Page 61 of Broken Daddy

Nathan

The perimeter alarm goes off and the two reps from the security company stare at me in surprise.

“You expecting guests?” one asks gruffly.

I’m not.

A car is pulling into the drive, one I don’t recognize. The windows are deeply tinted and I hold my breath as it approaches. There’s no way Gen’s stalker can afford a car like this, though, which sparks my suspicion.

They pull up next to the security company vans. The two men are uncomfortable, sensing my growing bad attitude.

“Mr. Sharpe, if you don’t mind, we’ll need full reign of the house to make sure the system is working properly.”

I give them a sharp nod and an apology, then start toward the sleek car. The door opens and out steps the only person it could be.

Jenson.

This guy doesn’t give up easily.

Exhaling hard through my nose, I stalk toward him. “What are you doing here?”

He’s actually wearing sunglasses, even though it’s closer to twilight than noon. Jenson takes them off, hangs them in his shirt pocket, and doesn’t bother with a smile.

“Sorry—am I interrupting something?”

My chest swells with annoyance. He’s scanning the vans, the security company name more than clear. I don’t want to explain the whole situation to him. Part of me wonders if Chris already has, since he seems so on board with suddenly having a half brother.

“Yes. I believe I told you to leave me alone.”

“You did.”

“Then I have no idea what you’re doing here.”

Jenson’s gaze makes its way back to mine. He stands his ground, not budging under my thundercloud of a glare.

“I’ve seen the headlines. Heard there’s probably going to be some legal trouble, so I wanted to reach out and offer help.”

Inside, I wince. He’s talking about this whole debacle with Nash, who it seems like was actually stupid enough to try and find legal representation. I only found out about it two days ago when I finally made it back into the office.

“I don’t need help.”

“That’s not what it looks like.” He scans the vans again, the two men conferring as they enter my house. The house I’ve been temporarily kicked out of. “I know you don’t want to be friends, and that’s fine. But hear me out, for business’ sake.”

Too tired to argue and also a little intrigued, I agree. Since we can’t go inside, I end up leading him around the side of the house to the pathway that goes to the patio, pool house, and barn. Jenson takes it all in without a change in expression.

I’ll admit to having done some googling after his last unannounced visit. He has an impressive background. A part of me wants to hear him out just to see if I can find a weak spot—and prove to Chris that this stranger isn’t worth our time and attention.

“Alright. What’ve you got?”

Leaning against the outdoor fireplace, Jenson takes a deep breath. “I’ve got a top-tier PR team. I think they’d be able to help you get this whole thing under control. I’d be willing to lease them out for consultation to Ironside, at a discount, of course—”

A laugh of incredulity comes out more like a bark. The nerve of this man.

“You came here to try and make abusiness deal?”

Jenson’s mouth presses into a flat line. “No. I came here to offer help—”

“Help I’d be paying for.”

---