Page 21 of One Weekend in Boston

I felt my phone vibrating and looked down to see my brother was calling once again. I stepped away, not only to give Shannon some space but to try and keep the call as private as possible.

"What do you have?"

"The fire marshal has no doubt the fire was arson. The person didn't even try to cover their tracks. I would say it was done by an amateur but I'm leaning towards the person wanting us to know this was no accident."

"I figured as much. I already told Shannon that Davis is likely trying to draw her out."

The bastard wouldn't have had the balls to cause the destruction personally, but no doubt he would be there to snatch her up. It made no sense. He was going through an awful lot to get her back. I couldn’t blame him, Shannon was amazing. But she deserved someone who worshipped her, not a boy who was prone to fits.

"I'm going to reach out to my team and get her people protection. Send me the names as soon as you have them."

I glanced at where Shannon was sitting at the desk. The pen in her hand was flying across the paper. "Already on it. I'll have it to you shortly. She has one more request."

I told my brother about the video call I needed him to set up as soon as I had a name or two. Shannon would want to speak with them sooner rather than later, so he promised to round the people up after our call.

By the time I hung up the phone, Shannon was walking my way.

"Here you go. This is everyone."

I glanced at the list. There were more names than I expected. I had it in my head that her father's shop was small. Based on this list, that wasn't the case. Hopefully, Matthew would be able to make it happen.

Snapping a picture of the names, I sent it off to my brother before putting the phone away. I wanted to see where Shannon's head was at.

"How you doin’?"

Her eyes were still red and her face blotchy from crying, but there was also a fire in her eyes that for a second I thought Davis managed to snuff out. I should've known better though. Shannon wasn't the type of woman to let a man do that to her. One hour in her presence and I knew that much at least.

"Better now that we have a plan. I hate not being able to go back to check on the place, but I understand it. Davis isunhinged. There's no telling what he would do to me, and I don't have a death wish. I just can't figure out how I missed it before."

My need to comfort her and validate her took over. "You weren't the only one and I doubt you missed anything. Hundreds of thousands of people think he's great. Some master manipulators are just great at hiding who they truly are. He didn't get the title ‘media mogul’ for nothing. But the public doesn’t see the real man. Unfortunately, he showed it to you, and I'm betting if we dig hard enough, there will be other women in his past."

That gave me an idea. I pulled my phone back out of my pocket and typed out another message to my brother. There was a good chance someone on his team already thought of it, but in case not, now they would. There was no doubt in my mind that Shannon wasn't the first woman Davis did this to. It was just a matter of finding others. And if anyone could do it, it was my brother's team.

ELEVEN

Shannon

I stared at the black screen and willed the video to turn on. Matthew assured Jack the call would take place, but it was supposed to start one minute ago and the waiting was killing me. It was probably a good thing Matthew only gave us a thirty-minute warning the call would take place otherwise I would've spent more time pacing the room. It was bad enough it only took me two minutes to get dressed. That gave me twenty-eight other minutes to find a way to occupy my time.

I didn't do a very good job of it.

"What is taking so long?" I huffed the words out and dropped my chin into my hands. Patience wasn't exactly one of my virtues. I might've had a free spirit when it came to what I wanted to do in life, but when my mind was made up, I wanted things immediately.

"I'm sure they’ll be on any second now."

Exactly one second later the screen flickered to life and sitting right there on the other side was Samuel, my father's best friend and the one man who worked for the shop the longest. Atleast half a dozen times my father had offered for Samuel to be part owner but every time he turned him down saying he didn't want that kind of responsibility in his life. I understood the sentiment.

"Oh, thank God."

"Shannon, girl. It's good to see your face."

I would always be a little girl in Samuel's eyes. He was there the day I was born and for every milestone since. He was practically a second father to me.

"I was worried about you. They told me what happened to Dad's shop. I'm so sorry."

Samuel snorted. "What the hell do you have to be sorry for? You didn't burn the damn thing down."

"Because I'm the one who allowed Davis into my life."

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