“Aren’t you still his heiress though?” Natalie asked.
“Maybe, maybe not. He’s heavily involved with lots of charities. He’ll probably leave them all his money. Either way, I don’t care.”
Natalie nodded. “You’ve got a great career. You’ll always be able to make your own path.”
“Exactly. But right now I need to find a way to shake those damn guards. I really don’t want to draw attention to myself or have them announce to the world who sent them.” Ethan and his brothers knew she was Barron’s granddaughter, but not everyone from the Lloyds had believed Jacob’s drunken accusation. She’d rather not let them know for certain until she was ready to explain the situation, make sure they understood that she hadn’t done anything improper. She’d done everything in her power to help Ethan and the company, and it was important that she didn’t create any conflict within the Lloyds. “Ethan’s family owns The Lloyds Development.”
Kerri could see Natalie get it. “You think Ethan’s going to think you’re untrustworthy or something?” she asked.
“He won’t, but his family probably will. And they might say and do stupid, petty things to hurt him. I don’t care if people say nasty things about me, but I don’t want to give anyone a weapon to wield against Ethan.”
“Why don’t you just see your grandfather? Ask him to call off his men?”
“Hah. Change his course of action just because I asked him to? Doubtful.”
“He must care about you to send people to find you.”
“He probably sent them to upset me.”
Natalie grimaced. “Is he that petty?”
“No.” Kerri sighed. “I think he’s just unhappy about my leaving Hong Kong without seeing him, and he doesn’t care that what he’s doing might disrupt my life.”
“Uh… That would qualify as petty.”
Despite herself, Kerri laughed. “I guess it would, huh?”
“So what are you going to do once you lose those men?”
“Get the hell out of—” Kerri stopped. If she left, would that really mean she was free of Barron?
Natalie let the silence stretch before saying, “You can’t avoid him forever. Not someone with that kind of money to spend finding you.”
Kerri couldn’t deny her friend was right. How long and how far could she run to avoid Barron?
She’d given up her job. What more would she sacrifice, as Justin had put it? Would she have to give up seeing Natalie? How about Ethan? Could she just walk away from her entire life because of Barron?
“You’re right,” she said. “But I want to be able to decide what to do without Barron’s men breathing down my neck. And a couple of them are standing right outside your door.”
Natalie considered for a moment. “We have a fire exit. Down this way.” She took Kerri to the balcony and showed her a trapdoor. “You open this and climb down the ladder to the next level. And so on down to the ground.”
Kerri pulled the trapdoor up and studied the escape. The ladder had wide steps and rubberized bars for a secure grip. The penthouse was on the fourteenth floor, but if she could lose the men it would be worth it. Then she shook her head. “Can’t. The BMW’s in the garage, and there’s probably four of them standing around it.”
“Bet they aren’t watching my Audi.” Natalie held out some keys. “Plus, the windows are tinted.”
Kerri’s wrapped her hand around them. “Thanks.”
“What are friends for?” Natalie said with a wide grin. “Go before they notice something’s up. And hey, gimme your keys. I like BMWs.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
KERRI RETURNED TO ETHAN’S PLACE in the Audi. Sure enough, Barron’s men hadn’t noticed as she’d driven the fancy new car past them.
She’d bought some time, but now had to find a more permanent solution. They’d come back to Ethan’s penthouse once they figured out she wasn’t at Natalie’s anymore. If they were smart—and Barron didn’t hire stupid people—they would leave a few men at Natalie’s place too, just to make sure.
She’d already told Ethan about her family, and he’d believed they were estranged. But that might change if she told him her grandfather had sent three SUVs’ worth of men to “keep her safe.” Estranged families didn’t send bodyguards.
She shook her head. No no no. Shouldn’t be thinking like that. Ethan wouldn’t doubt her story. But how would he react? He could be so single-minded in his desire to protect those he cared about. She didn’t want him to do anything rash and get hurt.