Page 86 of Stay Toxic

Hell, that was awful.

I couldn’t imagine the pain and guilt their entire family felt over the years, wondering if their little sister was alive.

“I’ll concede to a guard if and when we take this to the next step,” I admitted. “Also, not at school. That won’t work.”

“Not at school.” He nodded. “The security there is pretty tight.” He studied me. “It’s an inevitability. You will get targeted. I need you to let your family know that you’re with me. I don’t want them thinking that I’m dragging you into my sin den when you’re very willingly wanting to be there.”

I grinned. “Sin den?”

“Whatever,” he sighed. “Dima said it earlier, and it fit.”

“Everyone knows about me?” I asked.

“If by everyone you mean my men and my family, yes.” He sighed again. “Are you interested in coming to family dinner on Sunday?”

I smiled at him. “As long as you’ll come to mine on Saturday.”

His left eye twitched. “I guess so.”

I snickered. “My brothers are great, you’re not going to have any issues, I promise.”

“I highly doubt that,” he said, then leaned back into the couch before saying, “Before you fully agree, you should know a few things.”

“Okay, hit me.” I clapped.

“I had some issues in Houston. That’s why I was there,” he started.

“I kind of figured that when you were asking all those questions,” I said. “Your friend, Cayden.”

“My friend Cayden went missing because of your friend, Viveka,” he said. “And partially because of me. See, Gabriel Stone, Viveka’s husband, put two and two together and realized that I was who had his child. He went to Cayden, in Houston and asked him for help with getting her, the baby, back from me. And possibly killing me while they were at it. When Cayden refused, he was taken prisoner and tortured on a cruise ship for days. That was what I was doing when you came in that day, getting information. We were able to rescue Cayden. Cayden informed me this morning that you are on Gabriel Stone’s suspect list. He thinks you might be able to tell him where the baby is.”

“Great,” I sighed. “And I’m guessing that means that I’m in danger.”

“Not if you stay with me,” he countered.

“I can’t stay with you twenty-four-seven,” I grumbled.

“Hence the bodyguard,” he said. “Until I can get rid of this Gabriel Stone, you’ll have twenty-four-hour protection.”

“How’s that going to work at school?” I asked. “They can stay outside.”

“We’ve already pointed out that the school is secure, so you’re good on that one. During the school day, he’ll sit in the car. When you leave, and if I’m not with you, he’ll be with you.”

“Fun.” I sighed. “But I’m not going to argue with you. I know who Gabriel Stone is.”

“What do you know about him?” he asked.

“Only what Viveka told me,” I said. “He was a really rich businessman turned federal prosecutor. He has his hands in many pies and was turning into a person she didn’t know day by day. She told me in the beginning that Gabriel was great. But she thinks that being a prosecutor changed him for the worse.”

“I don’t know if Viveka just didn’t know or didn’t want to know, but Gabriel Stone was never a federal prosecutor. He was a lawyer, yes, but he only worked for the criminal side of things,” he explained. “And only the big ones. He’s been representing all kinds of disgusting people.”

“Like what?” I asked curiously.

“Like that huge case where the young teenage girl decided to spike her crush’s drink and get pregnant with his child,” he explained. “The girl did it seven times before it worked. When he refused to get with her, or pay child support, the girl’s parents took him to court.”

“Oh.” I remembered the case vividly because it’d happened at our school!

The kid had tried to fight the lawsuit, having explained that he was unaware of ever having sexual intercourse with the girl. When the girl all but admitted that she’d spiked his drinks, she’d had charges filed against her. And the bad thing was, she’d won in court. She got child support, full custody of their child, and the suit dropped against her sexual assault.

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