AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Abbie and Dexter are my world now. My father is pushing my buttons, buttons that he’s foolish to push, but I also know that he’s a master of manipulation. He wants me flustered. He wants to find those hotspots I control and he now wants to control.
Exactly why I don’t call Abbie on the way to my father’s apartment. It’s a short drive and I can’t afford to hear her fear-laden voice, not if I don’t want to do something I’ll regret.
“Do I need to point out that we have no plan?” Reid asks, sitting next to me while Blake rides up front with one of his men behind the wheel.
“Get my fucking dog back,” I say. “And tell him he’s too fucking late on the property deal for the shelter. You already made it with Jean Claude.”
“The bigger picture,” Reid reminds me. “We aren’t dealing with the bigger picture.”
“We’ll deal with it when my dog isn’t in danger.”
The SUV stops in front of my father’s building and I’m out before Blake or Reid can object. I’m at the building door by the time they appear on either side of me.
“We need to stop and talk,” Blake says. “We need a plan.”
“I’ve stated the plan already,” I reply, opening the door and entering the lobby. “Taking Dexter home.” I walk to the security desk.
“Mr. Maxwell,” the guard, a tall, lanky man in his fifties, greets. “Go on up. He said to expect you.”
“Of course he did,” I murmur while the guard nods to Reid. “Welcome, sir.”
I start walking and Reid and Blake are quick to join me. Neither of them speak. They get the point. I’m here for one reason: my dog. Anger radiates through me, but I’m calm because calm is the best way to get Dexter back and to protect my woman and my dog. It’s a practiced calm, the kind Kendall taught me. Rage and fury get you nowhere. Calculation does. I punch the elevator button and the doors open. The three of us step inside and ride in silence to my father’s floor, where we exit, also in silence, an air of readiness between us. I wouldn’t want to be my father right now, and yet, this is what he wanted.
He wanted me.
He wanted Reid.
He also gets Blake.
This was never about Abbie. This was about the two sons who pushed him out of the business he started before he destroyed us and it, and everyone involved. He’s a criminal. It’s time to stop walking around that. It’s time to stop walking a ledge with him. One way or the other, this ends and if it’s not today, it’s tomorrow. I’m done with him. Abbie is done with him and will never even meet him. We’re almost at the door of our destination when it opens.
To my shock, a familiar man with regal features, in an expensive suit exits the room with Dexter by his side. Dexter starts to bark and launches himself forward, toward me, happy as can be. I squat to greet him, and Jean Claude releases the leash, allowing Dexter to return to me. What mind fuckery is this?
“Jean Claude,” Reid greets him while Dexter licks my face. I give him a quick ear scratch and stand up.
“Jean Claude,” I greet as well, and while I don’t know the man well, I do know he still has a throat. In other words, Dexter is a failed serial killer. We need to work on that and soon. “You’re not the person I expected to find kidnapping my dog.”
“I’m not the person you expected to save your dog,” Jean Claude counters.
“Why would you save my dog?” I ask.
“Because I’m exhausted by your father’s games that end up on my playground.” He gets right to the point. “Neal was hired by him to kill Kenneth. A stupid mistake that brought me unwanted attention. Neal is graciously taking the blow for all of us. He will not name names. I’m sparing your father for the time being because killing him would only bring me more attention, but I don’t promise to spare him forever. For now, I’ve told your father he needs to leave and leave now. If he’s smart, he’ll make sure he’s not easy to find.”
“We don’t give a fuck what happens to him,” Reid replies, pushing back and with a reason he makes clear. “This isn’t a favor for me or us. We don’t owe you a debt.”
“I owe you,” Jean Claude counters. “Not only do you protect me loyally even today, after parting ways years before, you made the property deal happen. I called Abbie an hour ago.” He looks at me. “As did you. I traded Abbie a signature for the dog, though she assured me she’d sign anyway. I believed her.” He looks between us. “He tells me he might go to Europe. Make sure hedoes.” He steps around us and stops next to Blake. “Hack for me.”
“Never fucking happening,” Blake replies.
Jean Claude laughs. “I had a feeling that’d be your answer.” He says nothing more. He simply steps around me and leaves.
I kneel to pet Dexter again and Reid and I share a look. “Do you want to talk to dad?” Reid asks.
“Not if we want him to live,” I say, standing up again. “Tell him goodbye and fuck you for me. I’m taking my dog home.”
“I’ll stay with Reid,” Blake says and looks between us. “And I’ll make sure your father is supervised until he leaves the country. Seems like this is just what you both wanted.”
No, I think. We wanted a father who was a good man, the kind ours can never become. And we wish that we’d figured that out when our mother was alive. All the more reason to cherish the people we have in our lives.
