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Other than angry. Enraged.
And uncertain how my father had simply keeled over and died.
After his first heart attack, Gilly had made certain he’d kept up with his regular appointments with his cardiologist. Just like he’d told me more than once. She’d fawned over him, ensuring he ate right, didn’t drink to excess, and only had an occasional cigar, his one real vice.
She was a tough woman and I’d always known when Dad had tried to go behind her back. Yes, he’d appeared tired. Yes, he’d been excessively stressed, which were aggravating factors but a little nagging inside my head refused to go away.
Especially since he’d received the kind of threat he had just before his death.
Your time has come to an end…
There were a lot of nasty connotations that could be inferred from that. In my absence, both Braxton and Gage had searched my father’s home and company offices, trying to find anything else that would lead to a clue as to who’d sent the threat.
There was nothing. No oddity they could find whatsoever.
That didn’t mean there wasn’t one.
My father had been working late at the office, which wasn’t unusual. Neither was sending his staff home. Maybe he’d had a visitor. Maybe a courier had brought the note. Maybe he’d opened his mail.
Or maybe the threat had been planted and someone had…
Poisoned him.
I had to allow myself to consider everything, no matter how outlandish they seemed. My mind was as tired as my eyes, the long flight taking a toll on both Selena and me. But this had to be done. I had to be there for Gilly and for my brothers.
Even if I preferred going hunting.
My driver was taking us to my father’s house where everyone was camped out. Selena and I had left as soon as we’d been able to coordinate with the pilot, her somber mood indicating her anxiety about her own father and the threats received. She had every right to be concerned. She’d called him to ensure he was doing okay, in her way warning him as well as questioning.
I’d overheard their conversation to a point but had refrained from gleaning too much. Or maybe I’d simply been in a horrific fog the entire time. Now I was the president of the company, forced to take the helm and try to figure out what the fuck was going on.
To say the task was daunting was childish.
However, the fact Selena was with me was strangely comforting.
Plus…
I slowly turned my head in her direction. “How good are you with computers?” I asked so out of the blue she wrinkled her nose.
“I minored in computer science because I adore modern technology. Why?”
“Do you agree to marry me?”
Selena laughed. “Are you asking?”
“I’m not a get down on my knees kind of guy, cupcake. I’m not romantic in the least. This is a business arrangement, but we need to set our differences aside. Something is about to explode.”
“What are you talking about?” When I didn’t answer right away, she nodded. “You don’t think your father died of natural causes. Do you?”
“No, I don’t. I can’t go spouting that off to my stepmother either. She won’t do well with additional worry. If I’m right, my father was hiding something, maybe in his computer files. He was at his office, but I don’t think he expected to receive the threat he had. My brothers tried to gain access to his home laptop, but there are some locked down files. Same at the office. His assistant didn’t know his code either.”
She smiled wryly. “Are you asking if I can hack into them?”
The mischievous look in her eyes allowed me a smile for the first time in twenty-four hours. “I am.”
The wrinkle in her cute little nose turned into one in her brow. “I won’t admit to anything, Master.”
I grabbed her hand, laughing as I did so. “We need to work together, Selena. You can hate me all you want but I think your father is in danger. Just call it a hunch.”
