Page 41 of Greed
The greedy man walked away, cradling his fist as though it were precious cargo.
Griffin had to contact his family. They needed to know about this. Too many clues pointed to Donald working for the Syndicate. Why else would he want a sample of blood?
“Shit. What an asshole! Oh shit, Griffin, are you okay?” Lilo kneeled next to him. “What can I do—shall I call the hospital? Grace? Anyone?”
“No.” He sat up and peered under the collar of his shirt to the wound below. “I’m fine. The bleeding’s almost stopped.”
He wasn’t fine. And the bleeding was worse. He should have rested this afternoon instead of sparring and training. He might heal faster than normal, but he wasn’t invincible. The sense of Doppenger’s greed signature got weaker as the man left the building.Damn it.Griffin should run after him, but he would risk tearing the wound more. Resting a few minutes and notifying the family would be better.
Lilo whimpered. “Can I help?”
She needed to do something, so he took her hand and used it to apply pressure to his shoulder. “Please hold that firmly while I send a message.”
She pushed her palm to his wound despite the sticky blood. “Okay. I got it.”
Careful not to show Lilo the screen, Griffin shot a text to Parker.
Identity of the imposter is Donald Doppenger. Works at Cardinal Copy. Potential link to the Syndicate. Just collected a sample of my blood. Someone needs to track him immediately. I’m wounded, but not critical.
When he put his phone away, he noticed Lilo’s hand trembling on his shoulder. For a minute he thought she’d seen his message, but her eyes were locked firmly where her hands covered his wound.
“Lilo,” he said. “Lilo, look at me.” He slid his fingers around her neck and grasped, much like he had in his office. “I’m here.”
A smile caught between pain and relief tipped her lips. “You’re here,” she repeated.
But the scary thing was, those words and that connection calmed him more than it did her.
Chapter Fourteen
After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Lilo drove with Griffin to her parents’ house on the east side of town.
Home to the city’s elite and exuberant, The Eyrie was a fortress of protection with cliffs facing Menagerie River on one side, and a highway on another. Guarded by security guards day and night, it had a wall so high and thick that even birds had trouble getting over. The crime rate inside was virtually zero and offenders were limited to recalcitrant teenagers out for a little midnight fun. Any real criminal daring to show their face was never seen again. If the residents knew the reason they slept so soundly was because mafiosi lived inside its walls, they’d probably think twice about residing there.
But Lilo knew. She’d seen the evil behind the designer clothes and polished silver. She’d seen the blood behind the fake plastic smiles in her own enormous backyard. Nothing was as it seemed in The Eyrie, and she’d been smack bang in the middle of it.
“Thank you again,” Lilo said as the car turned into the driveway leading into the complex. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this.”
“Lilo.” Griffin rolled down his driver side window. “That’s the fifth time you’ve thanked me since we left Cardinal Copy.”
“Yeah, but, I know we only met this morning, so I understand this is a big deal. And after the day you’ve had. Being shot, then having a douche like Donnie purposefully hit your injury, I think you’re being incredibly generous. I still think you should be home resting.”
“It’s not a big deal. I’ve been hurt worse.”
“You have?”
He shifted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “Plus, Grace said you’re family to her. Grace is my family.”
A warmth followed his words as she let them sink in and she turned in her seat to inspect him. Everything about him oozed manliness, from the cut of his jaw to the thick column of his neck, from the way his elbow rested on the window to the way his hips sprawled forward in the seat. Why was it men always looked so damned sexy when they drove?
Or maybe it was just her hormones. That neck had been so warm and inviting when she’d touched it. She wanted more and bit her finger to stop drooling all over him.
Griffin looked out his window, inspecting the security booth coming up, and the guard checking the ID of the vehicle in front of them.
“Do you have clearance to enter?” he asked Lilo.
She was still imagining indecent and insane thoughts about this neck. What was wrong with her? She fanned her face.
“Lilo?”
