Page 44 of Lord of Punishment

“Good. You won’t like what happens if you do.” Andres walked into the room, a file in his hand. “I have other business to attend to if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I have a charity event to get ready for tonight. You sure you don’t want to come? There will be a lot of beautiful women there. You could have your pick.”

The last thing I wanted was to engage in anything carnal at this point. “Not interested.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing.” He powered down half his drink, slamming it onto the bar before taking long strides from the office, clapping Andres on the shoulder before closing the door behind him.

“Your brother is a piece of work. No disrespect intended,” Andres said.

“And none taken. My brother is a playboy. Maybe one day he’ll grow up. Did you find something?”

“Yeah. It took a little while to discover anything concrete, but I did. It would appear that Charity Powers drowned in a boating accident almost four years ago. Her body was recovered after almost three weeks.”

Fuck.

“How fascinating. That would mean the condition of the body was heavily bloated, unrecognizable.”

“Yeah, but there was something else. Parts of her were missing. It would seem she was attacked by sharks.”

I shook my head. “The family?”

“Mother and father still living in Connecticut. They live a lower profile life. The father is an accountant and the mother works for one of the big hospitals.”

Just a regular girl from an ordinary family. “Anything else?”

“Good grades. Went to Yale on a partial scholarship. Well liked. The family continues to mourn their loss since she was an only child.”

“I appreciate you finding out for me.”

My second in command was smart enough not to ask why I required the information although he’d also been instructed to resource our various informants and associates who could fill in certain details about Rico. At least I knew someone had helped to arrange Georgia’s demise. It was possible the girl was in witness protection. That hadn’t crossed my mind but would certainly add credence to why she’d been so cautious about confiding in me.

Besides, a long time ago, someone close to the family had been offered a one-way ticket to a new life. While it had taken my father almost five years to find the treacherous asshole, he had, but only after the stupid fuck had broken protocol and gone to his mother’s funeral. I would likely never know who she was running from. Maybe it was just as well that I didn’t know.

I returned to my desk, pulling the drink into my hand. “It would appear Rico is making Los Angeles his home. He just purchased a share of a movie production company.”

“Interesting. From what I found it would appear he’s purchasing other legitimate companies as well.”

“Is that so?”

He grinned. “Yeah, it is. I have some information you probably want to see.”

I grabbed the file from his hand, moving around to the other side of my desk and sitting down before opening it. I flipped through the pages, noting Garcia was certainly laying the groundwork for expanding his empire. When I flipped to the last page in the file, I narrowed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I’ll be damned. “Where did you get this?”

“A party from a few years ago. It goes to prove he’s been flying under the radar for a long time.”

I sat back, studying the image. “I need to make a few phone calls.”

“Do you want me in on them, boss?”

“Not this go-around. The number one objective at this point is locating Rico so I can put him in lockdown. Coordinate with Miguel on making sure that happens.”

“As you wish, boss.”

After he left, I leaned my head back, allowing another round of images of Georgia’s face to embed themselves in the forefront of my mind.

It would seem I’d found the weakness I’d been searching for. I closed my eyes, allowing the passionate memories to flood my system, an ache already forming in my chest from what I’d be forced to do.

“What did you get yourself in the middle of, my sweet Georgia peach?”

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