Hadley Chapter 19

I was over this whole debacle. It had been non-stop since eight o’clock this morning. My plan to wake Griffin up with morning sex was derailed by the cops arriving and us having to scramble to get dressed so we could talk to them. When we met them in the formal living room where Porter had put them, I knew this was going to be an ordeal.

One of them was the officer who came to the hospital yesterday. He was polite and introduced himself as Detective O’Reilly. The other one I instantly disliked. His name was Detective Shane. He was checking out our home and had his upper lip raised slightly in what I thought was a sneer. What the hell was his problem? I wanted to ask him that, but I didn’t. We shook their hands, even though he barely touched mine, and then we sat down.

Griffin opened the conversation: “Thank you, Detective O’Reilly, for being so understanding yesterday. I know there was a lot to sort through, and Hadley was too upset and worried about my guy who was shot to talk about what happened. I hope my business partner, Mark, was able to answer your questions.”

“He was very detailed about what happened. He explained your company and what you do. If you don”t mind, I’d still like to hear from you exactly what you do and why you were involved yesterday.”

“Certainly. I’m Griffin Voss. I’m one of the four owners of Dark Patriots. We’re a security consulting company. We work for a variety of companies. Mr. Gerard, Hadley’s father, contacted us and asked that we provide him with our services. In rendering those services yesterday, Ms. Gerard was accosted in the ladies’ room by one of her former bodyguards, Mr. Rockwell. We determined the safest way to get her out of there, and in the execution of it, my employee, Heath Rugger, was shot by Mr. Rockwell. I was able to disarm Mr. Rockwell without further harm to anyone, and we secured him. The security staff at the medical building responded, and then the police did. He was taken to jail, and the rest of us went to the hospital to await news on Heath.”

“That’s what Mr. O’Rourke told me. We’d like to clarify a few things and then ask Ms. Gerard and Mr. Gerard what happened. Where is Mr. Gerard? He should be here.” Detective O’Reilly asked.

“My father is still resting. He’s not a well man, and I’d prefer not to disturb him. He wasn’t present for the incident. He was in the lab having bloodwork done. He came after everything was over, and they were working on Heath,” I politely informed him.

“What exactly is wrong with him?” Detective Shane popped in to ask.

“I don’t see how that’s relevant. Suffice it to say, he’s unwell and needs his rest,” I told him.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to tell us? I think we must insist he be here. If you resist, we can have you taken down to the station to ask these questions,” Shane said gruffly.

“The reason I don’t want to tell you is it’s none of your business. I believe HIPAA protects his right to privacy about his health. We’re not resisting but merely telling you it has no bearing on this.”

“That’s fine. Please tell us what happened in the bathroom,” O’Reilly asked after giving his partner a warning glance.

I went through it as quickly as possible. I wanted them out of here. We had stuff to do today, and I didn”t want to waste it on silly questions from the one guy. When I was done, it was back to Shane asking a question.

“Why did Mr. Gerard hire your company, Mr. Voss? What work did he need you to do? I understand all of you were armed yesterday.”

“Yes, we were all armed. We have the required permits to carry those guns. We’re in the security business. We can hardly do that if we don’t carry them at times. As for why Mr. Gerard hired us, that’s not something I feel comfortable talking about. He’s a very private person. You’ll have to ask him later.”

“Again with the evasions. According to what we found, Mr. Gerard has no children. I find this whole story you’re feeding us to be suspicious. How do we know you’re not holding Mr. Gerard against his will? We only have your word for where he is,” Shane jumped in to say.

I opened my mouth to tell him to go to hell when the door opened. I expected it to be Porter bringing coffee and something to eat. He always made sure visitors had something. It wasn’t. It was Dad. I jumped to my feet and hurried over to him. He appeared drawn and pale, with dark circles underneath his eyes. He gave me a wan smile.

“Good morning, Daddy. You should still be in bed resting. Grif and I are handling this.”

“From the sounds of it, I need to be here. Don’t fuss. I’m fine. The sooner we get them out of here, the better,” he whispered. He must’ve been listening at the door before entering. Sighing, I nodded and led him to the couch. Both detectives were on their feet, watching us closely.

“Hello, gentlemen. I’m Travis Gerard. I understand from my daughter that you need to speak to me. Please be seated,” he informed them after I made introductions. I sat with him while Griffin stood behind the couch and us.

“Have you been offered something to drink?” Dad asked.

“We have, but we’re not here for that. We want to know what went on yesterday. We were explaining to this woman who says she’s your daughter that there’s no record of you having children. I must ask, are you being forced to say or do anything by these people? You can tell us. We’ll protect you,” Shane stated boldly.

I gasped in outrage. I heard Griffin’s low growl. Dad looked at them disbelievingly. “Detectives, I can assure you she is my daughter. I’m a very wealthy man. As such, I felt it prudent to keep my daughter’s existence a secret from the world. It was for her protection.”

