Total pages in book: 211
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1008(@200wpm)___ 806(@250wpm)___ 672(@300wpm)
“Isaac and Gigi seem like prime suspects.”
“Again, I’ll put my money on Issac.”
“So what’s next?”
“We protect everyone and wait and see what Isaac does next.”
“And if he does nothing?”
“A son who does nothing while his father is dying—that is something, not nothing.”
His phone buzzes with a text and he snakes his phone from his pocket, glancing at the message and cursing. “Grayson’s at the hospital.” He shoves his phone back into his pocket. “He’s trying to make himself a damn target for the press, the police, and anyone who wants to burn me.”
“Isn’t the Walker team watching over him?”
“Yes, but that’s not the point. He’s making their job harder.”
“He loves you the way Isaac was supposed to love you, Eric. Of course, he’s there. Of course, he doesn’t care about being a target. Just like I don’t care about anything right now but protecting you and my mother.”
“Grayson has an empire to protect and everyone inside that empire that depends on it for their livelihood.” He punches in an autodial on his phone and in what can’t be more than one ring, he says, “Blake, keep the press away from Grayson.” He listens a moment. “No. Not here. I’ll come there.” He pauses. “Yes. Fuck. I’ll bring her.” He disconnects. “The police called Isaac. Walker still has eyes on him and we need to go to the hospital.”
“What was that about bringing me? Blake wants you to bring me with you?”
“Yes. I don’t want you in the middle of that mess at the hospital, but he’s right. You need to be there showing concern.”
My cellphone rings in my pocket and I check the caller ID. “Gigi,” I say urgently. “Gigi’s calling me.”
“Let it go to voicemail. We need to leave.”
I nod and shove the phone back inside my pocket. Eric snags my hand and pulls me to my feet. “Go get your coat and whatever else you need. We need to leave now.”
I hurry away and we’re at the door in a blink. He yanks it open and Savage and Smith are waiting on us on the other side. “No news,” Savage says, without being asked. “On anything, including your father’s condition.”
“What about Denver? Anything there?”
“Nothing,” Savage says. “All is quiet.”
“Then let’s get to the hospital,” Eric says.
“What about calling Isaac?” I ask. “What do we know about his reaction?”
“Nothing,” Eric says, pulling the door shut and locking up. “I’ll call him when we’re on the road.”
A minute later at most, we’re moving down the hallway with Savage and Smith front and back. We don’t take the elevator either. We head down the stairs and none of us speak during the walk to the lower level, where we exit the building. We exit a side door of the building that I didn’t even know existed and there’s an SUV waiting on us there.
Eric and I slide into the backseat of the vehicle and Savage climbs behind the wheel with Smith in the passenger seat. We have two men protecting us, despite Eric’s skill. I definitely don’t feel like anyone is dismissing the threat of the hitman.
I turn to Eric. “Why did Blake want you to bring me to the hospital?”
“The police have questions for both of us and I’d rather them ask there than at my apartment. Once they’re here, they’ll start taking liberties.”
“Hasn’t Blake shown them the footage of the assassin?”
“Yes,” he confirms, “but that doesn’t erase guilt. I could have hired the killer. We might have hired the killer.”
Us.
Oh God.
Nerves erupt in my stomach and my hand settles on my belly. “We’re suspects.” It’s not a question.
“Yes. We’re suspects.”
“But you don’t inherit anything from the Kingstons.”
“I have no idea what’s in the will.”
I glance over at him. “You might inherit?”
“It would be just like my father to pit me and Isaac against each other, even from the grave.”
My lips part with a brutal realization. I now know why I’m a suspect. “My inheritance. The Kingstons might have borrowed it, but if your father dies, it reverts back to me immediately.”
Chapter eighty
Harper
No sooner do I announce the bombshell about my inheritance than Eric is pulling me around to face him, the leather of the SUV cradling us. His voice low but firm. “Don’t turn yourself into a viable suspect or the police will as well. Think about all the people that benefit from my father’s death. Isaac. Your mother. Me, perhaps. Who knows who else.”
“But I’m the one he took from. Why are you not worried about this?”
“Because it’s not that much money, Harper.”
“It’s millions. It’s a lot of money. It’s motive.”
“You have me and I’m worth a whole lot more than those millions and that’s not arrogance. That’s a reality the police will look at for you and me.”
“You. Not me.”
“Motives are everywhere, Harper. I blame him for my mother’s death. For all we know he promised to disinherit Isaac after that warehouse incident. They fought, and we have it on camera. My father threw around that threat to disinherit all the fucking time.”