Page 23

Jack

“Dad, I’m going to go get a shower.”

“Be sure to put some moisturizer on. Your nose is red. Did you use sunblock?”

“Yes, Dad.” She rolls her eyes as she turns away from me. Like I’m the idiot. Maybe I am. I forgot to mention sunblock when we went out. My skin is darker, and I never burn. Her pale skin easily burns. When she was little, Cassie would coat her in the white stuff.

Now she’s fifteen. Am I supposed to remind her or trust her to apply it? I don’t think I ever mentioned it when she first came to live with me full-time. But we were both so shell-shocked, my memory of that whole first year is hazy.

I stretch my shoulders as I meander through the house. We paddleboarded for hours. If my muscles are sore, I’m sure hers are, too. I need to have more days like this with her. I need to spend more quality time with her, not simply time in the same house with both of us in different rooms.

After we shower, I’ll see if I can interest her in ordering a pizza and watching a movie.

My phone rings as I pass by my office. I step in and pick it up, bracing for a barrage of missed emails and texts. Ryan Wolfgang’s photo and name flashes on screen.

“Hey.” I check the time. Fisher followed Ava. He should’ve paid the guy already. Did something happen? Is that why Ryan’s calling?

“Are you out of your mind?”

I glance down the empty hall and step inside my office, closing the door. “What do you mean?”

“One hundred million dollars? Seriously?”

With a deep inhale I sit down on the front of my desk and cross one bare foot over the other. How would he know?

“She told someone?”

“Yeah, first thing as she drove away from your house. But that’s not the point. I mean, if I knew you were that hard up–”

“Stop.” I don’t like being called out, but I’m still grinning. I can’t expect a Navy bud to not give me hell for this. “It’s not like that.”

“What’s it like?” Ryan’s not a guy I would ever call a jokester, but yeah, this is him giving me shit. And I must admit, I deserve it.

“Does the whole team know?” Shit. I really didn’t think about my request for them to listen to her conversations.

I should’ve known she’d mention it to someone.

“She wasn’t talking to the press or anything, was she?

” Fuck . I didn’t think about that at all.

I mean, I’d go full denial and fire her ass, but–

“No. Just a friend. Your uncle’s partner, actually.”

“Which partner? A board member?”

“His boyfriend? Sounded like they’ve been together a long time.”

Look at that. Liam was right. Our uncle is gay. Or bi. He almost married a woman decades ago. “Let me guess. A guy named Patrick?”

“Yep.”

I exhale. “You think he’s going to tell my uncle?”

“Sullivan, you don’t pay me to play that game.”

I do sound like a woman. “It’s fine. If he tells him, I’ll explain.”

“I’d like to hear that explanation.”

“It’s a good use of money.”

“Really?”

Fucker . “Really. She’ll put the money to good use at her nonprofit. I don’t need the money.”

“Well, tell me what you do need.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.”

He laughs. Ryan never laughs.

“Glad I could entertain you. The whole team knows?” Fuck . This is one of the reasons I hate security.

“No. The person monitoring the feed this afternoon brought it straight to me.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s Gen Z with a twisted sense of humor. The official reason was she wanted to know if we should continue listening in her bedroom.”

“You’ve got bugs in her bedroom?”

“We didn’t know if we could trust her. You asked us to monitor her.”

“Because I wanted to know if she was making any arrangements–” I stop myself from saying more and push off the desk. “Kill any devices in her bedroom.”

The fucker laughs.

“And that’s not because of me. That’s wrong.”

“But her phone?”

I just gave her enough money so that she could never be blackmailed or threatened or connived into doing harm to Sophia. “Nah. Stop it. She’s only here for three weeks.”

“What happens after three weeks?”

“Her contract ends.”

“Right.”

There’s a tease to his tone I don’t like, but I drop it and end the call. If I can get out of this with that limited amount of razzing, it’ll be remarkable. To someone like Ryan, I’ve lost my mind.

He’s wealthy in his own right, but he can’t comprehend a billion-dollar net worth.

I earn more money in interest each day than I can possibly spend.

My daughter will never have to work. Her children won’t either.

Giving away this money is nothing. And it’s money I already gave away once that never left my bank account.

As the water streams over my head, I visualize Ryan’s eyes bugging out when he heard that tape. And I can’t help but chuckle.

Sophia falls asleep on the sofa about twenty minutes into the movie. A full day outside will do that to anyone. But this summer, ever since the abduction, she sleeps so much. She wakes as I lift her off the sofa and tells me she’s good to get herself to bed.

After she goes upstairs, I flick off the movie. It’s one she picked. Some kind of take on the Addams Family. Maybe more of a television show than a movie.

I pick up my phone and catch up on email. I’m in the middle of an industry report when steps click down the stairs. I rarely sit in the basement den, but Ava’s bedroom opens into the den, and I didn’t want to miss her return home.

The clicks grow louder, and the temptress herself appears. What is it about her? She’s not my type at all.

“How’d it go?”

“Fine.” She crosses her arms. “How does Fisher know where to find Martin?”

“He’s good at what he does. Plus, he’s with Arrow. They have connections.”

“With the police?”

“If needed.” I was going to say feds, but there’s no point in explaining further. “Do you need to freshen up?”

Her bracelets jingle. She’s applied all her dark eye makeup. She rubs one thumb over the other thumb’s nail repeatedly. Those doe eyes look at me with a mix of trepidation and interest. She’s curious. She doesn’t know what to expect. Maybe she’s nervous. I can set her mind at ease.

I want this to be enjoyable for us both.

A sexual release. Money aside, I won’t force her.

If she’s not willing, we’ll call it a night.

Like Sophia, I’m tired from a day beneath the sun.

But anticipation pulses through my veins.

If she backs down, I’ll be disappointed.

Because I am very much looking forward to losing myself inside a woman tonight.

“If I’m okay like this…I don’t really have anything to change into.”

I let out a sigh of relief. This is going to happen. We’ll do this now. I’ll make her feel good. I’ll release some of this tension that sits in my shoulders and pulses in my temples. And then we’ll both retire to our respective bedrooms.

I’m a member of a club in Houston. At TMPT, we do this kind of thing all the time. It’s the purpose of the club. Not exactly this kind of arrangement, but close enough.

“Straight back.”