Protecting Her

by Allie Everhart

  “Holton also told me that he signed Garret up for private school.”

  Pearce picks Garret up. “Which one?”

  “Which one? That’s all you have to say? Aren’t you mad about this? He didn’t even talk to us about it.”

  “Yes, I agree he should have talked to us first. But we do need to get Garret on a waiting list. It takes years to get into those schools. We should’ve signed him up months ago.”

  “So we’re sending him to private school? That school is almost a half hour away. There’s a public school here in town.”

  “Rachel, we have more than enough money to send him to a private school.”

  “It’s not about the money. Maybe I don’t want him being around snobby rich kids who go around flaunting their wealth.”

  “Garret will get a far better education at a private school. And I’m sure not every child there is snobby or flaunting his or her wealth. Why don’t we just go look at the school and then we’ll decide?”

  I sigh. “Fine.”

  I’m sure we’ll end up sending him there. I read the brochure and it sounds like an excellent school. I want Garret to have the best education possible. I just didn’t want Holton thinking he’d won. But I can’t let my feelings for him be a detriment to my son’s education.

  “Let’s play some football before dinner,” Pearce says to Garret as he hoists him over his shoulder and walks out of the room.

  I follow him down the stairs. “I thought I’d order a pizza for dinner.”

  “Sounds good.” On the way to the kitchen, he stops and pulls me in for a kiss. “I didn’t get a proper hello.”

  I smile. He’s in a much better mood now than he was just a few days ago. He’s more relaxed, more like the Pearce I knew before his father got sick.

  “I love you,” he says, kissing me again.

  I smile. “I love you too.”

  “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

  “What about?”

  He leans down and talks in my ear. “About what I’m going to do to you later tonight after we put our son to bed.”

  I close my eyes as he kisses my neck. “I can’t wait.”

  “Dada.” Garret points to the football that’s on the floor. Pearce is still holding him and Garret is squirming to get down to get his ball.

  “Yes. We’re going to play.” He picks up the ball and takes off with Garret.

  I call the pizza order in, and when I’m done, I go in the family room and smile as I watch my two guys playing with the mini football. Garret tries to throw it, but it just lands right in front of him.

  “Oh, Pearce, I forgot to tell you. Garret was swimming all by himself today. I let him go, and he paddled all the way to the edge of the pool.”

  “That’s great,” Pearce says as Garret tries to tackle him. Pearce pretends to fall on his back. “Did you like swimming, Garret?”

  Garret climbs on Pearce’s chest and collapses on top of him. It’s too cute watching him with his dad.

  “I think I’m going to start giving swimming lessons at the gym,” I tell him. “I met a woman at the pool and she suggested it. Then I talked to the manager and got an application. It would just be a few hours a week and Garret could stay in the gym’s day care center while I’m teaching.”

  Pearce sits up, setting Garret on his lap. “I don’t want him there.”

  “Where?”

  “At the day care center. We don’t know those people. I don’t want him there without you.”

  “It’s staffed by older women, and it seems very clean and organized.”

  “I don’t care. It’s not safe.”

  “Pearce, you just scolded me for being too overprotective. And now you’re the one being overprotective.”

  “I didn’t scold you for protecting him. I just didn’t want you overreacting to him getting a cut or falling down. That’s different. When it comes to his safety, we can’t be too cautious. And since we don’t know anything about this place or the people who work there, I don’t want him left there alone. Even for an hour.”

  Garret crawls off him to get his ball and Pearce joins me on the couch. “Can you teach classes on the weekends? That way I could watch him while you’re gone.”

  “What’s going on, Pearce? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Rachel, this isn’t anything new. We’ve talked about this before. We have a lot of money and people know who we are. That means we always have to be careful, especially when it comes to our son.”

  We watch him, babbling to himself as he pushes the ball around the floor.

  “I have something else to tell you,” I say quietly. “Maybe I’m imagining it, but I think someone was following me today.”

  Pearce abruptly turns and faces me. “When? Who was it? Could you see who was driving?”

  “It happened when Garret and I were coming back from the gym. It was a black car. Some kind of sedan. Four doors. The driver had a suit on and a chauffeur cap.”

  “Are you sure he was following you?”

  “He was behind me all the way from the gym to the town square. I circled the square and he followed me until I pulled into a spot in front of the diner.”

  He rubs his jaw. “Too obvious,” he mumbles.

  “What?”

  “If this person was following you, he wouldn’t be so obvious about it.”

  “That’s true. So maybe he was just lost.”

  “Why didn’t you call and tell me about this?”

  “I did, but you weren’t in your office.”

  “Then call my cell phone. That’s why I bought it. So you’d always have a way to reach me.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you if you were in a meeting.”

  “I don’t care if I’m in a meeting. If you need me, you call me.”

  “Okay.” I pause. “I should probably tell you something else.”

  “What?”

  “When your father was here, I kind of, um…I asked him if he was having me followed.”

  “Why would you ask my father that?” Pearce sounds angry.

  “I don’t know. I was still shaken up from the whole thing and then your father threatened me and—”

  “My father WHAT?” He raises his voice and Garret looks over at us. I nudge Pearce and he lowers his voice. “My father threatened you?”

