Page 77 of Deception and New Direction

“Got married inVegas, annulled less than a week later, end of story,”Archersaid, making it known the topic was done.

GivingArchera reprieve,Iturned toEllieandWade. “Thankyou for getting my message through aboutGranddad.”

“Not a problem, though we had already seen them on the cameras, so we hadDiego,Axel, andDaneheaded over there to check on him.”

According toDiego, they had parked their vehicle on the edge of the street and split up.Theycame at the house from three different sides, not knowing if my father was armed or not.Myfather had been talking toMalon the phone, so he hadn’t heardAxelentering at the back door.

From his vantage point, he could see my granddad tied up to the chair with the gash and blood on his forehead.Hecould also see my dad pacing with the gun in his hand.He’dalertedArcherand the others with his comms.Archerhad called the cops and anEMT.DiegoandDanehad come through the front door, which had been left unlocked from whenRonald,Jason, andIhad gone to the bank.Axelhad picked the lock to the back door, snuck in, and made his way to my granddad.Mydad—who was likely startled since he was more focused on his phone call—panicked and, instead of shooting, just ran toward the back door when he sawDiegoandDane.Axel, not knowing if he was running to escape or running to harm them, had jumped into action and tackled my dad to the floor.Theguys had subdued him until the cops arrived and gave my granddad basic care until theEMTsarrived.

By then it had become a shit show at the bank, so the guys were trying to get what info they could fromArcherand relay it to my granddad, who stubbornly refused to go to the hospital because he wanted to wait at his house for me to come back.Thatman was stubborn, but he loved me in his own way.

My granddad was most distraught, though, over the fact thatRonaldwas involved.Hefelt betrayed by someone he’d trusted.

Apparently, the attorney had a gambling debt and had seen an opportunity when he first spoke with my father.ItappearsRonaldoriginally believed my father when he told himIwas madly in love withMaland was going to get married.Butthen, when that plan was foiled andRonaldrealized that wasn’t going to happen, he panicked, since he’d planned on getting his cut of the money.

He was more than willing to help keep an eye on me until my father and brother could work out a plan, including breaking into my apartment.Apparentlyit wasRonaldwho broke in, to see if there was anything of value he could use in the short term.WhenJackhad told him the day we met thatIwas staying with him, he saw the opportunity and broke in to see what he could find.Whenhe found nothing, he tossed the place to make it look like a standard robbery.

To make sure he wasn’t caught, he had one of his friends—an unwitting accomplice in a blueMustang—tail us to make sure we weren’t headed over to the apartment.

“If that man wasn’t already dead,I’dkill him myself,”Granddadmumbled from the chair next to me.

“You and me both,”Jacksaid.

“I can’t believeIever thought my brother cared for me,”Isaid, upset thatIhad misread that so much. “Allalong, he was just in it for the money.”

“Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it,”Elliesaid, interrupting my thoughts. “Awise woman once told me that famous quote fromMayaAngelou.Ifind it’s a good reminder to not be so hard on yourself for past mistakes in life.”

She winked at me, recalling the timeIhad told her that when she was upset with herself for missing all the red flags from her abusive ex.

Touché,Ellie.Touché.

After making sure my granddad was okay for the night and promising to visit him the next day, which he begrudgingly accepted, we decided to all head out.

* * *

We arrived back atJack’shouse, whereDashpromptly rushed up to us and started to whine.Dogswere smart, andIknew he sensed something was off.

“I know you said you wanted to shower,”Jacksaid to me. “Godo that, andI’lltakeDashout.”

It felt good to wash the day off and just let the hot water run over me.Iwalked back out into the kitchen to seeJackstanding there feedingDasha few snacks.

He turned to me and reached out, pulling me into him. “Feelbetter?”

“Yeah,”Ireplied, leaning into him farther, needing the comfort that onlyJackcould give me.

“I think one of my favorite parts of the day was you breaking your cursing streak and telling your brother off while you kicked him and ripped the gun from his hands,”Jacksaid softly, butIcould hear the smile in his voice. “Whatabout you?Whatwas your favorite part of today?”

“I’d like to say that it’s now because it’s all over andIdon’t have to worry about any of them, but…”Ipaused, thinking about my honest answer. “Ithink my favorite part is just being home with you and being yours.”

Jack’s face was stoic for a few moments.Thenhe bent down, andIwas flung over his shoulder.

I shrieked at the sudden movement. “Jack!Whatare you doing?”

“You’re being sweet on me, so nowIhave to fuck you,” he responded. “I’mtaking you to the bed soIcan worship you from top to bottom.”

He took that job very seriously.Twoorgasms later,Iwas replete of any energyIhad left.

AsIlay there naked, up against his side, drawing random circles on his chest,Ithought back to him lunging atJason, and it gave me chills.

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