Page 67 of Promise Kept

I look around.

Larissa isn’t here.

I glance at Henri.

“Didn’t you tell the kid to show up?” Aron asks.

“First off, she’s not a kid,” I say.

“You got that right,” Damien says.

“The fuck?” I growl.

I place my hands on the desk.

Damien laughs. “Relax. We can’t admit when someone looks good? I know who she is. I know what she means to you, Ellis. I’m just stating the fact that, yes, she is not a kid anymore. She’s a woman. A grown woman. And she’s part of this business now. We need to address that.”

“Or just come up with another plan,” I say. “Get her out of this.”

“Is that what she wants?” Damien asks.

He has that bastard look on his face.

Damien is good at reading people too.

If he looks at me long enough, he’ll figure it out. He’ll figure out these thoughts in my head.

“So what are we doing here?” Julian asks.

“That’s a great question,” Damien says. “Isn’t it, Ellis?”

Instead of telling him to go fuck himself, I simply turn and walk out of the office.

I have no choice.

I have to go find Larissa now.

She knew about the meeting.

This is either her being a little brat… or maybe she’s done with it all.

Taking her down to the secret part felt like such a risk.

Maybe it was enough to show her how serious this all is. It’s not a game. It’s not a joke.

And that’s okay.

No matter what, Larissa will always be taken care of. She’s not going to get cut out of the business and then cut out of the money. None of us would do that to her. We would never honor Heston like that.

I arrive to her apartment which is now feeling somewhat familiar.

I knock. I wait.

Fucking brat isn’t answering.

I throw my shoulder into the door. “I know you’re in there. I’ll break down the door and claim it’s an emergency. Now open up!”

I hear noise on the other side of the door.

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