  “Maybe it wasn’t a threat. It just felt like one. He said I was never to challenge him. That he’ll always win. And then he told me to be careful because I’m in danger just being your wife.”

  Pearce faces forward, his body tense, his jaw clenched. “I’ll have a talk with him.”

  “No. Don’t say anything. He already hates me. I don’t want to make it worse.”

  “He’s the one making it worse. He can’t speak to you that way. I won’t allow it. And he is not to be here when I’m not around. If he comes to the door, don’t answer it.”

  Garret crawls over to Pearce, pulling on the leg of his jeans. “Dada! Bah!”

  He smiles at me. “Guess halftime is over.” He gets back on the floor and grabs the football. Garret watches him, his eyes wide and a big smile on his face as he waits for Pearce to throw it. He tosses it so that it lands right in front of Garret, who pounces on the ball and laughs.

  It makes me so happy to see them together like this. I could watch them for hours.

  The pizza arrives and we have dinner. As we’re eating, I keep thinking about that car. Something doesn’t feel right. I swear that car was following me. But why?

  And why did Holton say I needed to be careful? Was he warning me about something? Or was he just talking in general? He’s said things like that to me in the past and I’ve just ignored him. Maybe I should do that again. Just ignore him and not let his words have power over me.

  I really don’t like that man. I don’t think I ever will.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  13

  PEARCE

  Monday morning, I storm into my father�
�s office and slam the door.

  “Good morning, Pearce,” my father says, sipping his coffee from behind his desk.

  “You will NOT threaten her! Do you understand me?”

  “I will do whatever I have to do to protect this company. And if putting a scare in the girl is the only way to get her to convince you to come back to work, then so be it.”

  “I have already told you that it was MY idea to stop working so much. Not hers. And even after cutting back my hours, I am still working more than a forty hour week.” I slam my palms down on his desk and lean toward him. “I do not want you at my house again, unless you are invited and I am home. You are not to speak with Rachel unless I am present.”

  “I will do as I please. And if you truly believe that she is part of this family, then there should be no restrictions on when I see her or talk to her.” He smirks. “That’s not how families act, now is it?”

  “We are not a normal family. And that is all thanks to you. Mother is trying to make an effort to make this family work, but you keep going behind her back, trying to tear this family apart again.”

  “I have done no such thing. If you want to blame someone for tearing this family apart, blame your wife. Ever since she came into our lives, there has been nothing but conflict and chaos.”

  I take my hands off his desk and stand up straight. “Did you have her followed?”

  “Perhaps,” he says, unable to hide his grin.

  “Why the hell would you do that?”

  “I wanted to know what she did all day. Where she went. What it is she’s doing that makes her unable to care for your son.”

  “I never said she was unable to care for Garret.”

  “You said she needs you to be home with him, taking care of him.”

  “I WANT to be home with him! He’s my son. My only child. I don’t want to miss his childhood, sitting here in this office.”

  My father pounds his fist on the desk and shoves himself up from his chair, nearly knocking it over. “How the hell do you expect to run this company someday if you are ill-prepared to do so?”

  “I AM prepared. I proved it when you were out sick. I ran this company without you for months, and I did a better job than you.”

  He lets out a single harsh laugh. “If you really think that, Pearce, then you are delusional and think far too highly of yourself. Fucking up orders? Missing deliveries? You call that running a company?”

  “It was one order. One delivery. And it is not the CEO’s job to monitor orders.” I take a breath. “I am not going to waste time going over all that I accomplished while you were gone, because you already know. The fact that you refuse to admit it just shows that you’re threatened by my success. You don’t want your peers in the business world seeing what I’ve done and comparing us, because you know that I would come out ahead.”

  “Get out of my office!” he yells. “Now!”

  “Tell me you will not threaten her again. Or have her followed.”

  “I will do as I please. Now get out of my office.”

  I remain where I am. “If you harm her in any way, I promise you I will do all I can to destroy this company. It is the one and only thing you love, and I will take it down, piece by piece, until there is nothing left.”

  “And if you did, the organization would punish you. This is as much their company as ours, and if you destroy it, they will destroy you.”

  I go to the door, swinging it open so hard it hits the wall, then I storm down the hall to my office.

  “Mr. Kensington?” My secretary is standing at my door.

  “Not now, Candace.” I shoo her away and slam the door shut. I return to my desk and call Rachel. “It was my father,” I say when she answers.

  “What?”

  “My father was the one having you followed.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Because he’s crazy, that’s why. He said he wanted to know where you go during the day.”

  “Why would he care where I go?”

  “He doesn’t. He was only doing it to get back at me for cutting my hours. He wanted to scare you because he knew how much it would anger me.”

  “You’re right. That’s crazy. What is wrong with him?”

  “He’s like a child. He lashes out when he doesn’t get his way. I’ll talk to my mother and see if she can manage him.” Someone knocks on my door. “I have to go. I just wanted to let you know not to worry.”

  I hang up as Candace opens the door. “Mr. Kensington, the man from Henderson Plastics is here and he’s been waiting for five minutes.”

