AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Have,” he said, mustering his courage for his next line.
“Have who?”
“Have I got any chance with you, Liz?”
Her eyes widened, and she looked like she’d jump into his arms, but then her blue eyes filled with uncertainty. Hays had pushed too fast, too soon. It didn’t feel fast or soon to him. They’d finally aired the garbage between them, and it felt fourteen years too late.
“Hays.” She swallowed and tugged her hand free. “If I was free, it would be a different story, but my life is not my own. It never has been.”
“Liz,” he started, determined to tell her he would defeat her father and make her life her own.
“Please. Let’s focus on how to keep you and my siblings safe.”
He was keeping her safe, not the other way around.
Liz walked around him and to the stairs. Hays caught up, unsure what to say or do.
They met Millie in the kitchen. Breakfast was filled with Elizabeth drawing Mama Millie out about each of her boys. Millie bragged about her sons and didn’t seem to notice the tension between him and Elizabeth. As they were finishing breakfast, Jared appeared and asked them to come to the security center to speak with Quaid on a secure line.
Quaid drilled Elizabeth for information on their father’s plans for her with the run for Senate and for her future and if she was privy to business deals or offshore accounts. She shared names of his various associates and everything she could remember that she had gleaned from listening to her father’s conversations at dinner, parties, and on phone calls. Numbers and bank names she’d memorized from a mere glimpse at a computer screen or phone. She was brilliant and seemed to have a near-perfect memory.
Elizabeth had repeatedly said her father was dangerous and brilliant. The more he learned about the man, the more Hays thought that might be an understatement. Benjamin Oliver had given the FBI and CIA exactly what he wanted to give them and come out looking like a rose after his wife’s death, blaming it all on her. Now he was free to reign with terror. The vast resources and connections Elizabeth revealed were unnerving. Hays could best most men in a physical fight or with pistols or rifles, but mind games were a different playing field.
“What are your thoughts on marriage?” Quaid asked. “Aiden wondered about an arranged marriage.”
Elizabeth’s gaze darted to Hays and his pulse sped up. Marriage? He’d heard about Sutton Smith’s marriage for protection details. He was ready and willing to be Elizabeth’s bodyguard groom if that was Aiden and Quaid’s plan.
“Pardon me?” Elizabeth asked, perhaps biding time.
“A marriage could protect you and help us take Father down.”
“Anyone I married would be in mortal peril. I refuse to use a man like that.” She stared at Hays, her gaze determined.
No marriage then.
“Not if the groom brought rewards to the table that Father thought were beneficial for his plans. It could be a good distraction and a way to get Father where we want him.”
Hays brought nothing to the table that her father would feel was beneficial. His parents were middle class with no fame or connections. He was a battle-savvy soldier and proud of his military success, but he wasn’t the kind of husband Benjamin Oliver would want for his daughter.
“What are you saying?” Elizabeth asked her brother.
“We’re still looking into it, but my friend Captain Eli Grant knows an heir to a vast fortune who has a fabulous family name. His name is Jarom Love. He looks like a sap, acts like a sap, but Eli promises we can trust him.”
Elizabeth nodded. Which Hays hated. His stomach churned with anxiety at the very thought of her marrying some pompous billionaire. Elizabeth was nodding at the idea of marrying someone else? That was a knife through his kidneys.
“I’ve met Jarom a handful of times,” Elizabeth said. “He’s always smiling, model perfect, and appears clueless. If he is truly a trustworthy man who wouldn’t sell us out, he would be ideal.”
“Why is he ideal?” Hays demanded to know. Always smiling, model perfect, and appeared clueless? The guy sounded like a cupcake. Was she drawn to the preppy-boy type now?
Elizabeth held his gaze, her blue eyes apologetic and determined. All Hays had ever wanted, besides his success with the SEALs and his family’s happiness, was to be with her, someday marry her, and she was willing to marry some sap?
“Father has never married me off because he is waiting for the perfect man. One who has an impeccable family, unreal wealth, connections, but most importantly, someone moldable who Father can control. No way would he give up control of me to a husband who could derail his plans rather than enhance them. Father would believe he could control Jarom and access all his wealth and connections as well. He’s perfect.”
“I agree,” Quaid said. “We’ll look into it more. Jarom would be just one piece in the scheme, but I appreciate you being willing to stage a fake engagement or marry him if necessary so we can draw Father into a situation with a huge crowd where we can publicly expose him. Then we hit him with everything at once, crippling him financially and destroying his network and connections. He’ll have no resources and no escape.”
“I don’t agree,” Hays protested.
“Pardon me?” Quaid asked.
