Page 40 of Resisting Temptation

She doesn’t stop me, so I walk with her back over to her place, and we go investigate her room. It’s a mess, stuff thrown everywhere. “What if I was home when he broke in?” she asks, her voice a whisper as she gathers her stuff.

The same thought had crossed my mind. “I’m going to make a call, make sure this place is secure from now on.” The look in her eyes tells me she’s not going to fight me on it. She’s worried, and she should be. This type of shit doesn’t happen in Deception Bay.

Leaving Paisley to assess the damage, I step out into the hall, dialing Parker’s number. He’s got the contact for the security company that installed the state-of-the-art security system at The Alexander after what happened to Gisele. He also needs to know about this.

“Harrington, what can I do for you?” His tipsy voice comes down the line, and from the noise I can hear in the background, I would say he’s still out partying at McAllister’s.

“Got a problem. The girls’ house was broken into.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growls. “Mae and I’ll be there soon.” He disconnects the call without another word.

Paisley watches me, her eyes wide and scared. “I’ll have a new security system installed tomorrow so this shit can’t happen again,” I say, trying to reassure her. “But you girls really do need to be more careful from now on. Make sure your door is always locked.”

She nods, agreeing with me. “Thank you. Do you think this was political? Someone looking for stuff to do with Beckett’s campaign?”

“I don’t know, but I promise you I’ll get to the bottom of it. I won’t let anything happen to you, baby.” I pull her into me, kissing her forehead.

She looks over her bedside table again. “My perfume is missing?” She drops down to search the floor and see if it’s gone under the bed but comes up empty-handed. “That’s really odd.”

I take her hand, leading her out of the room. “Your brother and Mae will be here soon. Come downstairs and have a hot drink while we wait for them. You can worry about this mess in the morning.”

While the girls sit huddled together on the couch with their hot chocolates, I motion for Parker to join me in the kitchen.

“What the fuck?” he growls angrily. “Do you think this could be related to the campaign?”

I shake my head, not sure what to tell him. “Maybe? I think it’s time we kick up the investigating, focusing on Beckett and the other Prescotts. We know his father’s involved with the shit that happened to my father, but how? Can you hack into his accounts, find who he’s connected with? I don’t trust them, any of them, and we need to know what we’re really up against before it’s too late.”

His eyes narrow. “Why did he really pick Paisley to work with him?”

“Exactly. He could have had anyone run his campaign. With the kind of money his family has, he could have paid for a professional who would have been more qualified. He chose her for a reason, and I’m nervous it’s got something to do with me.”

He looks me over cautiously. Parker’s not a man of many words; Paisley must have done all the talking when these two were growing up. But I know he’s seriously considering what I’m saying. “I’m sure I can find what you’re looking for.”

“We need one of those security systems fitted, you know the one they put into The Alexander Hotel last year. Can you track down the guy who did it?”

He nods. “Was Paisley in the house alone when this happened?” Concern fills his voice.

I meet his eyes. “She was at my place with me,” I admit.

His lips form a thin line, but he doesn’t say anything. We have always been this way. We don’t need to have the conversation to know what’s going on. He knows me well enough to know what his sister means to me. Everything.

Chapter 23

Paisley

As I step through the front door of Bay Roaster’s Café, a knot of discomfort tightens in my stomach at the sight of his face. Not sure why my daddy wanted to meet with me today, it’s been almost twelve months since I last had a meal with him. These days, I have very little to say to the man. He might have raised me, but he wasn’t an active participant in the child rearing. My mother took care of all that, right up until she took off for Paris, anyway. I was thirteen then, and my father expected Parker and me to raise ourselves, while he spent all his time working at his treasured clinic.

“My darling.” My daddy kisses my cheek as I meet him at the table he’s reserved for us. “I’ve ordered for you. I only have half hour in between patients.”

Taking a seat across from him, my eyes involuntarily roll with annoyance. He asked me to come here, and of course he doesn’t even have the time to get a proper meal with his only daughter.I don’t know why I was expecting anything more. I’m not important to him.

A server tops up my water and places down some bread sticks. I smile and thank her, taking a bread stick and pulling it apart, shoving a piece in my mouth to stop from saying something smart. Something that will get us off to a bad start like I normally do.

“How’s your brother?” he asks.

I study his face. He looks so much older than last time I saw him. Frown lines etched deeply in his forehead, his hair grayer than the dark brown of his youth. I wonder if he really cares about Parker, if he lies awake at night wondering what became of his family. “You could call him and ask him yourself. You know he’s home, right. He has been for a couple of years,” I say back, unable to help the dig. The two of them don’t talk and haven’t for years. I get it, Parker has every right to hate him. I hate him as well for the way he treated us. But out of duty, I still come every time he calls. It’s what a good daughter should do, even though he’s never been there for me.

“I know exactly where your brother is. Yet, he stubbornly ignores my calls,” he says through gritted teeth, his tone seething with anger.

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