Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“Jade—”
“Why not hear Keaton out? If anything, he’s not the one that did the work with your father. He’s not the one to blame in all of this, but like you, he’s in a position that the unknown is the worst of it.”
I clench my jaw as she gently touches it, and it’s like she’s holding a mirror in front of my face. For so long, my anger and hatred for Nash Lone has fueled my work, but what if she’s right? What if in all this I missed the possibility that Keaton Lone could somehow want the same things as I do? There’s only one way to find out.
“You’re right.” My head drops and rests on her shoulder as her arms come around my back. “Watching my dad die broke something in me.” I lean back to look in her eyes as I pull her close. “But I’m starting to think that you’re healing all those cracks.”
The soft chime of the house sounds through the lab, and we both look up. “Security is letting Ms. Lilia Sky through the front gates.”
“That will be your mom,” I say to Jade, and her face lights up as she squeezes me tight.
Once we’re back up the elevator and to the main house, Security is at the front door. When Jade’s mother comes in, she looks nervous, but thankfully, she bears no signs of physical harm. The two of them embrace, and I realize just how much Jade resembles her mother. They speak briefly and then I show them to one of the guest rooms where Lilia will be staying while she waits for Jade’s grandmother to leave the hospital.
“You go with her,” I say softly as I stand in the doorway of the bedroom. “I’ve got some calls to make.”
“Good ones?” she asks, and there’s hope in her voice.
“I guess we’ll see.” To my surprise, Jade goes up on her toes and gives me a kiss that starts off sweet, but then I feel her tongue brush over my lips. In a heartbeat I’ve got her pulled against me with the need to keep going, but then I remember where we are and that this is not the time. “Later,” I promise her and leave her to talk with her mom.
Sid is waiting for me at the front of the house when I come back downstairs. “I thought you’d like to know what happened before reading the report I sent you.”
“I would, but is she okay?”
“I think the incident really shook her up, not necessarily what was done to her afterwards. Thankfully they didn’t touch her; they only tried to scare her into giving out information. Lucky for us, Jade didn’t tell her mother much of anything about her work. Ms. Sky only knew about the entertainment articles she wrote and not the investigative journalism she did. From what she was able to tell us, they want to know what Jade knows and if she means something to you.” I don’t think they’ve put together how Jade got her information to begin with. Do they think I told her? That this leak is from my end? They should believe I’d wanted Jade dealt with as much as them.
“Fuck.” I wipe a hand down my face and worry that this has all gone too far. Now I’m pulling Jade into this mess and her family on top of it. I’ve got to finish this last deal and be done with them. Forever. “Thanks, Sid. I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem. Do you still want to have Mrs. Annika Sky brought here after the hospital?”
“Yes, of course. There’s nowhere safer for them to be.”
“I agree,” Sid says as he and his team exit the house.
Once they’re gone, I go to the room on this floor I use for a home office and call the number I never thought I’d use.
“Where is she?” are Keaton Lone’s first words to me.
“If you’re looking for Elsy, she’s probably working in the lab at JM Tech,” I say dryly. He hadn’t let her come back to work for me after everything that went down. Not that I could blame him.
“I’m talking about Jade, and you damn well know it. What did you do with her? Elsy is worried sick, and you’re the only suspect. If you lay a hand on her, I swear—”
“She’s safe,” I say through gritted teeth. “And what I lay on her isn’t any of your fucking concern.”
There’s a long pause, and I hear Keaton sigh. “Why should I believe you?”
“I’m asking myself that same question about you right at this moment.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I want a meeting here at my house. We need to talk.” So much of me is bitter about having to do this, but there’s another part that’s buried way down deep that stirs with hope. “It’s time we got a few things straight.”