Royce(56)

He knew that someone had told her about her father. Royce was going to kill him for this because he’d promised his brother that she’d never find out. He tried to think of something that would get him in the least amount of trouble.

“I thought it was the best way to keep you safe. I didn’t want anything to happen to you and my nephew.” Silence. “Kasey? Are you mad at me?”

Still nothing, but he could hear voices in the background and then those too were muffled. When she came back on the line, he closed his eyes against the sudden headache he could feel coming on.

“Yes,” she said with laughter. “Yes, furious. Now tell me what you did so that I can get over it and we can move on. And if you don’t tell me right now, I’m going to figure it out, be pissed at you more, and it will hurt our relationship from now on. So, just spill it.”

Daniel spilled it. Even his brother’s part in it. She didn’t ask many questions, but she did tisk at him several times. By the time he was finished he had watched her father go to the airport and buy a ticket. He was about ready to board the plane when she spoke.

“Where are you now?” He told her. “I see. And Royce, is he with you? Or is he making sure he’s on the plane and not just pretending?”

“He had a meeting at the office. I volunteered to watch and make sure.” He swallowed hard. “Are you really pissed off?”

She didn’t say anything for several seconds. It seemed an eternity, but it really was only seconds. He’d watched his watch to be sure.

“I should be, you know.” He didn’t let go of the breath he was holding. “I should be with both of you. But I can’t be. I know…he would have come and come again until one or all of you would have killed him.”

He knew that was what Royce had said he’d do. Daniel wanted to believe that his brother wouldn’t kill anyone, but he’d seen the look in his eye when he’d talked about Kasey. Getting out of his car, he walked to the gates and watched the planes take off. His friend at the counter gave him the flight number and a short nod.

“He’s gone. And I don’t expect him to return. Not for a long while anyway.” Daniel nodded at Jared and Conley and they started back toward town with Jared driving much too fast. “I’ll be at the office later if you want to talk.”

“Oh you can bet on that. But first, I have to hunt down my maybe future husband and give him a hard time about this.” Her laughter made him feel a little better. “Daniel?”

“Yes, love.” He was smiling then, feeling like he’d conquered the whole world. “What is it?”

“You do anything like this again, ever, and I will find you, cut your nuts off to your dick, and serve it to you with vegetables.” Then the line went dead.

Daniel put his phone on the seat beside him and took several deep breaths. Christ almighty, that was scarier than anything he’d ever heard before. He knew it was something that she’d try her best to carry out and thought that was what scared him the most.





Chapter 20



The trial. That’s all he could think about was the trial. He was being sued by not only the Hunter Corporation, a place he’d given years of his life too, but by seven woman that he couldn’t even begin to remember. Mike looked over at the paper again, the one that named all the females he’d supposedly abused and treated badly while in his employment. May Simpson.

She claimed that he had kept her from being promoted three times and had made her have sex with him in the locker room on several occasions. He’d had sex with every one of the women who had worked for him so that didn’t really narrow it down. Well, not all, he remembered suddenly. That bitch Kasey hadn’t. But this May person was saying that he’d forced her.

Mike had never “forced” anyone in his life. At least not after he’d gotten them where he’d wanted them. Grinning, he thought about that and then frowned.

That wouldn’t be considered force. No way. Yes, he did dangle some prize in front of them. A promotion, maybe some extra pay, but they should have known that he had no way of giving them that. It was their own stupidity that had gotten them there, not him forcing them.

He looked at the next name on the list of women. Gertrude Best. He vaguely remembered her. She’d been a pretty little thing. Just graduated from college somewhere and needed a job while she did some shit or another that would get her into someplace he didn’t give two shits about. She’d hurt him if he had the right girl. Punched him in the nose when he’d made love to her. She’d screamed something about rape for awhile until…he couldn’t rightly remember what had shut her up, but she’d not bothered him again.