Page 25 of Hidden Heir

“Am I?” I lift my gaze to meet his eyes. “Can you truly promise that me and my daughter are safe?”

“I swear it,” Leon says with such conviction that I almost believe him. If we were old friends, there would be no doubt in my heart. But he doesn’t know that I know who he really is. And he doesn’t know my truth.

I know I’m building trust on lies, but if it means that my daughter is safely hidden from the Irish mafia, I’ll take it.

“Thank you,” I say, getting my tears under control. “All I care about is keeping my daughter safe.”

“You can stay as long as you need,” Leon replies, his grip tightening slightly. “And if?—”

“Leonity!” barks a deep, raspy voice with a much thicker Russian accent than Leon’s.

Leon’s hands drop from my shoulders and I jump in fright, turning to see an older man dressed in a pinstripe suit leaning on a black cane. He has a thick white beard, an angry scowl on his face.

I recognize him instantly from the news reports. He hasn’t changed one bit, except for maybe looking a little bit older, more weathered.

“Father,” Leon says tightly.

“Care to explain who the fuck this is?” he snaps, pointing at me with his cane.

Tiffany holds tightly to my legs, her face buried against my body.

11

LEON

Iache to comfort Brooke. It rises like a swell inside me, but before I can do that or press for more details about the man that hurt her, my father appears in the kitchen like some kind of dark omen.

He wasn’t supposed to be in the area today, which I presumed was why he had me check the delivery from Canada when he usually prefers to do that himself. Mostly, I think, to test to see if my ideas really have been breeding success or if every successful shipment of product is merely a fluke.

“I asked you a question,” my father’s voice booms. “Who the fuck is she?”

Brooke leans down and covers her daughter’s ears, cradling Tiff to her chest who looks at my father with wide, curious eyes.

Rik appears a second later, slightly out of breath. From the lift of his brows, I suspect he was rushing to get here before my father to warn me.

“This is Brooke,” I reply. “She’s a friend. She arrived last night needing a place to stay, and I’ve offered her one of my rooms until she’s able to recover and get back on her feet.”

“Recover from what?” My father barks. “This is not a home for the poor!”

“That’s not it at all,” I reply smoothly. “Like I said, she’s a friend in need of help. In fact, speaking of which… Rik?” Rik slips past my father to step closer to me. “Could you please take Brooke and her daughter to their quarters?”

Rik nods. We haven’t set up a room for her yet but I know Rik will begin doing so as soon as he gets Brooke and Tiff out from under my father’s piercing gaze. Brooke scoops her daughter into her arms and ducks away, following Rik out of the kitchen.

There’s a moment of silence, then the sound of my father’s cane clacking hard on the tiled floor. I ignore him in favor of darting to the breakfast I had begun making, saving it from becoming charred beyond recognition.

“Tell me this isn’t the reason you left the warehouse without properly inspecting the goods.”

My hands pause briefly over the pans. “Was there a problem?”

“Yes! The problem was you weren’t there!”

“Was there a problem with theproduct?” I clarify. “Were they bad quality? Damaged in transit? Unfit for sale?”

“No,” he mutters, twisting his mustache. “But that’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” I glance at him. “I inspected the product. We have one possible failure due to illness, but I’m guessing that’s because of travel, and he’ll be fine come auction. No one was harmed during delivery and they’ll all be shipped and sold within ten hours. We paid less than expected due to the shipment arriving early and everyone is happy.” I scrape the sauteed vegetables onto a plate. “So what’s the issue?”

“You are blind,” my father mutters, and the way his tone changes makes my heart sink. “You give them too much leeway. That’s how it starts. You miss a meeting, don’t stay long at aninspection, and the next thing you know, they’ll be skimming off the top. I thought I raised you smarter than this.”

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