Page 38 of Scarred Heart

Again, my phone rang, and this time, I pulled it from my pocket with a grunt.It was Bruce, who’d called twice now.Vivian had called, as well, along with a few other calls from various managers.I had several missed texts, as well.

“Why don’t we all sit down and talk about this?”Mom suggested in a tight voice, high-pitched with worry.“It's so early, Spencer.Have you had breakfast?”

“I have nothing else to say to him.”It didn’t make me happy, leaving Mom with tears rolling down her cheeks.I knew she had nothing to do with his decisions, but there had to be an emergency to warrant the number of calls and texts I’d ignored, though, which took precedence now.I could smooth things over with her so long as he was never involved.

They let me go without offering any more arguments, and I was on my phone before I reached the staircase opposite the front door.Bruce seemed like the logical person to call first since his call had been the last I received.

As usual, he wasted no time on greetings.“Where the fuck are you?Your assistant told me you’ve been back and forth between LA and the Bay lately.”

“I’m in Malibu.Family shit.”

“Well, I hate to break this to you, but you’ve had a break-in at your company headquarters.Your assistant called me in when she couldn’t get a hold of you right away.”

I froze halfway down the stairs.The buzzing of bees and chirping of birds went silent.Break-in.Of course, Vivian would call my head of security, Bruce.“What happened?What did they do?Did they take anything?Is everyone all right?”

“It happened early this morning.Before dawn.A coordinated effort, by the looks of it.I’m reviewing the footage with the security team.The front desk guard sustained head injuries.”

“Jesus,” I whispered, still frozen in place and trying to process the shock.“Do we know how he is?”

“ICU, last I heard.”

“What about my offices?What did they take?”I pushed myself forward, jogging to the car.I would be in the air within the hour.This was not something I could handle from afar.I needed to be there, in the middle of it.

“Not much, if anything.Several computers were destroyed.They tried and failed to access the server room.There’s a shit ton of broken glass everywhere.The bulk of the damage, I hate to say, was done to your office in particular.”

A red flag fluttered in my head by the time I was behind the wheel.“You don’t say.”

“More than that.A photo was sitting on your chair.No frame.Your assistant told me she’d never seen it before.”

“A photo of what?”I asked, already eager to get the call over with so I could call my pilot.

“I’m not sure.You’re in it, along with a blonde woman and a little blonde girl.Walking out of a restaurant together.”

Halfway to the gates, I slammed the brakes and screeched to a halt.Everything in me wanted to reject the image Bruce was putting together.Somebody was sending a message, something about how easy it was to get to me.And the people I cared about.Nausea gripped my stomach, but I couldn’t give in.There was no time.

All at once, the world took on a newfound clarity.My priorities aligned, and I hit the gas again, tearing down the driveway now.“I’m going to call you back in fifteen minutes,” I told Bruce.“There are things I’m going to need from your contacts down here, so get a list together.Security, mostly.”

If there was one thing I appreciated about him, it was the way he didn’t need to ask questions.“Will do.”

I would kill the son of a bitch for this.He couldn’t get Miles and decided to turn his attention to me instead.It was the biggest and last mistake Damian Fields would ever make.First on my list was placing a call to someone who might be able to help.

Every breath through my tightened throat was a chore, and my heart was ready to crack open my chest, hammering the way it was.Somehow, I placed a call to my cousin, Connor, somebody with the resources to help, thanks to his media empire.I normally wouldn’t have fallen back on family ties, but this was not a normal situation.

I waited a few moments to be connected before Connor’s rich, hearty voice filled the car.Mom was his father’s baby sister, one of those late-in-life second-family situations, meaning she and her nephew were roughly the same age.In some ways, he was more of a father to me than my own, someone I’d looked up to as a kid.“Spencer!This is a pleasant surprise.What can I do for you?”

Time to cut to the chase.“Remember what I told you about Damian Fields back in the Hamptons?”

“Are you kidding?My digital division has been hell-bent on turning Miles into a hero online.What’s going on now?”

I gave him a brief rundown while navigating traffic.It was getting thicker all the time, slowing me downandmaking it difficult not to scream.I had to get back to Rowan and Hannah.What if that photo was more than a warning?

“I see.”Connor’s voice turned hard, with a thread of cold ruthlessness running underneath.“What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to syndicate a story for me once I’ve located the witnesses in question.If you can help me track them down, I’d appreciate it.I’ve got a guy working for me out here, but he’s come up with nothing.”And we were running out of time.A man with Connor’s resources and influence would make all of this much easier to manage.

“Whatever you want, you’ve got it,” he vowed.“Just tell me who they are.I can have a couple of private eyes on it by lunch.”Considering he was three hours ahead of me and his lunch would roll around within the hour, that was quite a promise.

It was time to take the fight to the next level since Damian wouldn’t give up unless I forced him.

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