Page 93 of Ashes of Sin

“Yeah, nah. It’s just Maddox.” I cringe at being referred to as my father’s son.

Connor Barret is a former US Marine. Plus, a fellow billionaire, so we often rub shoulders at events. We’re not buddies, but I respect the entrepreneur. He runs one of the best private security companies in the nation and is one of my biggest customers.

“I met with your father recently,” he tells me and my brows lift.

“Oh, yeah?”

He’s probably looking to put a hit out on me. But then again, the fact he had my phone number, which is fucking hard to get, tells me Pierce has known how to reach me for a long time.

I should have known.

The man is shrewd.

“You took something that belonged to him.” Connor adds, but he sounds bored. “Apparently.”

“No, I didn’t.”

He’s a smart guy. I know he’ll figure it out.

“No. Which is why we didn’t retrieve her.”

The fuck?

My brain explodes as I work out what he’s saying. He knew where Kyra was the whole time? Unbelievable. Then again, is it? He has a team of experienced US Marines and other military experts, some of which have worked off book.

As in the government books.

“You could’ve called the cops.” I shake my head as I drop my feet from my glass coffee table and start paying attention.

“I could’ve extracted her and taken her home as I was hired to do.” He snorts dryly.

I let his words hang in the air for a moment while I plan my next steps. Then something occurs to me.

“It wasn’t me you left her with, was it?”

“No,” he replies.

Then we’re on the same page but I need to be sure.Verysure before I ask this astute man for what I’m after.

“You were keeping her from Pierce.”

“Yes.”

God, he’s such a chatterbox.

“Which means you know what he’s been involved with” I add.

“I also assumed you would continue to protect her,” Connor says. “And now you need my help.”

I grit my teeth at his accusation.

“It’s complicated.”

“Always is with women.” I hear the humor in his voice and recall once meeting Mia Barrett, the former mafia princess.

“I need a phone number. That’s all.”

He’s silent for so long, I almost think he’s hung up.

---