Page 29 of Drifter
“He’s going to be pissed,” Lee replies with a sly grin.
“Why would he be upset?” I ask. Both men look up at me.
“Declan and me, we’re tight. A lot of bad shit happened to us. He’s not going to like that he wasn’t here for me,” Lee explains.
“He had to watch over Etain. He may not like it, but it’s something you both have to understand. You don’t just have each other anymore. You have all the brothers. You called, we came, and it’s always going to be that way. Got it?” Drifter tells him.
“Yes, sir,” Lee replies cautiously. “Let’s hope we don’t have any more unwanted visitors for a while, though.”
“Sit tight for a minute, Lee. Sasha and I need to talk,” Drifter says. Lee sinks back into the chair and closes his eyes, while Drifter takes me over to the kitchen.
“Sunshine, your father did not come just with the intention of handing you an invitation. He came prepared for a fight. And his intention was to take you away with him. Look, baby, we’re going to have to move up our plan. I’ve got a feeling that your father’s made a deal with the devil, and you might be part of the deal,” Drifter says.
“The Russians?” My voice is barely audible.
“It’s my guess, but I can’t be sure.” He sees my body tremble and takes me in his arms. “They’re not taking you from me.”
“What if they hurt Simon?” I ask.
“Your father needs Simon, for now. But we’re not taking chances there either. We have a club that we lean on for help. I’ll speak with Hawk and see if we can get him protection wherever he goes. I don’t think they’ll go after your brother, but we’re not taking chances,” Drifter replies.
“How did my whole life get so messed up?” I look into Drifter’s eyes. “I just want to be left alone. I didn’t ask my parents for anything when I left. I found a part-time job and saved up enough to rent a small room. I didn’t even take the clothes in my closet, just a couple of jeans and shirts to tide me over. Why does he hate me so much?”
“It’s about control, baby. You made a life without him in it, and he doesn’t like it. You’re smart and beautiful, and he wants to break your spirit. You’re magnificent,” Drifter says, gently stroking my hair.
“Why can’t he be proud of me?” I lean into him, suddenly feeling totally drained.
“I wish I had the answers for you, sunshine.”
“I hate him,” I whisper. It’s the first time I’ve said the words out loud. My father’s not just an unwanted visitor. He’s a parasite.
Chapter 15
Stepping It Up
Drifter
Listening to Sasha’s heart-wrenching speech to her father broke my heart. Gordon McGrath is a cruel human being, and I’ve seen many of them in my day. My normal reaction would be to end their sorry excuse for a life, but this is different, and I have to consider how this will affect Sasha and Simon. Gordon came prepared for a confrontation, and although Gordon didn’t get the result he was hoping for, he walked away believing he had the upper hand.
It’s good that Etain arrived. She has a way with Sasha and is keeping her busy while Hawk and I talk.
“He’s getting out of control,” I tell Hawk.
“I agree,” he answers. “He’s going to pay for what he did to Lee.” No one fucks with Hawk’s men. Loyalty starts with our president. If a club brother is attacked, it means the entire club has been attacked. The only recourse is retribution. Typically, this would be a physical battle, but in this case, Gordon’s going to see what the Redemption Riders are capable of in other ways. “I gave Simon the condensed version of what happened. He’s furious. He should be here soon. He’s making arrangements to work late tomorrow night and will get us into the building and into his father’s office.”
“That’ll be good,” I mumble, looking over my shoulder to check on Sasha. “I’ve never seen Sasha like that. She’s been living this nightmare too long.”
“Hang tight, brother. Having an alarm system is great, but we learned today that we need to have more than one man on the job. Lee’s fine, but I don’t want a repeat of today,” Hawk says. “Once Simon gets us inside the building, Orion is going to disarm the camera feed and alarms in McGrath’s office. That’ll give us plenty of time to search the place.”
“What if we don’t find anything?” I ask.
“Then we find a way onto the estate and search the place. There’s good news,” he says with a grin.
“I can use some,” I respond with a heavy sigh.
“Simon handed over a list of board members and the shareholders’ list for the company. Orion’s done some digging, so we have leverage to entice several to sell their shares,” Hawk says.
I raise my brows in surprise. “Yeah?”
