Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Kain, you have no shame.”
Cierra’s voice was a hiss as the funeral guests began to disperse.
We were at the cemetery, the air smelling of freshly dug earth, decaying flowers, and rain.
After laying my best friend to rest and saying my final farewell, I wasn’t in the mood to receive whatever tongue lashing my sister was about to dish out.
Almost instinctively, I pulled Lauren’s hand back and positioned her behind me.
Cierra’s whole demeanor was wild aggressive, and I wasn’t taking any chances.
“You brought her to the funeral,” my sister observed incredulously. There was malice in her eyes, clashing with the grief. “Hell, you thought it would be alright if even you came?”
“Ci, I’m not doing this here.” My whispered response did not deter her.
With a raised dismissive hand, Cierra informed, “I figured it out.”
Her eyes zeroed in on my girl, narrowing slightly in a way that fired up the protectiveness in me.
“Cierra…” There was an edge of warning in my tone.
“I figured it out,” she repeated, tilting her head to the side and shaking it slightly. “Your girlfriend—she’s not some police officer’s daughter. It worse than that. That’s why you put Amir’s life on the line—to protect your secret.”
I turned to Lauren and handed her the keys to my car, urging her to go with a nod.
“I’m right behind you,” I promised. She eyed me warily, only creating some distance between us when I urged her a little more.
“You two headed to the house in Pembroke Pines?” Cierra questioned, her mouth twisting in a triumphant scowl.
I was surprised to learn that my sister knew about it, but at the same time, I wasn’t surprised at all.
Amir had been the one who’d sold me that house.
It made a lot of sense for Cierra to know about it.
When he was alive, Cierra had Amir wrapped around her finger.
“Yeah, Amir told me about the house back when it was supposed to be for Vance, but since he never moved in, I can only assume it’s been where you’ve been hiding with your b—”
“Don’t test me, Ci,” I cut her off just before she could call Lauren out her name. “I get that you’re upset, and I—”
“Save me the bullshit condolences, Kain.” She lifted a hand. “You’re fucking the daughter of the man trying to put Daddy in prison. You’re shameless. Despicable. I can’t believe you.”
I sighed. “Are you done?”
“You sacrificed your best friend—my best friend—to be with that trick!” Cierra wiped at the tears falling from her eyes roughly. Her tears were the only thing keeping me from checking her. Time and place, I acknowledged. “I won’t let you sacrifice Daddy, too. I won’t let you.”
She was inconsolable.
And that was a threat.
One that I caught on to rather quickly.
“Cierra, before you—”
She forced out a humorless laugh, shaking her head. “I already did. Daddy’s flying in from Memphis as we speak.”
***
The lobby of the Bayside Hotel was washed in luminously bright lighting that reflected in the dark brown color of Lauren’s eyes as she eyed the five-star Downtown Miami building with awe. The wonderment in her features made something in my chest swell, I noted, with a faint smile.
Lauren was the perfect combination of beautiful and infectiously cute. What with her big eyes and dimpled cheeks, one couldn’t help but meet the urge to reach out and touch her every once in a while. I certainly couldn’t, my thumb grazing the soft skin of her face in admiration.
The man behind the check-in counter cleared his throat once, trying to draw my attention away from my girl and at him. Reluctantly I turned, reading out the reservation I’d placed only minutes before on my phone in the parking lot outside.
“Montgomery.” I nodded toward his computer for him to check for my name. When his gaze brushed over the scale of the room I’d booked, I watched his eyebrows raise first in surprise, and then lower with suspicion.
Here we go…
“Presidential suite?” he tried to confirm the room, taking on a tone as though unsure he was reading the correct reservation off the screen.
As a very young man with a lot of money at my disposal, it was all too common for me to be met with this kind of skepticism.
I simply nodded, too tired and stressed out by the earlier events of today to get irritated. “And how long will you be staying?”
“Indefinitely,” I replied, and to his look of uncertainty, I sighed and clarified, “A while. Put me in for a month for now.”
“The room is eight thousand per night,” he made sure to inform as if I didn’t already know this.
I was losing my patience and I knew the shoes on Lauren’s feet were uncomfortable. “And?”
“A month-long stay will be—”
“I did the math,” I interrupted, pulling out my black American Express. “I need two card keys, and for you to hurry this up.”
The house in Pembroke Pines was no longer a safe place for Lauren to be.
My sister Cierra, blinded by grief and anger, had finally blown the lid off the extensive game of hide and seek Lauren and I had been playing with Silas for the past four months.
Knowing my father, now that he had an address, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was someone at the house waiting for us now.
So we didn’t go back.
Lauren stepped around the living room area of the Bayside Hotel presidential suite, saying nothing.
If she was stressed, I certainly couldn’t tell from the collected demeanor in her stride.
Instead, she plopped herself down onto a loveseat, letting out a tired sigh before pulling her eyes to meet mine wordlessly.
I stood at the foyer of the suite, a large space that was structured like a one-bedroom apartment, eyeing the kitchen area that blended into a small dining room, before becoming a living room, which was just off a private bedroom.
This will do for now.
“You’re still standing by the door,” Lauren observed, an uncomfortable quality to her voice, coming to the realization that I wasn’t staying with her. This only served to remind me that my girl rarely ever missed anything when it came to me.
I pulled my wrist up, checking the time on my Hublot, deciding to stay another half hour.
A private flight from Memphis to Miami would be a little over two hours.
Experience had told me it was better to meet my father than to let him find me.
Most of all, I needed to put some distance between Lauren and me for the night.
Now that Silas knew I was with her and—depending on how much Amir told Cierra—knew how long our relationship had been going on, I knew for a fact Lauren had just fallen on my father’s list of priorities.
Silas could give a damn about a Lauren Caplan now.
He had a more pressing target to get a hold of right now.
Me.
For months, being by my side was the safest place for Lauren to be. But now, until I had a much needed conversation with my father, my side was the worst place for her to stay. I took a seat beside her, extending out an arm for her to fall into before tightening it around her.
“I have to go do some things back at the house, so I’m gonna step out in a few,” I explained, resting my chin at the top of her hair. As always, the vanilla scent of her curls was therapeutic.
“Which house?”
“Both of them.” She turned her head and looked up at me from my shoulder. There was apprehension in her eyes. “Do you have anything at the Pembroke house you want me to bring back?”
She shrugged. “Bring back when exactly?”
Tough question. I was honest with her.
“Hopefully tomorrow.”
“Hopefully?”
“I don’t know if I’ll be back tomorrow, but I’ll try.” I tucked a bent finger under her chin and promised, “I’ll really try.”
“Will you call me after you talk to your father?” she asked, tossing a glance to the in-room landline. I nodded, making a mental note to write down the hotel room’s number. “Worst case scenario, what will he do to you for this?”
“I’m honestly not sure,” I replied. “I’ve never really crossed him like this before.”
Her voice was hoarse when she forced out, “Are you scared?”
“No.” This was the truth. “It’s a conversation that I knew was coming. Are you scared?”
Of course, she nodded. “Sorry, I’ve been trying to woman up and—”
“You don’t need to be sorry. Just tell me why you’re scared.”
Lauren pushed out a sigh before shrugging. “What if you don’t come back?”
I cracked a smile at this. “Lauren.”
“What?”
With a shake of my head, I reminded her of the obvious. “He’s my father.”