Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 162003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 810(@200wpm)___ 648(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162003 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 810(@200wpm)___ 648(@250wpm)___ 540(@300wpm)
Everything seemed to be going according to plan, and true to Ryland’s word, he’d cut back his hours at work. But as soon as everyone left that night, he dropped a bomb on me.
“I have to go back to Chicago tomorrow,” he said.
I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. “No.”
“Brighton.” He sighed. “It really is just business this time. I swear.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Come here.” He patted his lap.
I frowned and walked towards him slowly, and once I was within reach, he tugged me onto his lap. Taking out his phone, he pulled up some emails along with a schedule.
“I have a meeting with Robert Burton,” he said. “About the shareholders of my company. It’s important, and I can’t put it off any longer, otherwise, I wouldn’t go.”
“Robert Burton, as in…”
“Alex’s father.” Ryland nodded.
“What does he have to do with your shareholders?” I asked, remembering how Matt said the Burton family was involved in some bad business dealings.
Ryland’s expression clearly told me he didn’t want me involved in this. It only made me more determined.
“It’s complicated, Brighton. He’s trying to strong arm some of my shareholders. He’s using underhanded business tactics, and I won’t stand for it.”
“But he’s dangerous,” I protested. “Matt told me some of the things he’d been involved with.”
“Don’t worry.” Ryland gave me a soft kiss on the lips. “I’ve got it handled, baby girl.”
I didn’t like that he was dealing with the Burtons one bit. It scared the hell out of me, but this was his company. I knew he wouldn’t just let whatever they were doing slide.
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I pleaded.
“Always.” He gave me a reassuring smile.
“And you’re going to take Mick with you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Mick stays with you. That’s his job.”
“I can have Matt and Nicole come stay while you’re gone,” I said. “I’d much rather he was with you.”
“Not gonna’ happen,” he smirked. “You don’t need to worry about me, Brighton. I can take care of myself, okay?”
I frowned but nodded. There was no point in arguing with him when he was like this. He was stubborn as hell.
“And while we’re on the topic.” He reached into his filing cabinet and pulled out a folder. “I need your signature on a few things.”
“Okay.” I glanced at the paperwork in confusion before I realized what it was. If I wasn’t worried before, now I was terrified.
“Life insurance?” I squeaked.
“I just want to have everything in order,” he explained. “It’s just a precaution.”
I shook my head and crossed my arms. “I don’t want to sign these,” I protested. “That makes it seem like it could really happen.”
Ryland reached up and trailed his fingers along my jaw. “Baby girl, this is important,” he said softly. “If anything ever happens to me…”
“Which it won’t,” I cut in.
“It won’t,” he assured me, “but if it did, I need to know that you and the baby will have everything you need, okay? Everything in my will has already been arranged, and this is the last step. Consider it something to help me sleep at night.”
I still didn’t feel comfortable with it, but I decided to indulge him just so I didn’t have to think about it anymore. I scrawled my signature across the documents quickly and then shoved them away.
“One more thing.” He pulled a piece of paper from his desk with a picture of an SUV. He’d been looking at them forever trying to decide on the safest one to buy. “This is the one I want to get. Okay?”
I didn’t want to tell him he was scaring me. It felt like he was wrapping everything up. Like he really thought something might happen to him.
“We’ll get it together,” I said. “When you come back from your trip.”
He nodded.
“Promise me,” I demanded. “Promise me that this is all just a precaution like you say, Ryland.”
“Come on, baby.” He pulled me up and wrapped his arms around me. “Let’s go to bed. Before I have to leave tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Brighton
There was a churning feeling in my gut that I hadn’t been able to rid all morning. Ryland had been gone for six hours, and I hadn’t heard from him. Not even a text.
It wasn’t like him.
There was something about this business trip that had me biting my nails, and it wasn’t just Robert and Alex Burton. I didn’t have a good feeling about any of this, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.
I paced anxiously across the back porch, cell phone clutched in my hand as I waited for Ryland to respond to one of my many worried texts. He didn’t leave me hanging like this. Ever. I knew something was wrong.
My cell phone rang, and my heart swelled with relief. But then I saw that it was Nicole.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Brighton, have you seen the news?”