I cleared my throat. The threat of tears stung my eyes but I willed them away. Men like me didn’t cry, we got angry. I was furious.
“Well he did, and he left a note. I don’t expect your support in this, but I’m going after him on my own. I need permission to bring my crew.”
A long pause. “You have my permission, but if you capture him, do not kill him. He is my son, and the time has passed when that is acceptable. I will carry out whatever sentence I deem fit myself,” he said. It sounded so final.
I’d never expected him to grant any kind of justice. He never would have with me.
“Fine, but if he dies in a fight, that’s not on me,” I growled into the phone then hung it up. Sometimes I wish we still had phones that could be slammed, because that was exactly what I wanted to do. I fought the urge to throw my smartphone against the wall, to destroy what was left of this tiny little hovel.
I slammed my thumb through each contact until I found Janson’s name.
“Yeah?” he asked, his voice sour.
“I need you to round up the men, we have a job to do,” I said slowly.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“David is going to get what he deserves. Tonight. He took Joanna,” I breathed into the phone. I was livid.
“What?” Janson asked.
“I went to get her, bring her back to the penthouse, and he’d taken her in a struggle. Left a note.” My blood boiled just thinking about it. I’d kicked her out of my home, out of my life, and left her to figure it all out on her own. All because I was afraid of the consequences my father might bestow upon me. I wanted her back, even if she wasn’t pregnant, but when I’d learned that she was, it was the last straw. I was going to have her. I was going to make her see just how much I loved her.
“He wants you to come after him.” Janson said it like it was a revelation. I wasn’t stupid, I knew exactly what this was.
“I know. It was the showdown that was always meant to happen.” The one my father put in motion from the very beginning. “Meet me at headquarters. I have a feeling I know exactly where he is.”
I didn’t care what my father told me to do. That bastard was going to pay.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Joanna
“I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to pull, but Greyson will come for me.” I said it with such anger that I was astounded when he turned to me and laughed.
It wasn’t the kind of chuckle you get from someone who doesn’t believe you, no, it was a full bodied laugh.
“That, my dear, is exactly what I am hoping for.” He smiled at me, “When I exposed you I did so out of anger. You turned me down. You married him.”
I wasn’t chained. Wasn’t tied down, no. I didn’t need to be David had two of his men posted at the door and even if I got out there was nowhere to go. He had me trapped down by the docks. If I tried to run they could easily overtake me. He knew that and so did I, so I didn’t try to run. I just sat on the ratty sofa and tapped my foot.
“I was never going to marry you. You’re unstable.” That earned me a nasty slap across the face. He swung his hand so hard that the crack rang out across the room.
Fuck.
“I’m not unstable. I’m smart. Strategic. You’d see that if you would’ve just listened. If you would’ve stopped to assess the situation. You could’ve been a fucking queen, and now look at you. Just another pregnant whore.”
He spit the words out like they would infect him just for saying them. He was so filled for disgust with me that he slowed his speech. “You’ve ruined everything. I started chaos, a war, over you. Fucking Helen of Troy.”
“I highly doubt I’m that beautiful,” I said. His wit was no match for mine.
“No, but you are Greyson’s weakness. He will come looking for you, and then I’ll strike. That stupid sap has been moping ever since you walked out of his life. When I found out you were pregnant I knew it was the perfect opportunity.” He was almost fucking maniacal his hands clasped together. I didn’t know if he was doing it for effect or if it was just the way he was. David was teetering on the edge of insane, I knew that much.
“How did you-“
“The same way Greyson knew. I just paid his PI to tell me first. Money. People are easily swayed by it. Not you though. Not money, not freedom. Nothing I could say was going to convince you. You thought he would love you, but he just threw you away.” It was the truth, and it stung worse than the slap in the face he delivered.
“Ah, I do believe I hear that classic Chevelle engine now. I knew he couldn’t resist.” I heard it just after he called attention to it and I knew instantly it was him. I could feel it in my bones.