Page 61 of Boss Daddy

Her grip tightens slightly, surprising me. “Misha,” she whispers. “He… he told me… to give you… a message.”

Fear washes over me, freezing me in place. My mouth goes dry, and all I can manage is a quiet, “Oh my God. Tiffany, I’m so sorry.”

She shakes her head. “No,” she rasps. “Listen. You… need to… listen.”

I bite back the flood of apologies threatening to spill out and focus on her. “Okay. I’m listening.”

Her breaths are shallow, her face pale, but she doesn’t stop. “He said… he knows… where you work. Knows… you’re… shacking up… with your boss.”

The words hit me like a slap. My heart pounds, my mind racing.

“And he said…” She swallows hard, her voice faltering. “Kailee… and Erica… are next… if you don’t… pay him a visit.”

I can barely breathe. My stomach twists painfully at the mention of Kailee and Erica. “No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “No, I can’t let anything happen to th—”

“Don’t,” Tiffany interrupts. “Don’t… go to him. You… need to… warn them. Protect yourself.”

“Tiffany, I—” My voice cracks as I try to form a coherent thought, but her fingers squeeze mine, stopping me.

“Promise me,” she says, her words slow but insistent. “Promise… you won’t… go to him.”

I nod. “I promise,” I whisper. “I’ll warn Kailee and Erica. I’ll do whatever I can to protect them.”

“And yourself!” she speaks the words with too much intensity, wincing after they come out.

“And myself,” I tell her.

She lets her head fall back onto the pillow and takes a few slow breaths. My heart hurts seeing her like this.

“Good,” she says. “Good…” She closes her eyes and is asleep in seconds.

Her hand goes limp, and all I can do is sit there, staring at her as tears blur my vision. I want to scream, to cry, to hit something, but instead, I sit frozen, my mind replaying her words over and over.

Misha knows about Samuel. He’s targeting Kailee and Erica. Another wave of guilt crashes over me, threatening to drown me, but I shove it down.

This isn’t my fault.

Misha did this.

He’s the one who crossed the line, the one who’s hurting innocent people to send some stupid message. I didn’t cause this. But still, the weight of it feels unbearable.

I’m at a loss. I have no idea what to do. Part of me wants to call Samuel this very second and tell him what I’ve learned. But I know him well enough to understand what that would mean. He’d burn the city down to protect me, even if it meant putting his own life in danger.

I have no doubt that Samuel’s stronger than Misha. But Misha fights dirty.

I bury my face in my hands, my breath shaky as I try to think clearly. One thing is certain—I need to warn Kailee and Erica before Misha can get to them. But after that, I’ll need to decide if I’m ready to let Samuel in on just how deep this mess really goes.

Chapter 23

Erin

Ispend the evening pacing around Samuel’s home, barely able to hold a single thought in my head.

No matter what I do, the image of Tiffany lying in the hospital bed keeps flashing in my mind—bruised, broken, barely able to speak, painfully uttering Misha’s threats in an attempt to protect me.

I poured myself a glass of wine, hoping it might take the edge off but after one sip, I’d set it down.

I eventually try putting on some random show for background noise, but my eyes keep darting to the clock, counting the minutes until Samuel gets home, late as it might be.

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