Because you would kill anyone who dug into your past without your knowledge.
That's not all. I want to shoot myself in the knee for even considering the possibility that Icarefor Denielle Keller.
"You're probably right," Lilly drops the topic.
That was too easy.
Lillyand I finished our conversation, and I decided to get my workout in as soon as my shift was over, exhausting myself to the point of being unable to think about my earlier revelation.
Caring didn't mean liking, let alone forgiving her. I spent too long blaming her family for what happened to mine. Not my father's hand in it. That was never part of my hatred for Victor Keller or his daughter. I took care of my father. Even Oliver wasn't on the same level. I focused all my energy on Denielle once she entered my life six years ago. She was an easy target. An available target.
But living on the same property with her for the past month…things have shifted. And not just because I had my dick in her or she gave me a blow job that will never compare to anyone else. The woman has the mouth of a goddess.
I've received quite a few oral favors over the years, especially when Ethan and I hitThe Club. Being part of Lilly's team, we never paid the cover charge. We used her suite whenever we wanted. Chicks assumed we were swimming in dough, and who were we to correct them? The thought of hittingThe Clubnow is as appealing as shaving my balls with a dull razor.
Fuck
I managedto avoid Denielle for the rest of the weekend. Whenever she was already in a room, came from upstairs, or the one time I was heading to the main house and noticed her dark hair in the window situated over the sink in the kitchen, I made a U-ey like a freaking pussy. It was getting ridiculous.
Sunday afternoon, after another grueling workout to distract my mind, I peered into the garage. Why? I told myself it was to check on the McGuires' cars. But let's face it, I never do that—that's what we have the home security feed for when needed. Plus, I was off the clock. The G-Wagon was not in its usual spot. Being a diligent employee, of course, I activated the tracker.
Denielle was at work. On a Sunday. Was she avoiding me as well?
I didn't have much time to think about it after that. Or her. George kept me on video calls for the remainder of the day. Something had crawled up his ass, and he was getting on my nerves. He normally let me run my team however I saw fit. Suddenly, he wanted to make all kinds of changes that made no fucking sense, which didn't sit right with me.
Lilly is workingfrom home on Monday. Rhys is at the office, so we don't have to worry about him. The security there would put any federal prison to shame. When he's ready to leave, one of us will follow the tracker in his car.
I'm downstairs in the kitchen when my phone buzzes across the countertop. I keep pouring my coffee as I peer over at it, and my fingers clench around the handle of the mug. Lilly's name lights up the display. What the—?
She's upstairs, sitting with Audrey. Baby McGuire won't go to sleep alone these days, and Lilly has to lie in front of her crib, holding her hand while working on her phone with the other.
I let go of my mug and tap the text, ready to race upstairs to eliminate any possible threat that could have found its way into the house.Which is impossible, logic attempts to reason.
D called 4x. Can't answer, Aud just fell asleep.
As I scan her words, three dots appear again.
Something is wrong. I can feel it.
The blood inside my veins turns to ice. Why would Denielle call her four times in the middle of the day? I'm trained for situations like this. I don't panic, don't let emotions take over my actions, yet as I exit out of the message and switch to my phone book, I have to tap twice because my finger misses the icon.
I have all of Lilly's friends' numbers. We all do. It's part of covering our bases. After Thursday, I even had Charlie York's digits—though, that had less to do with my employer.
I tap on her name and wait. Adrenaline rushes my body. With every ring, it becomes harder to breathe.
Something is wrong,I hear Lilly's voice in my head.
The ringing cuts off, and I want to scream.
"He-ohhh," Denielle slurs into the phone.
"It's me." I don't bother announcing myself properly. "Where are you? Lilly said you called her four times."
"—arcus?" She sounds far away, as if speaking takes effort.
"Yes," I gentle my tone, even though the urge to yell at her to fucking tell me what's going on overwhelms my senses. "Den, what's going on? Are you okay?"
She groans instead of answering, and my control snaps. I race toward the garage, grabbing the keys to the Escalade from the board, and hit the garage door on the way. "Please tell me where you are."