Without looking up from his phone he replies, “Yeah, I dumped it on the coffee table when I came in.”
He seems really worked up over the whole Uncle Harry situation. He’s been busy texting on his phone ever since I got out of the bath. Maybe he’s venting to Shay, but whatever he’s doing I hope it calms him down. I’m still worried about what Uncle Harry said, but I know that I have the final say on the company until such time as I surrender my stake or am unable to do so and I’m still standing, so the company is still mine.
Brax’s looks up at me with a shy smile. “I gotta call Shay, sweetheart.”
“Okay,” I reply, giving him a quick kiss before he disappears into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Not wanting to disturb him, I go make myself comfortable on the couch and start checking through the mail. There’s a letter from the utility company which is not unexpected, another one from college confirming my classes for the next quarter and all that is left is a strange yellow envelope. I turn it over in my hands and see that it has no forwarding address, all it has on it is my name handwritten on the front. Not even my full name, it just says ‘Elle’. Nobody calls me that except Brax, my father and Uncle Harry.
Putting my finger inside the seal, I carefully rip open the envelope and pull out a lined notepad page that is carefully folded inside. I put the envelope and other mail down on the coffee table and unfold the note.
I read what the note says over and over again, my hands starting to shake as the words start sinking in.
“I know where you are, I know where you’ll be.
I’ll finish what I started, it’ll be just you and me.”
Suddenly I drop the note onto the floor and let out a blood curdling scream. “Brax!”
I hang up from my call with Gibbons just as I hear Elle scream my name. I run into the living room and find her sitting on the couch muttering to herself, shaking like a leaf and pointing to a note on the floor. I see the note and my stomach churns when I recognize the paper, the same as the one left on my car in Richmond. The problem is that this time, Elle has seen it.
I pick the note up and read it, instantly recognizing the handwriting. It’s from the same person who left the note in Richmond. Dammit! I’m seething now, angrier than I’ve been for a long time. I knew I needed to monitor the mail more closely; I didn’t want Elle to find out about this. The last time I felt this angry was when I found out the truth about my real father and what he did to my mother and me.
I read the words over and over again, trying to figure out who the hell could have sent it. Whoever it was followed us to Richmond, that much I do know. It still doesn’t seem to fit Brimstone’s style, and I may not trust Evans as far as I could throw him, but he said the black car isn’t his and he nothing to gain from lying to me.
I run my hands through my hair, looking down at my poor girl. How fair is it to be upset twice in the same day by things that are totally out of her control. She doesn’t deserve a life like this, she deserves nothing but love and happiness. Its moments like this when I wish I could tell her why I’m here, that it is my job to protect her. More than that, I want her to know she is safe with me. With Shay and I here, nothing will happen to her.
We would stake our lives on that.
She looks up at me from the couch, still shaken up and obviously upset.
“Who would send me something like this, Brax? I haven’t done anything to anyone!” she sobs.
“I don’t know, baby, but I’m going to talk with Shay and we’re going to find out who this person is. I love you too much to let anything happen to you, sweetheart,” I reply.
“What can you and Shay do? He works security and you’re a college student,” she asks inquisitively.
I hesitate before answering her, the look she is giving me says that whatever I answer, my credibility is in question. “Shay has a lot of connections and so do I. We’re going to see what they can do for us.” It’s not a lie, it is actually closer to the truth than I have ever said to her before.
Trying to end the conversation, I lean down and lift her up into my arms, proceeding to carry her to our bedroom. Right now she needs to feel comfort and protection in my arms. If I have to hold her in bed all night to make her feel safe again, I will do that. Nothing makes me feel better than when I help her, and God knows I can’t stand to see her cry again today.
Chapter Sixteen
After spending the night comforting Elle, I’m itching to get out this morning to meet with Shay. With all of yesterday’s developments, I think we need a strategy meeting to work out what we’re going to do about Brimstone and this bloody note.
The note is the unknown variable. Evans told me the man wasn’t his and despite his faults, he is the type of person who will freely admit when he is up to something and gets caught. That is why I met with him yesterday. I hate the man with every part of my being, but unfortunately I share DNA with him and sometimes I have to play that card. Shay and the boss man are the only ones who know that he is my father. Gibbons isn’t aware of the connection, it is something I’ve made sure was kept on the down low since I was a teenager.
When my adoptive father was dying, he explained to me exactly what happened when I was born and how he and his wife Leah came to adopt me when I was two years old. As far as I’m concerned, Roger & Leah James were the only parents I’ve ever known and would ever need. But on his deathbed, Roger expressed his wish for me to reach out to my birth mother, but only when I was ready. I haven’t reached a point in my life where I feel the need to do that, but events of the past six months have definitely got me thinking about family more and more. I’ve investigated her, so I know her maiden name and that she got married about five years after I was born, but that is all I know.
Having to come face to face with Evans and Brimstone certainly hasn’t helped matters, and seeing how Elle has dealt with having no family at all makes me feel guilty. I have a chance to reconnect with my birth mother, whereas Elle won’t ever see her family again. What Roger said that day has stuck with me. He didn’t feel good leaving this earth without making sure I knew where I came from.
I did already know about Evans unfortunately. I made mistake of looking Michael Evans up when I was fifteen. I had idealistic hopes of him spending a lifetime looking for me, wanting to make it all up to me. He knew about me, that much was true, but from all accounts he hadn’t spent a minute thinking about me until he saw an opportunity to groom an heir for his corrupt empire.