Page 14 of Daddy's Obsession

“What do you got for me?”

“I’ve been sifting through Nelson’s life and found some interesting information.”

“Tell me,” I say impatiently.

“It seems that a week prior to Estella’s attack there was a deposit for twenty thousand dollars made to an off-shore account made to his name. Two days after the attack, another twenty grand was deposited. He was arrested a week later when there was an anonymous tip as to his location.”

The implications cause my head to spin. Nelson wasn’t just a crazy fan with an obsession; he was hired to attack Estella.

“Whoever hired him must have decided he was too much of a loose cannon and decided his obsession was too deep to give up the idea of being with Estella and so they turned him in.”

“Do we know where the money was transferred from?”

“That’s the curious thing, the money came from Estella Trenton’s account.”

Estella is busy chatting with Jet as he cleans the makeup from her face. I slip out of the room to continue our conversation.

“What the fuck? That’s not possible.” I don’t believe it. Estella would never perpetuate something like that. It’s obvious she’s scared of the man. She may be a good actress but there is no way she could fake that level of fear. The pictures the police took of her injuries after showed the truth. I don’t doubt for a second that she had nothing to do with this. Someone set her up. “Keep digging. Estella didn’t hire Nelson.”

“I hear you, boss.”

“Have you made any progress finding the bastard?”

“No, he’s completely ghosted.”

“Keep me posted.” I end the call just as Estella emerges fresh faced and dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a pink top that accentuates the pink of her lips. Her smile falters when she takes me in.

“What happened?”

I shake my head. “Later. Let’s get out of here.”

“Bridgette called while you were on the phone. She’s in town and invited me to dinner at her hotel.” The way she says ‘invited’ makes me believe she was ordered.

Even though I want to say no and keep her far, far away from the toxic bitch, I keep my mouth shut. “Okay, let’s go.”

The ride to the hotel is quiet, both of us lost in our thoughts. We pull up to the fanciest hotel in the city, and I’m not surprised to find that her stepmother is staying in the penthouse suite. Estella’s hotel is nice, but nothing like this.

“I want to apologize in advance for whatever horrible thing my stepmother says.”

“I won’t hold it against you,” I promise. I hug her to my chest and kiss her; she moans into my mouth and deepens the kiss. Before I even realize what I’m doing, I have her pinned to the elevator wall. The elevator stops on the top floor and I reluctantly pull away.

Estella holds my hand as we walk down the hallway toward the door. If I didn’t know better, I would say she’s walking the green mile and not about to have dinner with her mother. She knocks on the door and it opens a moment later.

Bridgette is in her mid-forties. She’s bottle blonde and has had way too much plastic surgery. Her lips are unnaturally plump, and her eyes look pinched from either a facelift gone wrong or a hell of a lot of Botox. Either way, the results are not pleasing to the eye.

“It’s about time you got here,” she sneers. She looks me up and down and grimaces. “What’s he doing here?”

“Gage is my…” Estella doesn’t seem to know how to answer.

“I’m her bodyguard and boyfriend.” I narrow my gaze and dare her to say something. Estella looks at me wide-eyed. I’m not sure if she’s surprised I told her stepmother we are a couple or if she’s angry. I honestly don’t give a fuck, she’s mine and I’m not going to keep it a secret.

Bridgette snorts indelicately. “Well, you’ll just have to find yourself something else to do because I need to speak tomydaughter in private.”

“Where she goes, I go.”

Estella’s eyes grow even wider at my rebuke. “It’s okay, Gage. I’ll be fine. I’m sure you have work you need to catch up on…” Her eyes plead with me to drop it. Against my better judgement, I agree to give them some privacy.

9

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