Page 75 of Protecting Addison
Ellory: I’m not trying to keep you from her. I know her better than you do, and I’m telling you that you’re smothering her. You need to cut back on the texts and calls and begging to see her.
Brady: That’s what you want, isn’t it? To keep me at arm’s length.
Addison sighed and let her head drop to the cushion behind her. Brady was being an idiot. She was trying to help him, yet he was doubling down on playing the victim. And she was definitely tired of him texting at all hours and acting like a twelve-year-old shouldn’t have a bedtime schedule. Their daughter was mature for her age, but she was still a kid.
Ellory: I told you, don’t text this late again. Do not force this issue. If you do, I’ll take you to court, and who do you think the judge will side with? Me. You haven’t paid me a cent in child support and you haven’t been any kind of father to her at all in her entire life. I will do whatever it takes to protect Ellory from anyone or anything that might do her harm, including her own biological father. Don’t mess with me, Brady. I’m serious.
Brady: Don’t fuck with ME, Addison. You don’t want to know how far I’ll go to see my kid.
Unease ran up her spine. She had no idea why Brady was being so insistent, but she was done trying to reason with him. She also wanted to leave the texts on the phone so Ellory could see them, but she wouldn’t stoop to her ex’s level. Besides, Ellory was a smart kid. She was already seeing her father for who he really was.
She deleted the texts and put the phone on Do Not Disturb. She could really use Ricky’s levelheaded advice right about now. Although he was anything but calm when it came to Brady. Even bringing up his name could make the little furrow in his brow deepen.
For a moment, Addison wished she’d never run into her ex. He was a complication she didn’t need or want. Her life was stressful enough as it was. Dealing with Brady—who it seemed more and more obvious had some sort of mystery agenda—wasn’t something she wanted to even think about anymore. But she didn’t have a choice. She’d have to ride this out until Brady got tired of playing the role of doting father and the real reason he was so insistent on getting to know his daughter came to light.
“Wherever you are, I hope you’re all right, Ricky,” Addison whispered into the quiet evening. “Come home soon. I miss you.”
* * *
Brady slammed his phone down. His plan to get closer to his daughter wasn’t going the way he’d expected. He’d had every intention of quickly sweet-talking the girl into liking him, then encouraging Ellory to ask her mother to spend time with him by herself. The moment that happened, he’d immediately take her to his contact, get his cut of the money, while she was shipped off to a dealer overseas. It was handy that Riverton was on the coast; his contact had perfected the art of quickly shipping bodies to various contacts in Asia. Of course, most bodies were already deceased. Having a live donor? That was better in every way, because the organs would stay fresh.
And Brady had already decided the con didn’t have to stop there. He’d get his share of the money for bringing in Ellory…but he could also turn around and demand a ransom for the girl from Addison. She’d pay whatever was asked of her, Brady had no doubt. He’d hire someone to leave a note at their house or make a phone call, asking for ransom, complete with instructions on how and when to pay, all while he played the worried father.
He’d get double the money!
But first, he had to get Ellory to answer his goddamn texts.
The girl was weird. Sickly and pale and just fuckingodd. It was embarrassing. And he had nothing in common with her; she didn’t take after him in any way. He didn’t even like talking to her. And the feeling was clearly mutual. It was obvious he’d have to come up with a new plan. One that still ensured he could get Ellory alone.
He didn’t know how, but he’d figure it out. The amount of money she’d bring in was too great to just give up. No, he was in this now, he had to see it through. Especially after his associate had mentioned trying to cut out the middleman, since they were dealing with a rare live body. Instead of selling to one of his contacts, he was working on finding a buyer for her organs himself…which meant an evenbiggerpayday. Brady couldn’t back out now.
His daughter was a means to an end, and he would win. He always did.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
MacGyver was exhausted. The mission had a few small glitches and had taken longer than they’d hoped. But in the end, they’d located the terrorist they’d been tasked with taking down and had stopped yet another plan to kill innocent US citizens. But eliminating terrorists was like playing Whac-A-Mole. They’d get one bad guy, then another immediately popped up to take his spot.
Being a SEAL was rewarding, but it was also a never-ending job. In the past, MacGyver had gotten depressed over the fact that there would always be humans trying to kill other humans, usually for no good reason. But today, even though he was tired, he was also filled with adrenaline.
They were almost home. They’d been debriefed in Germany, and back in Riverton, they’d have several meetings regarding the mission and what they could do better next time, but before that, MacGyver would get to see his family.
Even the thought was enough to make him feel buzzed.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Safe asked.
“What?”
“Having people waiting at home for you.”
“Yeah, it is. How’s Wren’s job going with her father?”
“Great. She loves it. And finding her dad and her three half-brothers was such a blessing. How’re things going with Ellory and her biological father?”
MacGyver frowned. “Notgreat. Vogel is nothing like Wren’s father, that’s for sure.”
“That sucks. Is Ellory okay?”
“I don’t really know. I hate that I missed this last meeting they had, but from what Addison told me, it didn’t go so well. She said she’d tell me the details when I got home.”
