Page 68 of Wicked Heiress

“I understand the predicament,” my dad said with an attitude. “I don’t need my son to explain it to me.”

I inched toward him, anger surging through me. “Then do something about it! We finally have a way out from under the old man. No more following his stupid rules.”

Dad placed the highball glass on the desk and rose from the chair. “This is about your feelings for Grace. What have I told you about mixing business and pleasure? The two can never go together without one jeopardizing the other.”

“I don’t have feelings for Grace,” I lied. “I’m just doing my job.”

Grace had asked me if she was just a job to me.

Of course not.

She was everything.

I’d never met a woman I wanted to keep around for more than a few weeks. Grace was special and not in a clichéd way. It wasn’t because she wasn’t like other girls. My attraction to her came from a need to connect with her on a cellular level.

“Grace is important to you, Cole.” Dad rose from the chair and put his hand on my shoulder. “I understand. I felt the same way about your mother when we first met. I would have done anything to protect her. Still would. But you have to let her go. Grace isn’t like your mother. She doesn’t have the same freedom to choose who she wants to love. Her grandfather will never allow it.”

“That’s why she needs to use the key,” I said with anger dripping from my tone, my body shaking. “She’ll never be free of the old man if she doesn’t cash it in.”

“Cole, I said no. You have no right to that key, and neither does Grace. Where are you keeping it?”

“It’s well hidden.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “That key could land you into a world of trouble.”

“I’m already in trouble for what I did with Grace. So what difference does it make?”

Before he could ask any more questions about the key, I left his office. He called for me to come back, but I kept going. If my father wouldn’t help me, I had to find another way to save Grace.

* * *

After leaving my father’s office, I went straight to Drake’s house. I sent him a 9-1-1- text, and he replied immediately for me to come over.

Sitting beside Drake at his desk, I watched as his fingers moved quickly across the keyboard. He typed so fast I could hardly make out the words. The second I told him Grace had an Elders key, Drake hopped onto the Dark Web and started looking for Maverick.

Dozens of monitors sat on the desk. Some hung on the wall and even dropped from the ceiling of the Battle Cave. The place was clean and organized, unlike the last time I sat in the same spot.

Drake blamed himself for Alex getting kidnapped and Grace’s father finding her. But at least he looked well-rested and didn’t have open soda cans and candy wrappers littering the desktop. He wore a freshly pressed suit and smelled like body wash and cologne.

“Okay, we’re in.” Drake turned to look at me. “Maverick spoke to Viktor. He’s agreed to talk with us.”

“Viktor sent you that clip because he wants to see Grace.” I shoved a hand through my hair to shove it off my forehead. “Maybe we don’t need the key to take down Fitzy. We can use Viktor for whatever information he’ll provide in exchange for letting him see his daughter.”

“She’ll never agree to it.” Drake seemed uncertain, but I knew Grace would do anything to get away from her grandfather. “It’s also too risky. What if Viktor hurts her?”

“He won’t,” I said with certainty. “Viktor wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to find her if he was going to hurt her. We’ll only let him see her for a few minutes and with The Knights protecting her.”

“But he’s a terrorist,” Drake reminded me. “Viktor is trying to steal my tech and sent Bratva to Devil’s Creek for Alex on multiple occasions. He might have been a good father once upon a time, but he’s not a good person. And he will kill all of us to get Grace back.”

“Let’s see what he says. Then we’ll go from there.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

GRACE

Rhys broke into my bedroom and stood in the entryway, wearing a smirk that screamed, I won. He strolled toward my bed, dressed in expensive black slacks, a handwoven golf shirt, and boat shoes. His face was so pretty and perfect, except for the dark bruises and the cut on his lip.

Cole fucked him up.

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