The Billionaire’s Hidden Heiress
Chapter 126

Grayson

POV

We were close to home when we came across what I initially thought was just a drunkard. I let my guard down. A stupid mistake. I should have been more suspicious, been more on edge but after having a relaxing picnic with my wife, my instincts weren't on high alert. I thought it was just an innocent homeless man looking for money. Too late my keen eyes observed the dagger in his hand as he pretended to stumble towards Flair. The bodyguards surged forward but were seconds too late. I watched as though it happened in slow motion as Flair pressed something against the man's body, watched his body convulse and fall to the ground as he let out a large yell, Flair's eyes narrowed as the man continued to convulse on the ground. "What did you do?" I asked, getting between her and the man, while Roscoe bounded forward and growled at him ferociously.

She waved the thing she had in her hand. It was small. Barely bigger than a pack of matches. "Knox gave it to me. It's a tazor" she said nonchalantly.

The bodyguards hauled the man to his feet. He was barely conscious. His head flopped sideways. They yanked the dagger off of him. Roscoe continued to stand in front of us and growled in warning. "We'll take care of this scumbag" growled the bodyguard who was mainly holding the drunk man up.

"Wait, wait, wait" the drunk man began to babble, still half unconscious, his eyes dazed and confused "I didn't mean any harm."

"You tried to stab my wife," I said coldly, nodding at the bodyguards "It wasn't a mistake, you deliberately tried to injure her" I growled.

"I just wanted money," he said desperately "I thought she might have money in her handbag."

Flair's eyes were cold "And you thought that seriously injuring me was the best way to go about it?"

The man's mouth closed as he struggled with what to say to that. "This is too coincidental," I said eyeing the man suspiciously "Who paid you to do this?"

He looked confused "Paid me?" he mumbled, while the bodyguard twisted his arm behind his back "Nobody paid me" he protested "I just wanted money."

Roscoe was back with Flair who was shivering slightly. "Flair go back to the house. One of the bodyguards will accompany you" I instructed her, my eyes on the drunk man "I'll be with you in a minute."

She nodded tiredly. "Come on Roscoe."

One of the other bodyguards obediently peeled off and followed her as she made the short distance back home. I glared at the drunk man whose stare was mutinous. I was surprised at how much he still had his faculties, but I also suspected the bodyguard was doing most of the work in keeping him upright.

"Who paid you?" I asked tightly.

"No one" he coughed, "I swear. I just wanted money."

I nodded at the other bodyguard who had his arms free. He nodded and then punched the drunk man in the face as he let out a howl of pain. He flopped back in the other bodyguard's arms. "Wrong answer," I said frostily "and I replace I'm growing tired of being lied to. Somebody paid you or put you up to this, who was it?"

"You've got it all wrong man, I swear," he said thickly.

"I don't think so. You happened to be here just as we were coming back home."

"What do I get if I tell you?" There was a shifty look in his eyes now.

I smiled coldly "So now you want to negotiate?" I asked, "What happened to claiming that you were innocent?" "You're not going to let me go until I say something are you? I might as well get something out of it" he said wheezing while the bodyguard holding him wrinkled his nose in disgust "Make it worth my while" he added smugly.

"How about I don't kill you?" I suggested tightly.

I did not take well to blackmail. I suspected he had already been paid well for whatever this was and was not about to add my hard-earned money to it.

"Well that's a start" he blustered, "but I mean, you can't just expect me to give it up for nothing."

"Were you supposed to kill my wife?" I asked bluntly and his eyes widened "Was that your main purpose? Because attempted murder is not looked on kindly by the authorities."

"No, god no," he said, his voice shaking now "I was just meant to scare her and rob her, that's all. I didn't realize that you were going to have so much security with you" he added darkly "and it was too late to come up with a different plan."

Although his words were slightly slurred, he wasn't as drunk as he was pretending to be and had use of all of his faculties. Even the effects of the tazor were beginning to wear off and he was able to stand up without the assistance of the bodyguard, although his grip remained tight on the drunkard.

