Page 100 of The Innovator

Her fingers came to my lips. “No. I don’t want blood on your hands because of me. Who am I going to tell bedtime stories to if you’re in prison?” She smiled.

God, I loved her so much.

“You got me there. Your bedtime stories are only reserved for me.”

Ten minutes later, she fell back into a deep sleep.

She told me she’d been sold to someone in Italy. Who had sold her? The buyer would hear from me soon enough.

Brushing a hand over her forehead, I whispered, “I love you too. Sorry, I wasn’t there to protect you.”

I stared at the woman who held my heart—the woman who had rebuilt it. Memories of our meeting came flooding back. Our encounter had started off on a rough patch. She was the irritation that turned my heart inside out. She made me feel alive again, allowing me to see and trust my heart. Right now, my heart was showing me a way to keep her safe. Though nothing was certain in life, I knew I could never love another woman the way I loved her.

I was a man who knew how to construct innovative architecture. A building was nothing without the structure that supported it. Natalie was my structure and my foundation. Without her, I didn’t exist.

So how could I not protect her at all costs?

Before washing up to get ready for bed, I texted the PI.

Grayson:The Prism got destroyed today. I need all videos from the surrounding streets.

PI:Will do.

My phone rang with Remi’s number. I hated receiving calls this late in the night because it always meant bad news.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“There’s been an explosion at Derek’s prison. Heard there are multiple casualties. He might be at the hospital. Just wanted you to know.”

“Thanks, man.”

Could anything else go wrong today? Derek had information about the tunnels. Was the prison explosion linked to the one that had occurred at The Prism?

I’d pay Derek a visit when I had more energy. If I went now, what could I do? What would be my reason? He didn’t deserve any emotion from me.

My head was going to burst if I didn’t get some sleep.

CHAPTERFIFTY-TWO

NATALIE

The next few days consisted of Grayson giving me self-defense lessons and me calming my mom about my abduction. She wanted to fly over to check on me, but I told her not to.

I was fine. Mom was overseeing House of LaRue. Aunt Estelle had disappeared after the heightened publicity regarding the plane crash. She’d cleaned out her bank accounts and stopped coming to work. Even her daughter hadn’t heard from her. This proved to me she was involved in my dad’s death. Who had helped her?

I should be thankful she wasn’t around to cause trouble for the company. But I didn’t like the reality of it either. My aunt had hired someone to kill my dad. Was it all because of money?

I hoped she’d get the punishment she deserved.

Everyone knew about the Gucci family drama. I never imagined my family would share the same fate. I didn’t want a cloud of shame hovering over the LaRue name.

Grayson had been busy with work and concern for his uncle, who had gotten injured in an explosion at the prison. Not wanting me to worry, Grayson didn’t share a lot of details with me. Today, he was visiting his uncle at the hospital.

Needing to do something that wasn’t stressful, I stayed at my apartment to work on Momentum. I followed up with the vendors producing my garments. Everything seemed to flow nicely with no delivery issues.

The girls wanted to meet up to see if I was okay. I appreciated their concern, but I wasn’t in the mood to socialize. I didn’t know why, but something was still bugging me.

Liar.

---