Page 15 of The Billionaire's Knight

“Someone wanted to know personal information,” Knight told him. “On you and your sister.”

“Julia?” Jase came to his feet. “Is she in any danger?”

“She’s perfectly safe right now. I have one of my best personally watching her and your mother. But someone is definitely interested in knowing her schedule. Especially her regular appointments. They wanted the same information on you, Mr. Hayes. Any ideas why?” Knight asked.

“An opportunist looking for a way to corner one of us and ask for money,” Jase suggested. “Julia’s more of a bleeding heart, more willing to listen than I’ll ever be. You didn’t answer my question completely. Is my sister in any danger? Beyond today?”

Levi shrugged. “I can’t tell you what the person seeking the information wanted it for. I can only tell you that they accessed it. And made a few changes. Little things. A change in venue for a dinner meeting. A canceled appointment for your sister. Little things. Subtle things.”

“What else?” Jase demanded.

“A few attempts to get into patent files. An attempt to look at some of your software that’s currently still in the working phase,” Levi continued.

“What happened at the end of May, Jase?” Barrett Locke questioned. “And why would someone want to obtain security footage of it?”

“I… What?” Jase asked. His gaze flew to Noah, catching the tightened jaw and narrowed stare. “Noah?”

“There was an altercation in the lobby,” Noah stated. “Julia came in from an event. A younger gentleman followed her, accosting her in the lobby. Security intervened.”

“Julia was injured during the incident?” Knight asked.

“Son of a bitch! The bruise I saw on her cheek?” Jase fumed. “If you tell me some asshole hit her, I’ll fucking kill him.”

“I took care of it,” Noah stated. “Julia didn’t want you to know. Said you’d never let her out of your sight if you knew.”

“Damn straight,” Jase growled, giving his best friend a glare. “We’ll discuss this later.”

Noah nodded.

“You took care of it?” Knight asked Noah.

“I had security escort him out after Julia begged us not to call the police. She didn’t want the publicity for Jase. She’s always thinking of everyone but herself. I took her home and made sure there were two guys watching her for the next few weeks. The guy from the lobby never showed back up,” Noah told them.

“He’s dead.” Locke’s words had Jase sitting back down.

“This isn’t a mafia movie,” Noah replied dryly. “I took care of it by having him escorted out and barring him from re-entry into the building. I set security on Julia to make sure she was safe. I didn’t kill anyone.”

“It would seem that someone thinks you did,” Levi said. “They think Jase ordered it and blame Julia.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jase muttered. “How did he die?”

“Suicide,” Locke stated.

“That doesn’t sound like murder,” Jase said. “Unless you’re trying to say I forced Noah to help that happen. Pills? Booze? Shooting?”

“Brayden Ayers hung himself,” Knight answered quietly. “That was the young man’s name. According to his parents, he was brilliant. According to his medical reports, he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.”

“He got it in his head that you stole one of his ideas and was demanding it back, according to Julia,” Levi told them.

“I’ve never stolen anything in my life,” Jase retorted, anger filling him. “I’ve worked hard for what I have.”

“Yes, I’m sure you had it rough as the son of a millionaire,” the playboy offered.

Jase surged to his feet, slamming his palms against his desk. “I’ve been judged my whole life by people with more of a chip on their shoulder than you. I didn’t start from nothing, and I won’t apologize for that. My father worked hard for our wealth, as his father did before him. I’ve worked every job in this company, from the bottom up. Because in order to know how to run it, I should know all the ins and outs of it. Julia did the same. Wealth doesn’t provide a foregone conclusion that someone will be a certain way.”

The playboy smiled, all teeth. “Sucks to be judged by someone who doesn’t even know you, huh?”

“The point,” Knight reiterated, “is that the young man is dead, and someone blames Jase and his sister for that.”

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