Page 149 of Exposed

Oh. My. Gosh.

Dex hates me. I’ve known that since the first day I arrived at The Pink.

I never allowed myself to think about getting my part of The Pink back. It was a defense mechanism. But what we thought might be true is true … my inheritance is still mine.

I was afraid to hope.

A hand wraps around my waist as King’s warm breath tickles my ear. “I told you.”

I’m too engrossed in what’s happening on the screen to turn and kiss the man who has crossed the barrier from fake to real.

“The load, Dex,” Anderson raises his voice. “We’ve got over a hundred bodies coming into the country on Saturday. If you want to turn them to work the streets for you when they get here, that’s a big job. You need to focus!”

My hand flies to my mouth as I gasp.

“Bodies?” King lets me go and turns to the men. “They’re trafficking humans?”

Ozzy pauses the video. “I told you it was big.”

“Fuck,” King grits. “He talked about a load this week. We assumed it was more cocaine.”

Ozzy looks at me. “It appears your brother is diversifying.”

“He’s evil. I can’t believe we’re related,” I admit.

“Oz gave me the heads up first thing this morning. I’m on it.” Cole motions to Ozzy. “I contract with this team for jobs overseas, but not in the U.S. But the bodies are coming from out of the country, which is an invitation for me to butt my way into the case. Between the CIA, the DEA, and Ozzy—who doesn’t exist on paper when it comes to Uncle Sam—we’ll make sure those people don’t get in the hands of Dex Carter.”

“There’s more,” Ozzy says but doesn’t push play on the video. He looks from me to King and back to me. His blue eyes are kind, even sympathetic. What they aren’t is comforting. “It’s about you.”

“There’s more about me?”

King pulls my front to his side. “Fucking Dex.”

“Are you okay to keep watching?” Ozzy asks.

Cole studies me as he mulls something over but speaks to Ozzy like they’re alone. “She’s a confidential informant. She’s got to have a set of lady balls to do that. But to walk back into The Pink? You know they’re huge.”

“Carson—” King starts.

I grip King’s shirt, because I don’t need another throat-punching incident.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Carson interrupts. “My wife has the biggest lady balls of any woman I’ve ever met. And Ozzy here is married to a real-life princess who’s no pushover. I respect you for going back to The Pink when you did. If you can do that, you can handle this.”

“Tell me what the fuck you’re talking about,” King demands.

Ozzy presses a button on the remote. The frozen meeting on the screen springs to life.

And, boy, does it ever.

Dex stands and rips the laptop from in front of Anderson. It flies across the conference room and hits the wall with a thundering crash.

Most of the people at the table flinch, but not Anderson. Not even when Dex bends to scream in his face. “Don’t fucking tell me to focus. No one’s more focused than me. Your job is to make sure we have control of the load without it being tied to me. I spent a fortune on those bodies. They need to start putting out and selling immediately. I need a return on my investment. Stay in your lane, Anderson. I’ll take care of what I need to take care of.”

Thinking of innocent humans at the hands of Dex and the rest of the cartel makes my stomach turn.

But he’s not done.

Dex turns to Rand and snaps his fingers.

---