AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What can I do?” Drake said to me. “I have no choice but to shut her down.”
“But,” I protested, following him to the sectional couch large enough to seat twenty people. “She’s like your child. You don’t have to do that. Tell the board she’s too unstable to go public and keep her for yourself.”
I could see it was killing Drake even to consider turning her off. She ran every aspect of his personal life and business. The AI was like another family member to Drake.
“I tried.” He scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. “Except there’s one small problem. The board has already accepted bids from outside investors. The United States government expects to use Lovelace next year for military operations. And they’re not the only countries interested.”
“What does this have to do with Alex and Grace?”
Drake leaned his head back on the cushion and tipped the glass to his lips, downing the contents in one gulp. He rested the empty glass on his knee and glanced over at me. “I think they’re using Alex and Grace to distract us. I’m not looking at the real target if I’m busy keeping them safe.”
“I’m sure you’re just being paranoid. Grace’s father is the leader of The Lucaya Group. She’s his target. And Alex is the granddaughter of a Founder. Viktor Romanov would kill to get his hands on the Wellington Black Book.”
Viktor was Grace’s biological father and an ex-KGB officer.
“Maybe we should consider getting Grace and Alex out of Devil’s Creek,” I suggested since it seemed like the only move we had left. “It will give us time to regroup and devise a new plan.”
Drake shook his head, and brown hair flopped onto his forehead. “That’s not an option.”
In a matter of days, he looked as if he’d aged a few years. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his hair was all over the place, sticking up in different directions as if he’d been tugging on it. He wasn’t built for so much stress and hadn’t been sleeping much. Alcohol and sleeping pills could only get him so far.
The Knights were under a lot of pressure. We’d been on high alert for months without getting much of a break. Even before Colonel Hale left for his mission, Grace was in danger.
Fitzy wouldn’t have left her in my family’s care if he wasn’t worried. The old man couldn’t bear to lose his heir, even though he hated Grace. Her cousin Bastian should have been the heir to the Adams fortune. So there must have been a reason Fitzy kept her around. My guess was it had something to do with money.
“Drake Battle,” a female voice boomed through a speaker. “If you don’t get your brilliant behind upstairs in the next five minutes, I’m calling your mom.”
I laughed, and so did Drake.
“All the women in my life are so controlling.” Drake tapped the cushion between us. “You should get back to Fort Marshall and look after Grace. I’ll probably spend my night getting a lecture from Liv.” He smiled. “That woman drives me crazy.”
I bobbed my head. “I know the feeling.”
Drake had been in love with Olivia for years but made a deal with Tate not to touch her. I knew how much it sucked to want someone I couldn’t have. It was the worst pain imaginable.
ChapterSeven
COLE
Grace was a test from God, a temptation added to my life to see if I could control myself. I liked to think of myself as a person with more self-control than most, but with my greatest sin sleeping down the hall, it was nearly impossible not to think about giving in to my desires.
But I couldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
Grace was off-limits.
I poked my head into her bedroom. The moon’s light cast a golden hue on the room, and with the balcony doors open, a soft breeze blew the curtains.
She purred like a sleeping kitten. I could have stood there all night watching her sleep, studying her delicate features. I’d never met a girl like Grace.
She wasn’t like the women I knew who took off their panties and stuffed them into my pocket as an invitation for sex. Grace was shy and quiet, and when she spoke—which was rare—my heart skipped a few beats.
I could tell she had been badly hurt as a child and that her past had shaped her into the woman she was today. Each time I looked at her for the past week, she blushed and turned her head. It was as if she couldn’t stand the attention. But what man wouldn’t want to stare at her?
How could I not?
Pretty and perfect, she had rosy pink cheeks like a porcelain doll. Long blonde hair brushed the tops of her breasts, which only drew my attention to her body, especially when she wore those skimpy bikinis to the pool.
