CHAPTER 147: YOU!

Jack followed Lily out into the display room and was headed towards Miranda and Samantha, who were looking at a display, when a man and a woman walked into the store. Both looked like they might be the missing salespeople.

The two salespeople glanced around the room at Jack and the three girls. When the woman saw Lily and what she was wearing, her eyes narrowed and she was about to speak when five large men in dark suits stormed into the store.

The salesman turned, saw the large men, looked at Lily, then at the saleswoman and mouthed, "Oh shit!"

Three of the men stopped at the entrance, two facing the interior of the store, one facing the corridor. The remaining two men approached Jack and Lily.

The two salespeople looked like they wanted to run, but took one look at the large stern-faced men in suits blocking the entrance and realized the futility of it.

One of the large men stopped in front of Lily and said, "Ms. Wallingford, do you require medical treatment?"

What are the chances her grandfather owns the Grand Wallingford hotel?

He and Miranda were staying in a suite at that hotel. He hadn’t seen Derik since he used "black magic" on him, so the idiot had probably already been fired.

"No John, only my pride has been injured."

As she spoke, she rubbed her hip with her left hand. Kayden had ripped her panties off just before Jack crushed his balls, so it was possible she had some abraded skin on her hip. He could understand why she would choose not to mention that to a large male security bodyguard.

The bodyguard glanced at the hand she was using to rub her hip, then at Jack.

"Mr. Waldron?"

"Yep, that’s me."

"Could I speak to you privately for a moment?" The man’s tone was polite, almost pleading.

"Sure," he replied, then led the man into the alcove connected to the changing room hallway.

Once in the alcove, the man asked, "I noticed Lily rubbing her hip."

"Yes, I noticed that as well. Kayden managed to rip off her panties just before I kicked him in the balls, so her skin might have some mild abrasions."

Jack could see barley suppressed rage squirm under the man’s face.

"Where..." he growled.

Jack pointed down the hallway with his thumb.

"Last changing room on the left. Sophia is keeping an eye on him, just in case. Though I doubt he’s in any condition to crawl, let alone run anywhere."

"Just how hard..."

"I told him to get off her, but the shit bird just told me to fuck off. Said I’d regret it if I didn’t leave him alone. So, I kicked him as hard as I could. Now, maybe he’ll regret not listening to me."

The man grunted, then muttered, "Oh, he’ll regret it alright."

Then to Jack he said, "Thank you for saving Lily. It would have been terrible if Kayden had managed to succeed."

"You’re welcome. I just wish saving her wasn’t necessary."

"Yes. At least Mr. Wallingford has agreed to my request and assigned her a twenty-four-hour escort."

Jack nodded. "Yes, she needs it."

They both shared a look.

"Right, I’ll have some men come and collect the boy, so Mrs. Martel doesn’t need to endure his presence any longer."

They both returned to the display room. Jack found Lily and Miranda had their heads together, discussing something while looking at a display.

Seeing him, Samantha walked over. Putting her hands on his chest, she asked, "Is everything alright?"

He hugged her and said, "Yes, everything’s fine."

He noticed one of the men was talking to the two salespeople and both were sweating profusely.

Then two more men entered the store, one carrying a stretcher, the other a medical bag. They were in paramedic uniforms but carried themselves more like they were ex-military.

John met the two "medics" then led them towards the alcove. Shortly after, Sophia came out and approached Jack.

"Any change?" he asked.

"No, he passed out a while ago. There was obvious swelling, so I’d say you got him good. I’m no medical expert, but I suspect he’ll be needing cosmetic prosthetics after this. And a lifetime of hormone replacement therapy."

"So, you think he’ll survive?" asked Jack. He wondered if Lily’s grandfather might try to arrange a timely "accident" for Kayden.

"That...is likely. Morton Richland is a powerful man with underworld ties, so I don’t think he would sit idle if his first born were to suffer an unexpected fatal accident."

"Will Morton try to take revenge because I crushed his son’s balls?"

"Maybe, but not if Harold warns him off. With you as Lily’s savior, that’s likely."

"So, that’s it, Kayden gets medical treatment, and it all gets swept under the rug?"

"Yes, I think that’s the most likely outcome."

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He had crushed Kayden’s balls, and losing your balls was a severe punishment. But was it enough?

With linked templates, he had any number of ways to ensure Kayden never recovered. Put the right drugs in Kayden’s IV and he could turn the man into a vegetable or kill him outright.

But was he willing to commit murder over a failed rape attempt? In the end, he decided he was not ready to murder someone. Not over attempted rape. At least not the attempted rape of a stranger. If it had been one of his girls, the man would already be dead.

But, just because he wasn’t going to kill Kayden, didn’t mean he was going to ignore him. He had his remote-presence technique and hoped he would soon have the ability to monitor one or more people 24/7, so he would be sure to keep an eye on Kayden and his father.

He was turning to check on Lily and Miranda when he saw an old man enter the store flanked by two more large men in dark suits.

That’s probably Lily’s grandfather, he thought.

The old man spotted Jack and stalked towards him, pointing a finger and shouting, "YOU!"

All the bodyguards tensed up and turned to look at Jack suspiciously, and Sophia looked at the old man like she thought he was off his rocker.

"Grandfather!" cried Lily and started walking towards him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Not now, Lily," shouted the old man as he came to a stop in front of Jack.

Lily lurched to a stop, face pale. Her shoulders sagged, then she collapsed to her knees and covered her face with her hand.

"Whatever your play is, boy, you’ll get nothing from me!"

Jack thought about chastising the old man for the way he’d just treated his traumatized granddaughter. But something told him the old man was like a pit bull and would not be distracted while he had his foolish misconception clamped in his mental jaws.

"I don’t want anything from you, old man. I told you that over the phone," he said coldly.

"Don’t take that tone with me, boy. I had my people look into you. That Richland boy paid you off."

"What the fuck are you talking about, old man?"

He was certain the old man’s people had not discovered his lotter wealth. There was no way they could claim Kayden Richland had given him over six hundred million credits.

"Don’t play dumb with me, boy. There’s no way you could have afforded those new cars. That Richland boy paid you to participate in this charade."

Charade?! Did this old coot think Kayden was play acting?!! Jack was beginning to think the old man was going senile

The old man didn’t look that old, maybe mid-sixties, and he wasn’t stooped over. His hair was grey, not white, and he still had hair on the top of his head, if a bit thin. Still, maybe the old man was losing his marbles.

"Did your ’people’ also uncover the settlement?" he asked disdainfully.

"Settlement, what are you talking about?" the old man’s rage had receded, and he now sounded puzzled.

"My father died as a result of negligence on the part of his employer. My mother sued and won. When she died from cancer, I inherited what remained. It was more than enough to purchase two vehicles."

Before the old man could respond, Jack continued, "But all this is beside the point. Tell me, old man, why would Kayden agree to any plan that resulted in his balls being crushed into oblivion?"

The old man blinked, then retorted, "I saw the video, a fine performance. But that’s all it was, a performance."

At that moment, John came out from the alcove followed by the two "paramedics." They had Kayden laid out on the stretcher, covered by a thin blanket.

"John," called Jack. "What’s the condition of Kayden’s family jewels?"