“Does her protection have anything to do with why you hired the Dark Patriots?” Shane asked next.

“You know. I’m starting to feel like you’re treating us more like we’re the ones who did something wrong and not my former employee. He held my daughter at gunpoint. He shot someone. Would you mind telling me what’s up with all these questions and your attitude?” Dad asked Shane.

“We’ll ask the questions,” Shane fired back quickly and with a bite to his tone. I wanted to go over and punch him in the face. O’Reilly at least appeared unhappy with his partner’s questions and attitude. O’Reilly jumped in to smooth things over.

“Sir, we just want to get a clear picture of the circumstances and what happened. Mr. Rockwell had a different story about what occurred yesterday.”

“Really? What did he say?” I asked.

“First, may we know what your relationship is with Mr. Voss? He’s the head of your new security, but is he anything else?” At least O’Reilly asked it politely.

I was about to answer when Griffin did. “I’m her man, not that I see what that has to do with anything. Our personal relationship has nothing to do with yesterday.”

“But it does. Mr. Rockwell said he was in there trying to get to his girlfriend. According to him, you and your men had abruptly whisked her away, along with her father, to an undisclosed location. He had no idea where and had no way to contact them. When he recalled that Mr. Gerard had a medical appointment, he hoped his employer would be there so he could talk to him and find out what had happened to them.

“He was happy to see she came with her father, but you prevented him from approaching her normally, so he thought the bathroom was the best option. It was while they were talking that you and your men burst in and threatened him with your guns. He admitted he did fire a shot but only in self-defense. He felt his and her lives were in imminent danger,” Shane said smugly.

I felt outraged. I was about to blast his ass when I heard Griffin laugh. I glanced over at him. He had a smirk on his face. “Well, detectives, I hate to tell you, but a madman took you in. He’s as crazy as a loon. You said he said Hadley is his girlfriend. He and she have never been anything more than bodyguard and employer. This relationship is all in his head. He was spouting off stuff about protecting her and that they were in love yesterday. It’s utter nonsense.”

O’Reilly looked uncomfortable. Shane, on the other hand, was red in the face. You could tell he was angry. “It’s your word against his, and we’re not just taking your word. I think it’s best if we continue this talk at the department. We need to get to the bottom of this. A man was shot, but we have to find out if it was justified or not,” Shane informed us sharply.

I got to my feet. “As of this moment, we will not answer any more questions. You may speak to our lawyer, who I can assure you will be at the department within the hour. I want you to leave, please. You’re upsetting my father, and I’m not happy with your allegations either.”

They stood. “I’m sorry you’re upset, Ms. Gerard,” O’Reilly said, trying to smooth over what his partner caused.

“You need to come with us. Your lawyer can meet us there,” Shane made one last effort. I stepped closer to him. I felt Griffin behind me. The heat of his body warmed my back.

“Detective, I’m going nowhere with you. If you touch me or anyone in my home, I’ll make sure not only do I have your badge, but you’ll be lucky if you can get a job in fast food. Your ridiculous attitude has ended this conversation, and we will be speaking to your captain. Now, do you want to guarantee unemployment, or should our lawyer meet you at the department?”

His face became so red that it was almost purple. His partner didn’t waste time practically dragging him out the door. He kept apologizing the whole time. The fury washing through me took a long time to diminish.

That was hours ago. Since then, our lawyer went to the station and talked to them. They were presently holding Rockwell, and the judge wasn’t inclined to let him out until he had a whole psychological assessment. That was due to our lawyer pushing for it and who my dad was. It would buy us time, but it was likely if he wasn’t found insane, he’d be allowed out on bail, which was the last thing we wanted.

Afterward, we had to settle Dad down. I made sure he ate something, then went back to bed. It was early afternoon before we arrived at the hospital to see Heath. Dad wanted to go, but I convinced him to let us go alone. Porter was given orders to keep him in bed even if he had to sit on him. Our poor butler looked horrified when I said it, which made me giggle. Porter was way too refined to do something like sit on someone, let alone Dad, but he could give a great reproachful look.

Heath was doing well and already itching to get out of the hospital. I lectured him. “You can’t leave yet. You’ve been in here less than twenty-four hours! You were shot and had surgery. You’ll do as the doctors say, and only when they think you’re well enough will we let you leave. You’re coming back to the house with us when you do.”

“There’s no reason for me to go to your house. I won’t be allowed to do guard duty. I’ll be sent back home to Hampton. Maybe I’ll get lucky, and they have something I can do in the office to keep me from losing my mind.”

“You’re right, you won’t be allowed to work, but you will come to our house. I want to be sure you follow your doctor’s orders and heal. I can’t do that if I don’t have eyes on you. And I have a feeling the more eyes, the better. You don’t listen well, do you?”

