s hand when I saw him about to speak in my defense. I shook my head slightly. Griffin was looking away, so he didn’t see it. Neither did his men since they had their eyes on him. I almost bit my tongue in half, keeping my snarky comments to myself.

When I didn’t respond, he faced us. “First thing, we have control of everything. That means who comes and goes, which won’t be many or often. Your board, for example. They don’t need to meet here. Your men will report to us. We’ll give them their assignments. Anyone who doesn’t pass muster will be replaced. We’ll need to see your security system and walk your grounds. I can assure you more security measures will need to be added. I already spotted a few issues on our way here.”

He walked around the study as he fired off his orders. I tried not to be affected by them. On the one hand, I found his confidence sexy. On the other hand, it made me want to hit him over the head and tell him to stop being bossy.

“If at any time we determine the current security measures aren’t enough, it will be my decision to move her elsewhere.”

“Wait, I don’t want to leave my dad. I have things here I can’t leave for an extended period of time.”

“Your safety is the only thing we care about. You can leave your friends and boyfriend behind to save your life, surely?” he asked with a slight sneer.

This time, Dad squeezed my hand. “We’re in your capable hands. Just tell us what to do.”

“Good. Now, we can’t assume they’re only going after her. We have to assume you could be a target as well. I know you have to work, but we’ll make sure to beef up the security there. What I’d like to know is, how did this person or persons find out you had a daughter? There’s a chance it’s someone who knows you. I noticed the board knows of her. The guards and the servants obviously do. Any of them could’ve mentioned her to someone that they shouldn’t have.”

“I can’t see any of our people doing that. They’ve worked for us for years and have never told anyone that we know of,” I protested.

“Like I said, it could’ve been a slip. Or they thought whoever they told was trustworthy. I’m not saying they’re behind this, but we will be investigating all of them to be sure. Is there anything else you can tell us?” He directed this to Dad.

“No, that’s it for now.”

“Okay, I’d like to see the note they sent and get it to our people. My guys will start the perimeter walk, so we need to warn your men. I suggest you keep this between us. The guards can know there’s a security issue, and so can the Board, but I wouldn’t tell them the details. The less they know, the less they can tell.”

Dad sat there for a minute in silence before he answered him. “Agreed. I’ll have all the men brought in so you can speak to them. Do you want them all together or in groups?”

“Groups. I don’t want the grounds left totally unmonitored. Also, do you have guard dogs here?”

“No, we don’t. Why?” I asked.

“It would be beneficial to have one or two. I’ll get to work on that. After we talk to everyone and do the checks, I’d like to know where you’d like me and my men to stay.”

I figured Dad would put them in the guesthouse or the small apartments where some of the staff lived. Some staff took advantage and lived here rather than somewhere else. I was surprised when he offered neither.

“I want the five of you to stay here, in the house with us. We have plenty of rooms, and I’d feel safer with you here.”

“Are you sure? I know it might feel safer, but we could also invade your privacy,” Griffin said.

“Our privacy isn’t important. My daughter’s life is. Bring as many dogs as you want, hire as many men as you need, and add whatever security you think we need. No cost is too much.”

Tears filled my eyes as I saw the way Dad was staring at me. All the love and fear he was feeling was there plain to see. I leaned toward him, and he wrapped me in his arms. I felt him kiss the top of my head.

“I love you, Daddy,” I whispered.

“And I love you too, sweetheart. More than my own life,” he whispered back.

As we held each other, the men in the room faded away. All I could think about was how this would kill my dad if anything happened to me. He barely survived losing my mom and the baby. I vowed he wouldn’t suffer something like that again. I’d have to fight my tendency to push back and be my own boss with the Patriots. It wasn’t going to be easy.