Empire of Desire by Rina Kent

“I don’t.” She clears her throat. “I worry about the firm, and Nate, who will be drawn into every mess you make.”

“He’s my husband.”

“On paper.”

I purse my lips. “Maybe it’s not only on paper.”

“What?”

“N-nothing.” Shit, I almost told her our secret. Once again, my temper nearly got the best of me. I swear it’s her face. It’s too beautiful and too put-together and I hate it.

I hate her.

But I keep thinking about her words all day long. Like who would want to hurt my dad?

I decide to investigate on my own. Chris agrees to help me after hours and says he owes me an apology for when he was being judgy.

He drives me to the police station on the back of his Harley, and I demand to have the records of Dad’s accident, but they blow me off.

However, I don’t move from there until a detective from the NYPD who knows my dad lets me into his office and closes the door.

I sit on the faux leather chair and stare at Detective Ford. He’s tall, lean, and has a bald head and black skin. I wouldn’t call him friends with Dad since he goes against him sometimes. Seriously, Nate is Dad’s only friend. Everyone else is just an acquaintance. Oh, and Detective Ford has a strong sense of justice, so that puts us on the same side, because Dad definitely doesn’t have that.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Ms. Shaw.”

“I just want Dad’s records from the day of the accident.”

“Records,” he repeats with a slight narrowing of his eyes.

“Yeah. Who he talked to and everything.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s come to my attention that there might’ve been foul play.”

“What’s your proof?”

“He was off that morning.”

“Off?”

“He wasn’t acting like himself and it felt like he was on the verge of something.”

“Why didn’t you mention that before?”

“I didn’t think it was of importance, but I do now. Please, I just want to know what you have.”

“We have nothing, Ms. Shaw, since we don’t think it was attempted murder. You should go back home, and next time, maybe you should send Nathaniel.”

“This is about my father. I don’t need to send anyone.”

Detective Ford dismisses me anyway since I’ve taken up so much of his time. My shoulders hunch as I leave the office.

“No luck?” Chris asks when I get outside.

“No.”

“Maybe you should ask Nate. He’s your father’s attorney, right? He’ll be able to dig in with the police.”

“He hid it from me. He won’t magically decide to help. I have to see this for myself and find a way…oh, the dashcam! It’s not in evidence anymore and I can ask the company to send the footage over.”

“If it’s not in evidence, it probably means there’s nothing there.”

“I won’t know until I try.”

I feel giddy by the time Chris drops me off back at home. I just need to reach out to the car company that has the wreckage and retrieve the footage. I should probably rein in the hope, but I can’t help it.

Ever since Dad went into a coma, I’ve felt helpless, like I couldn’t do anything, which is part of the reason why I let those dark thoughts about him abandoning me fester inside me.

But now, I can.

Now, I can search for the truth. If there’s someone who messed with Dad, I’ll destroy them.

I wave at Chris as the sound of his Harley fills the neighborhood. They definitely hate him—and probably me for bringing him here.

I run to the stairs so I can get to Dad’s office for the car company’s phone number.

My feet cease to function when an ominous voice fills the air.

“What did I say about riding on that fucking bike, Gwyneth?”





21





Gwyneth





My spine tingles and jumps and I nearly reel from the shock of hearing his voice.

Not only do I plaster myself against the wall, but my whole body also hums to life. From my stuttering intakes of air to the curling of my toes in my white sneakers and all the way to my heaving chest. My nipples tighten and so does my pussy.

It’s just a voice, damn it, a voice among billions of others; however, it’s not merely any voice. It’s his voice. The man I’m not supposed to be crushing on, because it’s a form of dependency.

It’s not healthy.

And Dad will kill him when he finds out about this.

But all those thoughts blur in the background, all those don’t matter, because what I’m feeling is healthy in my mind, and Dad isn’t here. He still doesn’t want to wake up, so I’ll think about everything else when he does.

Right now, there’s only Nate’s voice and me, his stern voice that I can recognize the anger in. There’s a slight vibration in it, so even though it sounds calm, I know he isn’t. Oh, and the cursing. He only does that when he’s mad or aroused. I don’t think it’s the latter at the moment.

Anyhow, Nate’s voice should probably go on the list so I can desensitize myself and not lose my shit whenever I hear it. Because even though he doesn’t sound to be in a good mood, all I can think about are the dirty words he’s whispered and growled and ordered with that voice.