“Doesn’t matter, babe. I didn’t learn much from the asshole prick who fathered me, but I did learn one thing. Everyone eventually has a price.”

I didn’t doubt his words. But I was an attorney. An officer of the court. I couldn’t let this happen.

“Please. Promise me you won’t do this.”

“This is on me, Lacey. These people are going after you to get to me. I have to put a stop to it. One way or the other, this won’t end well unless I nip it in the bud right now.”

“We’re both innocent. We have to trust the system, Rock.”

“The system?” He scoffed. “Do you know how many times my old man gamed the system? And those are just the things I knew about before I left home at fourteen. Even my warped mind can’t imagine what he did from that point until his death. And frankly, this shit has Derek Wolfe smeared all over it.”

“The man is dead.”

“So? He put something into play before he died.”

“He was murdered. He had no idea he was about to die, Rock.”

“Maybe he did. Maybe he knew he’d been marked, and he decided to fuck me over from the grave.”

“I doubt it. You said yourself his money could buy anything. If he knew he was marked, he’d have paid someone off, or taken care of whoever marked him first.”

Rock didn’t bother denying it. He knew I was right.

“What else could be going on?”

“Hell if I know.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “My dad made lots of enemies in his lifetime. I suppose there could be one he never knew about.”

“He was cocky,” I said. “Maybe he got too cocky.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning he overlooked people who might have a grudge against him.”

Rock raised one eyebrow. “That’s an interesting perspective. You might be on to something.”

“You never know. At this point, we can’t leave any stone unturned.”

Rock heaved a sigh. “That’s a lot of stones, baby.”

“How many enemies could one man have?”

“Lacey, the man was evil.”

“The man built a billion dollar company.”

“What? You think you can’t have one without the other? Derek Wolfe was not a good man.”

“I’m aware he was no saint, but was he really so horrible?”

He sighed again. “You’re going to have to take my word for it.”

51

Rock

My head and eyes throbbed.

I’d taken a hell of a beating, but I’d kept the fucking bastards out of my ass.

Military school had turned out to be a playground for psychopaths. My father must have known the kind of place this was. He must have.

I’d always thought he hated me. Now I knew for sure.