“What makes you say that? And there’s no need for you or anyone else to nursemaid me. I’ve been taking care of myself since I was thirteen, and this isn’t the first time I’ve been shot. I’ll be fine.”

“Well, this is the first time you’ve been shot protecting me. That means I have to make sure you heal as good as new. I can ask Griffin to make it an order if I must.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. Wraith is so gone on you. He’ll do whatever makes you happy. Alright, I’ll give in for now. I’ll stay another day, and then we’ll talk to those damn pesky doctors about me getting out of this hellhole. I hate hospitals,” he grumbled.

“Nobody likes hospitals, except maybe doctors and nurses, and I have to wonder if they do. Now, do you need us to bring you anything?” I asked.

“Nope, but you can tell whoever is up next to sit with me they can go. It’s a waste to have them sitting here doing nothing. I can take a piss without their help. Put them to work or let them go home. I won’t stage a prison break.”

“That’s Griffin’s call, not mine.”

He gave Grif an intense, demanding look. Griffin wasn’t intimidated, it seemed. “Give it until tomorrow, and then we’ll see. I’d feel better, as would the rest of the team if you had someone here just in case.”

Heath sighed wearily, but all he did was nod. He knew he was beaten. He switched gears. “What about Rockwell? Any news about him? Please tell me he’s still in jail. They didn’t let the fucker out, did they?” You could hear the anger in his voice, but who could blame him?

“No, they haven’t. We had to go around with one of the cops, though. He was being a total asshole, although he backed down when Hadley and Travis’s lawyer came in. Their lawyer is a piranha, I think,” Grif told him.

I had to laugh. “Oh, there’s no doubt about it. Jacob is the head of our legal team for a reason. He’s the best defense attorney in the country. His success rate makes people shake in their boots when he walks into a meeting or the courtroom. And those who piss him off aren’t left happy. Fuck with him at your peril. What I told Detective Shane wasn’t a lie about his job if he kept his shit up.”

“What did you tell him?” Heath asked eagerly.

We kept him amused for the next several minutes, retelling what happened at the house and then at the precinct. He laughed a few times and had to clutch his wound. When we were done, I could tell he was tired. His eyes were drooping.

“Griffin, we should go. I need to check on Dad, and I know you have work to do. We’ll see you tomorrow. Listen to the staff,” I warned Heath. I kissed his cheek.

He perked up and looked at Griffin with a smirk. “See, she’s coming over to the dark side,” he teased Grif.

“If you don’t wanna see dark permanently, then wipe that smirk off your face. And baby, don’t go kissing other men,” Griffin muttered to me.

“I kissed his cheek. Calm your balls.”

That remark made them both laugh, but only after Grif’s initial surprised look. After they shook hands, we headed out. We walked out with Griffin’s arm hooked around my shoulder. “You’re so damn disrespectful. I’ll have to see what I can do when we get home to tame that,” he growled in my ear.

A shiver of sexual anticipation ran through me. “Oh, I can’t wait. Give me your best shot, Wraith.”

This earned me a swat on the ass, but I didn’t care. Nor did I care that people passing us saw it and stared. We stopped in the waiting room. Justin was on babysitting duty, as Heath called it.

“Let me guess. He wants me to leave and you to spring him. You had to pull rank to make him stay,” Justin stated.

“You know him,” Griffin said.

“Idiot will kill himself one of these days. Do I need to cuff him to the bed?”

“Maybe hold off on that. You might scandalize the staff if you do. I think we can at least make it until tomorrow before we have to consider that. Your replacement will be here at four. If you or he needs anything, you know what to do.”

“I do. Don’t worry, I can handle Heath’s ass. I’m glad we caught that bastard Rockwell.”

“So am I. This way, everyone can get back to their lives,” I said.

He nodded. They exchanged a few more words about schedules, and then we said goodbye. I was ready to get home, check on Dad, and settle in for a quiet night with my man. Things were finally back to normal, and the project was almost done. My next job was to figure out how Griffin and I could live together and still keep an eye on Dad. That would mean making a trip to Hampton to see where he lived and deciding whether we needed a new place or not. I was nervous yet excited about the prospect of it.

???

It had been a week since the harrowing incident with Rockwell. He was still in jail because he wasn’t able to make bail. Our legal team asked for the case to be expedited. He refused to plead out. He was still insisting he hadn’t made threats, and he only wanted to protect me and that he and I were in love. His psychiatric evaluation didn’t find he was insane, just obsessed and suffering from delusions. However, he had been in his right mind when he came after me in the bathroom.

There was a tiny part of me that felt sorry for him. He and I had gotten along during his four years on my security detail. We’d had some laughs and even hung out a bit, but it had never been sexual or romantic. I couldn’t see how he saw it that way. It went to show you never knew how someone else’s brain worked. It was scary to think about.

