Page 108 of Always Us

“She’s not going to like that.”

“What did I just tell you?”

“That I need to take precautions. I know. I’ll tell her about Harper. When is this thing with Kiefer official?”

“January first.”

“Daddy, you’re home.” Lilly comes running down the stairs.

“Yes, honey.” He picks her up. “Let’s go in the kitchen. Daddy really needs some coffee.”

He leaves me standing there in the foyer. My conversation with him left me with more questions than answers. Did he kill Roth? He had the motive to, which makes me think he did.

My dad is all about rules. So maybe I already have the answer.

Rule number two. Protect your family above all else.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

26

JADE

I get back to the Kensington mansion and open the door to find Garret standing in the foyer with nobody else around.

“What are you doing?” I hug him. “Waiting by the door for me?”

“Yeah.” He sounds a little out of it. He must still be tired from yesterday. “How was Harper?”

“She’s okay. I thought she’d talk about Sean the whole time but she didn’t talk about him at all. Oh, and when I picked her up at Moorhurst I ran into Jasmine. She couldn’t believe I was married. She was shocked when she found out I married you after your bad boy behavior last year.”

“Did you see anyone else while you were there?”

“No. We left as soon as I got there.” I notice Pearce’s office door is open. I peek inside. “Where’s your dad? Did you talk to him?”

“Yes, and he already knows about Carson. He’s been investigating him for months. My dad knows about Hanniford, too.”

“So what’s he doing about it?”

“He told the organization and I guess they’re dealing with it.”

“They’re not going to hurt Carson, are they?”

“He doesn’t know. It’s not up to him. Jade, this isn’t our problem so we need to stop talking about it.”

“What if Carson shows up at our place again?”

“We’ll tell him to leave and then we’ll tell my dad and he’ll take care of it.“

“I don’t like this, Garret. They’re going to—”

“Jade. It’s not our problem.” He pauses. “I have some other news. Roth is dead.”

“Roth, as in the guy who showed up before our wedding?”

“Yeah. He died in a car explosion not far from his home.”

“Someone blew up his car?”

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