Page 46 of Hidden Heir

“I promise.” She nods hurriedly as I kiss her forehead, then scurries away, the robe wrapped tight around her. I hear a soft sob as she leaves but I honor her attempt to hide it. It sounds like she needs time to process and I will give her that.

Before heading to bed myself, I call Selina.

“What’ve you got for me, Boss?”

“I need you to contact the Murphys.”

“Alright. What are the terms?”

“Tell them I have their missing money.”

A few days later,the sun beats down on the patio as Tiffany runs through the planted pots, inspecting all of the flowers in front of her. Brooke is still in the shower but she’s definitely seemed lighter these past few days. Telling me the truth seems to have lifted a weight from her shoulders.

Ant is a different story. While he’s following the program laid out for him, he’s becoming increasingly insistent about the drugs he’s being given. There have been three arguments already about the amount granted to him.

He has no idea how lucky he is that Brooke is his sister.

Ant is somewhere in the house sulking after refusing Tiffany’s very polite demand for a tea party. I have guards watching him, but my desire to keep him safe lessens by the day. Especially since he appears to show no remorse for landing his sister in this mess.

“Look!” Tiffany sprints up to me with a plucked flower clutched in her small hand. “It’s a daisy!”

It’s not a daisy but her enthusiasm is enough to persuade me to smile down at her beaming face and say, “It is, and it’s beautiful.”

With a happy giggle, she runs back to the flower pots as Selina appears next to my shoulder. “I have news.”

“The Irish?”

“Mm-hm. They declined.”

“What?” I squint at her and she moves to block the sun with her head.

“They don’t want your money, they want Brooke. And her brother and her kid.” Selina glances back at Tiffany. “The Captain demands their return. They’ve spat in the face of the Irish by running to us for help and now the debt must be paid in blood. And Leon…”

She turns back to me as anger warms my blood.

“What?”

“They say your head will roll if you don’t hand them over.”

20

BROOKE

Nothing washes away concern quite like an intense pressure shower.

It’s been a few days since I told Leon the truth, well, most of the truth. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that the Irish wanted my body to pay off the debt, and that I attacked a man in my bid to escape. I was too ashamed to admit that I’d done something like that, especially after we’d just shared an amazingly sexy moment together. I didn’t want his opinion of me to sour or change that, or risk it altering his decision.

He’s still helping me, and frankly it feels like the best outcome to a terrible situation. Tiffany will be safe, Ant is getting clean, and all I have to do is spend my life with a hot, dangerous, and scary man that fucks me senseless.

There are worse punishments.

As discussed, Leon’s promises about protecting Tiffany have been laid out in writing, and we both signed. While this may seem silly to someone like him, it’s just another way I can protect my daughter’s future. I hope it will never need to be brought up again.

I step out of the shower, slip on a sundress and hat, and it crosses my mind how a different danger lurks around me now. Staying with Leon heightens his chance of discovering Tiffany’s true parentage. I told him that her father passed away but if he’s digging into my past there’s a chance he’ll discover the truth.

I promised him there would be no more lies. Technically, I lied to himbeforemaking that promise, so as long as he doesn’t ask me again, I won’t have to break it. The thought of him learning that he is her father still scares me. I have no idea what kind of responsibility would be thrust upon her as his daughter, but if it’s anything like what I’ve glimpsed with Leon and his own father then it’s something I want to avoid at all costs.

Maybe this will be the end of it, though. No more secrets, no more digging into backgrounds, and no more fear.

---