Page 106 of Undisputed Player
Connor nodded approvingly. “So your security is solid on Estelle's apartment?”
“Best in the business,” I confirmed. “She's safe at the academy now, and I'm picking her and Leo up in…” I checked my watch again, “an hour.”
“Along with your niece,” Connor reminded me.
“Avery, yeah.” The thought of the blonde bundle of energy made me smile. “She's obsessed with Leo. Keeps calling him her best friend.”
Adrian's fingers paused on the keyboard. “Cute. You're turning into a real family man, Easton.”
Connor cut in smoothly. “What do we know about Damon's men? The ones who approached Estelle?”
Adrian turned back to his screens, pulling up DMV records. “Running the plate you gave me from yesterday. Should have names and addresses soon.”
“Good,” I muttered, tension easing from my shoulders. This was what I needed. Information, preparation, control. “I want everything. Where they live, what they drive, their daily routines.”
“Planning something fun?” Adrian asked, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
I shrugged, noncommittal. “Just keeping options open.”
Connor and Adrian exchanged a look. We knew each other too well.
“When's the fight?” Connor asked, changing the subject.
“This Saturday.” I rolled my shoulder absently. “Title defense.”
“You ready?” Adrian asked. “You seemed distracted at the gym.”
I nodded, though the truth was more complicated. I was distracted—thoughts of Estelle, of building something I'd never expected to want. "I'm ready. The opponent's good, but predictable."
“And the custody hearing?”
“A week.” The timeline was tight in my mind. “Two days after the fight.”
Connor frowned. “That's not much time.”
“It's enough,” I replied, though I felt the same. “Between the legal strategy and... alternative methods, we'll make sure Leo stays with Estelle.”
Adrian clapped his hands together, bouncing to his feet. “This is going to be fun. It's been too long since we had a project.”
“This isn't like Jerry or Mason,” I warned. “We need to be careful. The cartel has reach.”
“So do you,” Connor pointed out. “You're a fucking Easton. Use it.”
He was right. My name, money, and connections were all tools, weapons I could wield to protect what was mine. And Estelle and Leo were mine now.
I glanced at my phone screen, where Estelle was lining up the kids to leave the room, Leo standing near the back. They were my family. My responsibility. My everything.
"Whipped," Adrian sang, but he was grinning. "Completely and utterly whipped."
My fingers drummed against the steering wheel, mind still buzzing from the morning's revelations about Damon's connections. The leather seats held the faint scent of Estelle's citrus perfume from this morning, and I inhaled deeper, addicted to having her presence in my space.
A red light caught me, and I pulled out my phone to check the messages that had been buzzing incessantly.
Adrian
Connor's still watching bee on the cams. Don’t become this bad.
Please tell me you're planning something violent soon.
