Page 77 of Royal Desire

“No shit?” Payne drags a hand through his messy hair. “Okay. Keep me updated. Yes, I want him to stay one more day. Let’s make sure the fucker stays put. And I want to know where the hell Reid is. I feel the need to do a deep dive into my clients’ pasts to know who I’m really working with.”

I start to roll to get out of bed, but a hand grabs my arm and pulls me back.

Payne pushes up to an elbow and keeps talking. “Let me know if Caruso takes one step outside of the city. If only we could tap into his phone.” Another pause. “I know you can’t, but I might have another resource willing to go there. I’ll let you know.”

And with that, I can only assume this was a bro-conversation, because there was barely a greeting and most definitely no farewell. Payne disconnects the call and tosses his cell to the end of the bed.

“Who was that?”

Payne grabs my hip and pulls me to him. “My private investigator, Eli Pettit. Enzo Caruso is still in New York, thank fuck, but they have no idea where Ansel Reid is. He hasn’t gotten on a commercial flight or been registered to a private one. He’s disappeared.”

“I can’t believe anyone would be willing to kill an old woman to get back at me for not marrying them. But then again, Enzo did kill his brother.”

“There’s no other explanation. The fact Reid is MIA is telling after the way he treated you in The Speakeasy. That alone would make him a suspect if he didn’t work for Enzo Caruso. And since you’re the only witness to his brother’s murder, who else would want to take you out or try to hurt you by hurting your family?”

I settle into the pillow. “He’s a monster.”

Payne brushes the hair from my face. “He’ll never hurt you or your family again. I’ll make sure of it.”

Last night rushes back to me. “Grandma and Blake lost their home. That’s because of me.”

“It was your home too.”

“I haven’t had a home for a long time.”

His expression goes hard. “You do have a home. You’re back, and you’re not going anywhere.”

I hear banging around in the kitchen. Blake must be up. The penthouse might be spacious, but I’m not about to have sex with Payne for the first time in over a decade with my brother on the other side of the door.

I prop myself on an elbow. We’re so close I feel his warmth. It comforts me as much as it did last night. “I want to stay here all day, but I need to check on Grandma. And we’re not exactly alone.”

He sucks in a deep breath and looks like he wants to build a brick wall around us so we can have rowdy make-up sex, even though he has no idea what we’re making up from since I haven’t told him.

That will have to happen soon, and I’m not looking forward to it.

“I’ll take Blake to get his truck and then we’ll go to the hospital. I need to get back here for the last luncheon of the weekend with my clients before they check out. After that, I’m yours for the rest of the day. I’ll get the three of you settled at home.”

He turns to get up, but this time, I’m the one to stop him. “You’re sure about us moving in with you? Your mother...”

“If you and I know anything about life, it’s that we can’t pick our parents. My mother is my problem, and mine alone. I’ll take care of her. She barely comes out of her room since Sadie brings her most of her meals.”

I smile, but not at the thought of Tallie Deacon. I’ve never once smiled because of that woman. “Sadie still works for your mother?”

Payne shrugs. “Sort of. She works for me now. She lives at the house. It’s me, Mom, and Sadie. And later today.” He pauses to tap the tip of my nose with his index finger. “Alice, Blake, and you. A full house like it’s never been before.”

I pull in a deep breath. “Tallie is going to have a fit.”

“If she even knows. I’ll explain more about her later. There’s a reason everyone in Winslet wonders what happened to her. We don’t have time for that right now, and it’s something I don’t want to explain more than once. It’ll be a family discussion.”

“Tallie and Grandma...” I mutter. “Your full house might not last as long as you think it will.”

Payne leans in to kiss me. “Then Tallie will answer to me. And it won’t be fucking pretty.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CRACK IN OUR SOULS

Payne