Claiming Red: The O'Connell Family(5)

“Claire don’t cut her hair short. Find out everything about her before you are done with her. I want to know everything by tonight.” My attitude was getting ruder by the moment. Red was doing something to me, and I wasn’t particularly liking the results. I was getting harder every second and it was pissing me off.

“Rick are you serious, since when do you pick up women at my salon?”

“Hey sis, don’t worry. Today is the first and the last. You are looking at your future sister-in-law.” I dropped a bombshell on her and it showed.

“Close your mouth. I will see you later.”

I looked down on the counter and opened her scheduling book, looked for her name, saw the number on the list, and put it in my phone.

“That’s not her number, it’s her mothers.”

“I don’t care. I’ll get what I need from it.” I kissed my sister’s cheek and took one more glance at my beauty. Her eyes were giving me the death glare. I wondered was it because she really didn’t like me, or was it because she was jealous of my sister? I walked out smiling. Whatever her problem was, it didn’t matter. I decided, while Claire was washing my hair, I was keeping her, forever. Now, I needed to see what I was up against. I didn’t even know how old she was. Fucked to hell, I hope she was at least legal. She looked young as shit.

I thought about what I had heard come from her mouth. I knew she was full of shit when it came to her date, but fuck if I was letting her go out with some other guy. I heard her tell her mother off for setting her up, so I know she just wanted to make me wait, my turn, damn brat.

I pulled out my phone as I jumped into my truck. I thought about calling the mother, but I didn’t want her to influence, Red. Knowing what I know so far, Red would rebel. “Roger, I need all the information attached to this number, but my concern is the daughter named Samantha. Anything that has to do with her, I want to know about it. Find everything, get back to me in two hours with what you can.” I wanted the information like yesterday, but I needed to grow some fucking patience.

I hung up, I knew my guy would get the information I needed, and he always did. Although, I never had him look up anyone for personal reasons before. I wasn’t concerned that she had anything that would embarrass me in her past. I just wanted to know if there was anyone who would stand in my way. I doubted she did. If she had a date, then she didn’t have a boyfriend.

I had a lot of shit to do now that my plans had changed. I called and canceled the meeting for tomorrow. Hell, I am the fucking boss, I could do what the fuck I wanted and I told my assistant, Ann, just that when she questioned me about it. She had the nerve to question me. Really, I was tempted to fire her flirty ass, but I wasn’t in the mood to search for a new assistant. I spent the next two hours trying to get some work done, but Red kept getting in my head. So, I headed to the family jeweler. I wanted the most beautiful ring made. I spent the remaining time picking out the perfect one for my Red.

I couldn’t wait any longer. When I got in my truck, and went call him, but Roger beat me to the punch as my phone rang in my hand.

“Hey Rick, I got everything you needed. The number belonged to Rhonda Lake, she and her husband Edward Lake live outside of town in a nice little mansion, but they are reported to have financial problems. Their records show at least three large influxes of cash, but no real steady income to explain where it came from, rings shady as fuck. As for the girl, Samantha Lake, she is seventeen years old, about to be eighteen in a few days. She left her parent’s house last year. Something must have happened because there has been no contact between her parents and her, until about two weeks ago.”

“Well what else?”

“She graduated high school last week. She has been working since she turned sixteen, at the local mall.” Fuck, trying to get this information from him was like I was pulling teeth.

“Where has she been living? Please tell me she hasn’t been living in a shelter or some shit.”

He paused and I didn’t like that shit. People only paused like that if they knew you wouldn’t like what they were going to tell you.

“No sir, she lives in an apartment with some guy named Brady Williams.”

That was all I got because somewhere between living with some guy and his name I kind of lost it. She was living with another man, murder was on my mind. What the fuck? I just clicked the phone off, my blood pressure must have been through the roof. I punched the steering in frustration. I wanted to belt this fuck in the head.

I drove back to the salon, in a rush, to find out what Claire had learned. According to Tad, my Red had just left with her shrew of a mother and some really sexy, hot beefy guy, his words exactly. I could tell from her scolding earlier that they had money problems and wondered if this Brady was her first sugar daddy or was he the poor ‘friend’. I stormed into the back where Claire was on the phone. I was huffing like she had done something wrong, but I needed answers now.