Heath had been released from the hospital after five days. It took all of us to keep him from staging what he called a prison break. He was sent back to Hampton to recuperate. In an effort to be sure he did, they sent Beau with him. The threat to us seemed to be over. There had been zero attempts to break into the estate or the house or to come after us anytime we were away from home.

Griffin was somewhat reluctant to ease off the security provided by his guys and the Marauders, who had stuck around until yesterday. Still, I convinced him to let our other bodyguards and security personnel return to doing their jobs. He and the other Patriots were still training with them, but he’d done it for me.

Dad and I made sure to pay not only for Heath’s hospital stay that wasn’t covered by his insurance, which wasn’t much but also for his salary and a bonus while he was off. The Patriots assured us they would continue to pay him, but we wanted to do it. They would let us know anything he needed.

Heath teased me one final time before leaving, saying that he’d be waiting for me when I got tired of Griffin. When he said he wanted me to come nurse him and to wear a sexy nurse’s uniform, I thought Griffin was going to fire him, but then he burst out laughing and told Heath to get his stupid ass home.

Besides working on a trip to check out Hampton, Dad and I had been working remotely to finalize the project. I did most of it since he was always tired, and I didn’t want him to wear himself out. It was almost done and would be finished early if today’s trip went as planned. We were going to headquarters so I could do a final workday on it.

We left early, so I’d have a whole day to do it. The staff was excited to get me there to do this. It had been hard on them to have me not available to come in as much as I usually would’ve, but they were more than capable of doing most of it without me being there.

Besides Griffin, we had Ben and Justin with us while Giovanni and Aryan stayed back at the estate. From our regular guards, Fletcher and Ellis were with Dad, and Sanders was with me while Ortiz was off. Six with us plus the usual at headquarters should be more than enough. In fact, I tried to tell Griffin he and our guys were enough, but he insisted on having Ben and Justin, too.

Pulling through the security checkpoint at Gerard’s was handled the new way the Patriots had trained them to do it. They were much smoother at it. Since we didn’t have people just coming here day in and day out, it was a much better way to do it. We’d always looked at the driver’s ID, and the place was enclosed in fencing, which had cameras and other monitoring equipment, as well as roving security.

It wasn’t long after we got inside the building and the research lab that I was lost in my world. I loved seeing something I imagined in my head come to life in front of me. Griffin and Sanders stayed with me. Justin and Fletcher were with Dad. He had work to do in his office. Ben and Ellis were roving the building.

Griffin did make me take a break late in the morning and then have an actual lunch break before I was back at it a third time. When he insisted I should take an afternoon one, I was ready. We decided to go to Dad’s office and see if he was ready for one, too. When we got there, he was slumped tiredly in his chair. That was when I called it a day. The others could carry on without me. I knew he’d put up a fight if I suggested we leave because of him, so I made it all about me.

When he saw us, he smiled and straightened. “How’s it going? I was just going to come down again to see.”

“It’s going really well. The team can work on it on their own. I’m feeling tired for some reason. I was coming to see if you’re ready to head home?”

“Honey, I wish I could. You guys can go and then send a car for me later. Ansel is coming by later. We need to catch up. He’s worried and wants to be sure everything is good to go. You know him. He needs to see for himself,” he chuckled.

“Yes, he does. Why can’t he come to the house? It’s not like he lives far away. In fact, it’s a longer drive for him to come here than there.”

“Do you have an issue with that, Griffin? She’s right, and it would be more comfortable. He could come for dinner. I’ve missed our chats. He usually comes to dinner at least a couple of times a month, if not more.”

“I don’t have an issue with it. We’ll just alert the guards to expect him. Why don’t you let him know of the change in plans? That’ll let Hadley wrap up getting her stuff, and then we’ll head out.”

The relief on Dad’s face was noticeable. We left him long enough for me to go back to the lab to tell the others I was leaving. They assured me they were good and that if they had any questions, they’d call. Within twenty minutes, I think, we were headed home. Dad dozed on the way. We had a few hours until dinner. I was going to insist he take a nap, or he wouldn’t be in any condition to talk to Ansel.

I was terrified, seeing how fast he was declining. It was like now that he told me the disease had accelerated. Or maybe he’d been working that hard to hide it, and now that he didn’t have to, he let me see how much it was really affecting him. It made me wonder how much time I had left with him. Even a year wouldn’t be enough. What if I only had a few months?

“Baby, worrying yourself about it won’t help. Now that this project and the threat are over, we can make him rest even more. We’ll get him to go with us to Hampton, and I promise he’ll be well looked after,” Griffin whispered in my ear.

I sighed as I snuggled closer to him. “I just want to have him for as long as I can, and I want as many new memories with him as I can get.”

“We’ll get them.”

He hugged me closer, and I closed my eyes for the rest of the ride. I didn’t nap, but I did think about all the great past experiences Dad and I had together over the years. There were so many.