Harper
There is no part of me that doubts Eric. There is no momentary unease, no question in my mind about his character, about my trust in him as a person or a man. Not even a fizzle of doubt. Not one ounce. It’s my mother I don’t believe, and if I’m honest, the distance between us has been built by her, not me. She didn’t want me to see who she was becoming, which was easy enough since I didn’t want to see it either.
Right now, I’m irritated at my mother. No. I’m angry.
I’m sick of the way this family comes at him and honestly, the way it destroyed my father’s hard work, and stripped away all I knew of my mother as good. Now they want to take Eric. I’m not letting them have him. They don’t get to destroy him, they don’t get to shove the final knife in his back, and brutally use me to do it, as an added insult.
My fingers hover over the call back button on my phone to redial my mother, but I stop myself. That message could simply be her baiting me, trying to get my attention, to get me to call her. Playing head games. I don’t like to think that of my mother, but she’s proving to be someone I don’t know as familiar, unless it’s familiar in the Kingston kind of way, which is disturbing. I’m not calling her. Not until I do some strategic positioning first, but I don’t even think about disturbing Eric. Grayson didn’t seem pleased when they left the conference room. Eric needs to focus on his career and life outside of this family. That leaves me one option. I dial Blake.
He answers on the first ring. “Thank God,” I breathe out. “My mother left me a message and said that she’s coming here to basically slander and torture Eric any way she can. Please tell me she’s just talking.”
“I’ve gotten no word of movement on her end.” His phone beeps. “Hold on.” He clicks the line. I stand up and start to pace. That call is going to be about my mother. I know it is. Seconds tick by and finally, he comes back on the line.
“She just rolled a suitcase to her car. Where is Eric? Does he know what’s going on?”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “He’s in a meeting. Blake, I can’t interrupt him. He can’t have his life disrupted anymore because of my mother and this nightmare. They’re negotiating to buy an NFL team. He’s with Grayson and—”
“Grayson wants to help. I know you’re in the building with him. Hang up. Go to him now and call me back. We have decisions to make about how we handle this. You can trust Grayson and Davis. Just go now.” He disconnects the line.
There’s a knock on the door I don’t even remember shutting. I rush forward and open it to find Mia standing there. “I have a problem,” I say, taking the coffees from her and setting them on the conference table. “Can you take me to Grayson’s office? I need to see Eric now.”
Her eyes go wide. “Of course. Come with me.”
We hurry down a short hallway and stop at a set of double doors. Mia knocks twice and then peeks her head inside. “I have Harper. She says it’s urgent.”
“Harper.”
At the sound of Eric’s voice, Mia pushes open the door and hurries inside with me on her heels, and Eric greets me as I enter the giant, Ritz-Carlton-suite of an office that is Grayson’s personal space. “What’s happening?”
“I didn’t want to bother you.” I glance at Grayson and Davis. “I’m so very sorry. Blake told me I had to come in here and—”
“Harper,” Eric murmurs, his hand settling on my waist. “What’s happening?”
“My mother—she’s—” I hold my phone up that I once again don’t even remember grabbing. I’m clearly running on adrenaline. “Listen to the message.” I push the speaker button and hit play, my eyes on Eric’s the entire time, while the room listens as my mother spews her threats and promises.
Mia murmurs a soft, “My God.”
Grayson and Davis curse.
Eric just looks at me. “I know what I need to know about you. Nothing she can say—”
“You think you know,” he says softly. “I’ve told you that.”
“Okay, savant,” I say, ignoring the rest of them. “I get it. You’re dark. You’re layered. You’re a killer if you have to be, aka the SEALs. You keep driving me away and I’ll keep standing here. In the meantime, my mother is on her way to the airport to make our life hell.”
Mia laughs and the room shifts their attention to her. “Oh ah, sorry, all. I just—I love Harper. That’s all. And to be productive here, is it safe for her mother to travel? Isn’t there an assassin we’re worried about?”
“He’s gone,” Eric states.
“He could be replaced,” I remind him.
“Not to be an ass here, Harper,” Davis says, “but is there any chance your mother hired the hitman? She would inherit if her husband died, correct? She’s not coming here to finish the job herself, I assume?”
I feel as if I’ve been hit by a two-by-four. “No,” I say. “No, it can’t be my mother.” I grab Eric’s arm. His hand firms on my waist and I turn into him. “Eric,” I whisper. “You don’t think—”
“No. I don’t. This is all Isaac.”
My eyes prickle as some part of me grabs hold onto this idea and won’t let go. “If it’s my mother—”