Page 27 of Daddy's Claim
“Michael doesn’t bend. He’s like a fucking steel rod.”
“I can tell you right now that if he so much as suspects your life or safety are at risk, he won’t bend, not in the slightest. But you’ll figure out which battles to fight, and once you two settle in a bit, that man will worship the ground you walk on and move mountains to see you smile. And when that day comes, you can come tell your mama she was right.” With a wide grin, she patted my knee and rose to her feet. “Now, let’s have Adele give us that tour.”
Adele looked about as thrilled as I was at the prospect of spending even one more minute together, but we really had no choice in the matter and we both damn well knew it. With a resigned sigh that matched how I felt, Adele also pushed away from the table and stood. “It is a lovely day. We should start with the gardens, no?”
Mama Scarlett clapped her hands with delight. “That sounds perfect! Let’s go, girls.”
Whatever you say, Mama.I kept my sarcasm to myself because I wasn’t trying to get my ass handed to me by my newmother-in-law, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that she knew how to hand out a good ass whooping when she needed to. Even my giant, brooding husband wasn’t safe from her.
That memory gave me my first genuine smile of the day as Scarlett locked arms with me and we followed Adele out of the dining room.
The house was, I was forced to admit, stunning. The interior reminded me strongly of the house I’d grown up in, heavy on the masculine touches from having been owned by a single man for so long.
But the grounds were something else entirely. It was like walking into a magazine spread, with stone paths winding through beautifully manicured gardens adorned every few feet with fountains and statues. It should have been gaudy, but it was organized in a way that such a description could never be used. I could see myself spending time walking through all the paths and picking different benches to sit and listen to the birds or enjoy the silent beauty of the flowers and shrubs surrounding me. The gardens at my father’s house had fallen to the wayside after my mama had passed, and I missed being surrounded by such beauty.
After the gardens, we made our rounds to the stables where I got to feed some carrots to the most stunning horses I’d ever seen before we finally ended up in the pool house.
“This has been a very enjoyable morning, ladies. Thank you,” Scarlett said with a happy sigh as she beamed at the both of us in turn.
She wasn’t wrong. Adele and I had seemingly let our guards down as we chit-chatted about everything and nothing during the tour. It surprised me a bit—okay a lot—that I could actually enjoy her company.
“You ladies should get your bathing suits and go enjoy that hot tub. I have to go home, but I’ll be back another day to checkon you two and I’ll bring my suit along.” Her suggestion sounded less like a suggestion and more like a command, but the steam coming from the hot tub sure did look inviting. I just wasn’t sure about the idea of being alone with my former nemesis so soon.
We saw Scarlett out together, under the watchful eye of a guard I hadn’t seen the day before at the front door. My stomach twisted at the memory of Tony trying to stop me from leaving and what his being “fired” most likely meant.
Maybe I wasn’t quite ready to be Michael’s good girl just yet. But I could do my best to ensure nobody else in the household paid for my mistakes again.
Ten
Mikey
“Goddammit. The cameras are fried. Every last one of them.”
Climbing down from the ladder with the small electronic in my hand, I shoved it at Cole, who simply glared down at it as though he was personally offended by its existence.
Which he probably was. Knowing my cousin, he was taking this attack extremely personally.
Not that I could blame him. I was feeling pretty fucking offended by it myself. Especially since it was my security that had apparently failed.
Alex rounded the corner, a grim expression on his face that directly mirrored how I was feeling in that moment. “They didn’t take a fucking thing. It’s all here.”
Alarm bells rang in the back of my mind. “So, they’re just messing with us, then.”
“Looks like it.” Running a hand through his hair, Alex shot our cousin an apologetic look. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Cole.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Cole’s tone was cool and clipped, a clear indication of the temper he was just barely holding in check. “Did you break into my warehouse? Did you smash my security cameras in the hopes I would be intimidated enough to let you have my territory?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then you have nothing to apologize for, Alexander.” A cold, cruel smile crept across Cole’s face. “But, if you are really feeling that guilty about it, you can make it up to me by bringing me this asshole’s head on a platter. Actually, leave his head. I’ll take his cock and allow him to live the rest of his days as the dickless coward he truly is.”
“Remind me not to piss you off,” I mumbled, holding my hand out for the camera he was gripping so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
“Like you don’t piss me off on a daily basis?” Sighing, he handed over the camera. “Call in whoever you need to get the system back up and running as quickly as possible. I’ll make your apologies to your wife and send a car for you when it’s done. I have some phone calls to make.”
“Don’t bullshit me. You’re going home to see if you can sweet talk the ex-cop you married into working the case.”
“That, too.” Cole grinned, and it almost reached his eyes. “She has an uncanny sense about these things.”