Page 106 of Beautiful Revenge

And that was that.

Allen Foster was officially fired from Stonebridge Capital. All he had to do was take a free vacation, but no.

Chrissie paces back and forth in the room as she sets up virtual meetings for Dad with the board to bring him up to speed. This private hospital room isn’t huge. Devon brought Chrissie and I lunch a few hours ago, gave me a chaste kiss on the lips, told me he’d be in the waiting room working, and left. I didn’t ask if he was working on things for the manor or making sure I don’t get shot at again. Both are big jobs.

She eventually flops into the chair on the other side of Dad’s bed and opens her laptop. “Okay, I’ve sifted through one month of old emails. I think I’ve gone over everything with you, Mr. Madison, but I do have one question. Who is Jett Cross?”

“I don’t know anyone by that name.” Dad picks up his water to take a sip before turning to me. “Do you?”

I shrug. “No. Is it someone from Stonebridge?”

Chrissie shakes her head. “No. There are multiple emails from him. He won’t say what he wants, just that it’s imperative he speak with you. I even found a few in your junk folder.”

“You’re going through his junk folder?” I ask. “See, Dad? She’s the best. If you steal her from me, I’m not sure what I’ll do. She deserves a raise.”

“I’m thorough,” she mutters around the pen that she’s biting between her teeth. “Wait, let me do a wide search and see if there are any more from him.”

She taps away on the keyboard before she hits enter.

Her eyes widen and she starts to scroll.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Who is he?” Dad demands.

Chrissie studies the screen before she lifts her fingers from the laptop. “I ... I’m not sure how many are here, but it’s a lot. And they date back more than seven months ago.” Chrissie scrolls some more. “Holy shi—” She clears her throat. “Sorry. Holy smokes. It looks like he was blocked and they were all filtered to your junk file.”

Dad leans back onto his pillow and looks like he may need a nap before his next bland meal. “I don’t know who that is, unless this is one thing I can’t remember from before. Does it say what he wants?”

“I’m skimming. This one is vague. Basically, he just wants to talk to you. The most recent one is from a couple weeks ago. Wow. Okay, in this one, he actually uses the wordslife and death.”

“Life and death.” I contemplate those tiny, yet meaningful, words. “They hit deeper than ever before. We probably should figure out what he wants.”

“Do that,” Dad orders. Chrissie picks up her phone and starts tapping on her screen as Dad keeps talking. “Wait, what are you doing?”

“You told me to find out who he is. I’m looking him up on Facebook. That’s how I find dirt on ninety-nine percent of people I’m curious about.”

Dad leans his head back and closes his eyes. “You work for me now. At least you do today. That means you have every resource at your fingertips. Call the head of security. They’ll figure it out.”

“Oh.” Chrissie turns to me and mouthsOMG!before standing with her things. “Okay, I guess I’m off to make friends with the head of corporate security since they have no clue who I am. I’ll go back to my hotel room and get that done.”

I get up and move to Dad’s side to pull the covers up around him as Chrissie leaves. “You’ve overdone it today. You need to rest.”

Dad peeks up at me through tired eyes. “I need to go home.”

“You will,” I promise. “I’ll work on that tomorrow. I’m going to make sure you have all new staff at the penthouse and make sure Janie doesn’t have access. Are you sure you want to go back? I can arrange for you to go somewhere else.”

He shakes his head. “That woman tried to take everything from me. The penthouse has been my home since I made my first big acquisition after I started Stonebridge. It’s where your mother and I made a life together and where we brought you home from the hospital. I’m going back.”

“I just wanted to offer, but I’m glad. There are so many memories there—good and hard ones. I don’t care how long Janie has been there, I still see Mom everywhere in that place.”

He grips my hand and looks up at me through remorseful eyes. “I was never the same after we lost her. Getting tied up with Janie was the worst thing I ever did for you. I’m so sorry, Harlow.”

“Stop. You moved on like you should have. None of this is your fault. Take a nap. You’ll have a buffet of soft, bland foods waiting on you for dinner. Maybe you’ll get mashed potatoes this time.”

He groans. “You need to bust me out of here before I die from a lack of flavor in my diet.”

“No oneis dying,” I bite. “No one.”