"You were an i***t to try at all" I snarled "Do you even know who you just tried to rob?"

"Somebody rich," he said sarcastically.

I exhaled. "You just tried to rob Flair Grant, the wealthy heiress."

His jaw dropped "No, no way. I was told the woman was wealthy but that was it. That her husband was a lawyer. There was no mention that she was a Grant" he protested, sounding weak.

"Do you want to tell me who hired you now?" I asked tersely.

He hesitated. "I don't know. I was hired by a third party" he admitted, "on behalf of someone and they never divulged their name or the name of the person they represented. They just showed me a photo and told me where I could replace her." "You didn't replace that odd?" I asked incredulously.

He looked me in the eyes "Not really. It wouldn't be the first time I accepted a job in that manner. As long as I'm paid a reasonable amount of money, I'm pretty much willing to do anything, except murder" he added quickly "I'll injure, maim, even paralyze someone but I won't kill. I have my boundaries."

Great. A thief for hire who had personal ethics. I could have laughed at the irony. Even my bodyguards looked unimpressed.

"Was it a man or woman who hired you?" I asked.

"A man," he said shrugging.

He wasn't lying. I glanced at the bodyguard holding him. "What are your orders boss?" he asked grimly.

I could have the man hauled to the authorities but the odds were that without concrete proof they would simply let him go after holding him for a certain amount of hours.

"Take him to a back alley and teach him a lesson on behalf of the Grants," I said quietly as the man's eyes widened "I'm certain they will appreciate the sentiment we extend on their behalf. Not to mention we'll save them the trouble of doing it themselves later on." I grinned as the bodyguard nodded at me and began to shove the man in front of him, with his arm behind his back. "Let go of me" shouted the drunk man.

"Make sure you get his name" I called out as the bodyguard looked back "I'm certain Knox will be able to do something with it."

Another slow nod. I watched as they disappeared from view before heading back toward home with the other bodyguard in tow. Flair was waiting anxiously inside the house, Roscoe sitting next to her as I strode through the door.

"I was getting worried, "she said anxiously "Is everything okay?"

"Just a standard run-of-the-mill i***t who wanted to rob us" I lied "he's been taken care of."

She glanced at my face and decided not to comment. I brushed her hair back from her face and gave her a winning smile. "How about we get ready for bed? I think we could both use some rest now and a fresh start in the morning." She opened her mouth to say something when Roscoe nudged her hand. "I guess I am tired" she admitted "I'll go shower." My cell phone rang "I'll be there in a minute" I said, as she nodded at me.

I answered the phone "Hello?"

"Nice job with the drunken fool" Knox's voice was amused "his real name is Marcus Jones and he's a goon for hire. Your bodyguard couldn't get much more out of him. I've already traced his bank transactions but it looks like he was paid in cash which he deposited himself into his account. Many sentences in this chapter have been removed because you are not reading them on J o b n ib.com.I tried to hack into surveillance cameras at the time he claims he had the meeting with the so-called client, but they met in a public park so that's practically a dud" he explained annoyed "I heard Flair used the new tazor I gave her. What kind of effect did it have? Was it powerful enough or should I tinker with it and give it more power?" he asked out of interest.

"I think it's plenty strong enough" I advised him, remembering the effects it had "and I would prefer Flair didn't have such items in her possession."

"Tough. While she's in danger she's going to need it. I'm still trying to track down the sender of the flowers but that looks like a dead end too. Be cautious when you go to work tomorrow. I've already got GPS locators on the limousines you use." I wasn't surprised by that admission. "Thanks, Knox."

"Don't mention it. Marcus Jones will not be touching or going near either of you again" he advised and then hung up before I could say another word.

I shook my head, feeling out of sorts, and then began to head upstairs towards my wife, eager to shower and get to bed, if only to hold her in my arms and feel her heart beating next to mine before I was forced to go back to work and be apart from her again. She could easily have lost the baby today, I thought grimly and thanked god that Flair had the instinct to move out of the way in time and dodge the attack.