An older woman opened the door, with blue eyes filled with worry, the shade eerily similar to Kiara’s. “I’m Leighton Winston,” I said. “I was sent to help out with something, though I’m not sure of the details.”
I hated not having details. Soren and Mother were alike in the way they decided to toss things at me without any information. There was no way Soren didn’t know who Kiara was, and he’d left me to figure it out on my own. In the same vein, Mother knew who she’d sent me to visit.
“Oh, perfect. My husband is waiting in his office.”
She was the lady of the house, then. They weren’t quite the level of rich where they had full-time staff to open their front door for them, though this house was clearly taken care of by a cleaning service, and I heard banging in the kitchen. A chef, possibly.
I followed her through the space and up a staircase that curved as it rose toward the second floor. On the second floor, the second door on the right was tightly shut and she gestured to it. I knocked once, the rap holding the force of my irritation without sounding overly aggressive.
“Come in.”
The wife didn’t follow me so I shut the door, spinning to face a man behind a desk.
My heart stuttered.
He had the same blue eyes as Kiara… and Tobias. How unlikely was it that a whole family had the same damn shade of blue? When I’d seen pictures of Noah Connolly, I hadn’t focused too hard on the colour of his eyes.
While I hadn’t recognized his wife, I knew enough about prominent New Oxford criminals to realize this was the leader of the Connolly crime family sitting in front of me.
Kiara’s father.
My mother had said he’d lost something, and he sure as fuck wasn’t getting it back.
Because Kiara wasn’t a thing, she was a person. And she wasmyperson.
I didn’t growl, but I did grind my teeth together. “Noah Connolly. I didn’t realize you were a friend of my mother’s.”
He observed me. I couldn’t cower, nor could I show any aggression. The secrets my mother held against me were all at risk of being exposed.
“We go way back. She’s spent some time in my casinos.”
Underground casinos. They weren’t legal.
I was a little surprised my mother had sent me here. She was adamantly against me knowing about her life. No one knew what she did other than attend galas. Not even my fathers knew. They’d all grown used to it years ago and basked in the perks of mating into the rich and prestigious Winston family while staying out of her way.
Had she been desperate? I’d never encountered her desperate before, but I’d be tucking this tidbit into my back pocket for when this undoubtedly blew up in my face.
“Interesting. What can I do for you today?”
“You fix things, yes?”
“Of course. That’s my job.”
“My daughter ran away. No one can know about it, and we need to bring her home.”
Faking surprise, I took a small pad of paper and a pen out of my blazer pocket. “I wasn’t aware you had a daughter.”
“That’s exactly why no one can know about it.”
His jaw clenched, his wrinkles getting more prominent as his eyebrows drew together. Unlike Tobias and Kiara, he didn’t have honey brown hair. His was wiry and dark grey, with some pure white strands sprinkled in. It was gelled into a combover.
“Of course.” I spoke softly to placate him. “I’m very discreet, but I do need to know the details. I can’t do my job without them.”
“She’s an omega, five feet and a couple inches tall, and quite chubby. Has my eyes.”
I almost broke character and punched him in the fucking face.
Chubby?
