Page 73 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

I paused in my step. “What?”

“Yourfriendon the phone was just saying that he had someone killed. And that you received an inheritance. He also called you boss.” Her voice sounded frantic. “Are you a hitman?” she repeated.

Confusion slammed into me for a few seconds before I put two and two together and finally realized the source of the misunderstanding.

It took everything for me not to burst out laughing, but I knew Allie wouldn’t appreciate that. It might be funny to me, but she was probably freaking out of her mind.

Instead, I went and took the phone out of her hands.

“Sean.”

“Yeah, boss.” His chagrined tone came through clearly on the phone. “I have a feeling I made a little bit of an oopsie with my phrasing.”

“You think?” I glanced at Allie, who still looked freaked out. “What did you actually say?”

“Well, I was trying to tell you what I forgot to mention earlier. That Darryl will no longer be a problem. He’s dead.”

“Hmmm.” Curiosity more than regret made me ask, “How did he die?”

“Well, those sketchy people he went to see? Turns out he owed them a lot of money, and they got tired of waiting for him to get the inheritance back from you. Anyway, they got their payment in blood, so to speak.”

“Damn.” That must have been brutal. And as much as I didn’t like the man, I didn’t take any satisfaction from his death either.

“So what now?” I voiced, still keeping my eyes on Allie in case she decided to bolt out of here without letting me explain.

“Well, there’s no one fighting you for the inheritance anymore, so you can rest easy on that. And you’re also not a suspect. Everyone knows you’re out of town, and the police caught one of the gang members, who confessed to everything.”

“That’s good,” I said, and then there was thoughtful silence for a few seconds.

“That your honey?” Sean asked, and I didn’t even bother asking how he knew I was dating someone.

“Yes,” I responded.

“Real sorry about the misunderstanding, boss.”

“Yes, I see that.” The genuine chagrin in his tone almost had me smiling. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Alright,” he said, sounding happy to be off the phone.

“Tell me if you’re a hitman or a drug dealer,” Allie said, getting right to the point the moment I got off the phone.

“Neither,” I said, amused. “But I haven’t been entirely honest with you about who I am either.”

“Who are you then?”

I sighed. “It would be easier to just show you.”

I typed my company name on Google, clicked on the Wikipedia page, and then held it out to her.

She frowned. “That’s the company you work for?”

“Yes,” I responded. “Except I don’t just work for it. I own it.”

“What?” She gaped at me, shock filling her features.

“Yes.”

“How?” The question stumbled out.

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