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I shook my head. I was going to let her slide because she was so damn cute. Mr. Hayes laughed.

“She’s been doing that since she was a little girl.”

“Daddy!”

“What? It’s true.”

I smiled and went back to eating. For a while, breakfast was exactly what I’d expected. Good food, easy conversation, and Penelope getting embarrassed every time her father told me something about her childhood. Then Mr. Hayes brought up something I hadn’t expected.

“MJ, there’s actually something I wanted to ask you about.”

I looked up from my plate.

“Yes, sir?”

He wiped his mouth with his napkin.

“Penelope told me about the incident where someone followed her home.”

I nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“I had my security manager, Marcus, review the footage from the building. We were able to get a better look at the individual involved.”

Penelope frowned.

“Daddy, I thought we already talked about that,” she interjected.

“We did, Pumpkin. But I wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything else we needed to be concerned about.”

I took a sip of my water.

“What did you find out?” I asked.

“Well, Marcus did some digging. And recently, a name came up that appears to match the individual we were looking into.”

I kept my attention on him.

“A young man named Giovani Baxter.”

Penelope stopped eating.

“Who?” she asked.

“Giovani Baxter. Apparently, he was found murdered at an abandoned fairground not too long ago. The police are still investigating.”

I placed my glass back on the table. He was digging, and I let him. I knew exactly who Giovani Baxter was. I knew where he died. And I knew who put the bullet in his head. But none of that showed on my face. Mr. Hayes continued.

“From what Marcus was able to gather, there’s reason to believe he’s the same individual who followed you home.”

Penelope looked shocked.

“Oh, my God. Daddy, are you serious?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

She turned toward me.