  “Yes. Tell him I’ll be right there.”

  She nods and goes back out in the hall. I get up to leave and my phone goes off. My Dunamis phone. Shit. I do not have time for this. I answer, hoping it’s just a meeting notice. I type in my member number, but instead of getting a recording, I get a live voice.

  “You have been given an emergency assignment to be completed today. Details will be sent to your office within the hour.”

  “I wasn’t given notice this was coming. Are you sure you have the right person?”

  “Yes. This is a reassignment.”

  A reassignment is when another member was unable to complete a job for a personal reason, like an illness or a sudden family emergency. Or maybe this was Royce’s doing. He has way too much power if they’re letting him continue to pick who gets his assignments. It’s supposed to be random.

  “Who was the original assignment for?” I ask.

  “Your father. Due to his recent illness, he feels he’s unable to do the work that’s required.”

  I forgot about the family rule. Reassignments go to family members first, and if a family member can’t do it, then it goes to one of the other Dunamis members.

  “I just spoke with my father. He’s fine. He can call a freelancer and have this done. It’s just a simple phone call.”

  “No. This is a hands-on assignment. There’s no time to bring in a freelancer.”

  My father did this on purpose, knowing I would get his assignment. He probably called the organization as soon as I left his office and told them to give the assignment to me.

  “I assume this is a termination?” I ask.

  “Yes. Details are forthcoming. Take action as soon as you receive the folder. This ends the call.” The phone clicks off and I shove it back in my pocket.

  My father is perfectly capable of shooting someone. His health is fine, thanks to me saving him. He never even thanked me for that. If it weren’t for Logan’s treatments, my father would be dead. I saved his life. And how does he repay me? By scaring my wife and giving me his kill assignment.

  I go down to the conference room where the client is waiting. I secured this client while my father was on medical leave. It was a huge win. It’s a large multi-year contract worth millions of dollars.

  “Pearce.” Mr. Henderson stands up to shake my hand, and as he does, I see my father sitting there. What the hell is he doing in my meeting? “Holton said you’ve been called away on emergency business. He said he’ll be taking your place today.”

  “Is that so?” I glare at my father.

  “Go ahead, Pearce,” he says. “Take care of your emergency. I’ll take care of Mr. Henderson.”

  I want to strangle him. Pummel him. Anything to release this uncontrolled rage I’m feeling toward him. This is my punishment for speaking out to him earlier. He threatened my wife. Had her followed. And yet I’m the one being punished.

  I return to my desk, too furious to work, but now I have to sit here and wait for the folder to arrive. Fifteen minutes later it does.

  “This just came for you,” Candace says. She hands me a white envelope.

  After she leaves, I rip open the envelope and take out the folder. The assignment is to kill a 25-year-old man. Caucasian. Five foot eleven. A hundred and sixty pounds. Bald. Dragon tattoo along his right arm. Released from prison a week ago.

  As usual, it doesn’t say what h
e did. He’s not a freelancer. He’s an innocent. He must’ve seen or overheard something that’s confidential. But he’s a criminal, which makes him somewhat easier to kill. It’s concerning that I’m justifying it that way. As if his life isn’t worth as much as someone else’s so it’s okay to kill him. I need to stop thinking that way.

  The rest of the folder has information about where I can find this man. Since this is a last minute assignment, the instructions detail exactly how and where this should happen. I review the notes, memorizing the address and what this man looks like, and then I shred the contents of the folder, which is what we always do. We read it, memorize it, then destroy it.

  The day continues and I somehow manage to make it through without screaming at my father. He did this to anger me, but I’m not going to let him see my anger. I refuse to give him the satisfaction. So I go about my day, acting as if nothing has happened. When I see him at an afternoon meeting, I smile and act cordial, which I can tell irritates him.

  At five, I leave to go home. I’d rather just wait at the office until it’s time to do the assignment, but I promised Rachel I’d be home for dinner.

  “Hello, sweetheart,” I say, faking a smile as she greets me at the door.

  “Hi.” She kisses me and I feel Garret grabbing my leg. I look down and see his arms raised toward me.

  “Hello, Garret.” I pick him up and he hugs me.

  It’s a double life. A double life. I can do this. It’s not me. It’s someone else. I say the words in my head as my wife and son look at me as though I’m a good man, when the truth is, I’m not. I’m a horrible man. I’m going to kill someone in a few hours, because if I don’t, they’ll come after me. The organization will punish me. Or worse, they’ll do something to my family.

  “We’re having roasted pork loin and scalloped potatoes,” Rachel says. “And apple cobbler for dessert.”

  “It smells delicious.” I set Garret down. “I’ll go up and change.” I go to the bedroom and put on jeans and a black t-shirt. I need to blend in tonight, and the black will hide any blood. But just in case, I’ll bring another shirt.

  When I go back downstairs, the food is plated and on the kitchen table. We usually eat in the kitchen instead of the dining room. It’s easier since Garret tends to make a mess. He’s not the most coordinated eater yet. He’s in his high chair, highly focused on trying to pick up pieces of potato with his fingers and get them to his mouth.