Page 98 of Quiet Protector
No, me neither. I had completely forgotten about my dad’s business dealing with Kirill Bobrov until my mom asked for my help to locate numerous hidden assets she was certain my father was hiding from her divorce attorney.
The warehouses the Bobrovs and Castros distributed their drugs from weren’t owned by them. They were in my mother’s name. Their ‘rent’ went toward my father’s campaign for office. Even with their monthly rental agreement being thirty percent lower than comparable warehouses in the same location, not once the past fifteen-plus years did my father seek an increase in rent. He was happy with the agreement he’d made with the Castros, so why stir the pot when its contents aren’t close to burning. It’s not every day a married father of four gets first pick of any girl in an under-age sex-trafficking ring.
There are times I want to blame Madden’s issues on our father, but then I realize that’s a cop-out. Joey and I were raised in the same household, and we turned out okay. Even Phoenix has gotten on the straight and narrow. Some people are just born evil. Madden is one of those people.
Tired and somewhat uneased I haven’t had an update from Phillipa about Bobby yet, my restlessness gets the better of me. “Whatexactlyare you getting at, Grayson? You’re kind of talking in riddles.”
My huff is barely heard over the shower switching on in the main room when Grayson replies, “Isaac has a beef with you.”
“That’s the understatement of the century.”
Grayson acts as if I never spoke. “So it’s only right if he can’t get you, he’d go after your family, right?”
I take a second to contemplate what he’s saying before jerking up my chin. I don’t see Isaac targeting Bobby, especially after I discovered he was telling the truth when he said the payments he was making to Ophelia were for Bobby’s trust fund, but I’m confident he’d have no issues pursuing other members of my family. His security team has been investigating Madden as well as I have the past eight months.
Grayson must hear my non-verbal reply. “So why don’t we help him along. Give him some info even someone with their head shoved so far up their own ass couldn’t miss.”
“You want to leak my father’s reports to Isaac Holt?” Surely, I’m missing something. This is a far stretch from how Grayson usually operates. It has me wondering if it’s even his idea.
“Think about it, punk. Isaac is friendly with Henry. HenryownsNew York. If you want your dad to do time for his crime, this is an angle we should be looking at.”
He has a point, but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow, though. One of my biggest downfalls when I spiraled headfirst into depression was believing nothing I did was ever recognized. I worked hard for years, yet I had nothing to show for it—no job, no family, and no Melody.
It took Melody weeks to show me differently, and Dr. Avery months to have me believing what Melody was saying was true. Will this have me taking a step back in my recovery? If I couldn’t hear Melody humming in the shower, unaware she talks more when she’s not wearing her implants than she does when they’re on, I would have said yes. Now, I’m man enough to admit I don’t give a fuck what Isaac Holt thinks. He isn’t anyone I’m out to impress, so why not let him think he has one over me, where, in reality, he’s helping me?
“All right. Release the info.”
“Yeah?” Grayson double-checks, stunned I agreed with his idea.
“Yeah.” As a grin tugs on my lips, I add, “Can you just give me a few hours. I’ve got plans today I don’t want ruined when the news breaks.”
Grayson sounds pleased when he replies, “I’ll keep everything on the burner until you give me the green light.” With the tension keeping his back straight slackened, he slouches low into his chair. How do I know this if we’re talking over the phone? I heard his chair creak. “I think this will work well for us, punk. It isn’t kosher, but when has anything we’ve ever done been kosher?”
His reply has a double meaning, but you won’t unearth what it is untilafterI’ve ensured every inch of Melody is clean. I’m the one who made her all sticky, so shouldn’t I be the one who ensures she’s thoroughly cleaned?
“Call me in a couple of hours, then we’ll go over the best way to have Isaac unknowingly working for us.”
I hear Grayson’s cheeks incline into a smile. “Will a couple of hours be long enough, punk?”
My lips crack into a true and genuine smile. They’re more and more often these days. “Probably not, but since I’ve got a lifetime of hours at the ready, I’ll take what I can get.”
Pride projects in Grayson’s voice. It’s barely heard over his chuckles. “Tell your girl I said hello… maybe not while cleaning her insides with your sausage, though. Don’t want her accidentally shouting my name.”
“Grayson…”
His chuckles pick up, loving that I fell straight into his trap. “I’m joking, punk. Have fun.”
His laughter rings in my ears long after he disconnects our call, only weakening when the beat of my heart overtakes it. Fear isn’t responsible for the spike in my pulse, it’s realizing happiness is guiding my motives this morning instead of worry.
“Melody,” I say with a stomp before pushing open the partially cracked bathroom door. The mirror is foggy from how hot she likes her showers, but no amount of steam has me missing her smile when our eyes collide. “Can I come in?”
When she nods without hesitation, I enter the bathroom, removing my shirt as I go. My chest swells with smugness when Melody drags her hand across the misty glass to improve her view. As I remove my sleeping pants, she stares at me with hungry eyes, hardening my cock to the point it’s painful.
Once my boxer shorts are kicked to the side, she opens the door, welcoming me into the steamy space with a blistering smile. Upon noticing an open shampoo bottle on the bathroom shelf, I gather up the conditioner before squirting a generous amount into my palm. For years I thought I was trained to protect, honor, obey, and serve Melody, but only the past few months have I realized I had planned to do those things long before I pinkie promised her father.
When Melody galloped down the stairs of her family ranch with a mouth full of toothpaste and a foamy smile, I didn’t even know her name, but I knew I’d love her for eternity. That’s why I trained so hard and never gave up. And that is why I’ll condition her hair even with my erect cock keeping a good distance between us.
Intimacy isn’t purely physical, it’s about being open, honest, and free. Seeing someone’s bad flaws and still loving them despite them, and being so deeply connected to someone that you feel like you see their soul in their eyes any time you look at them, confirms those intimate feelings.
