Page 79 of Death Wish

Cold seeped into Simone’s bones as she and Jesse were escorted to Griffin’s office. Had they been found out? Did Trevor hook up with someone from Dragon Alley and break their cover?

“What’s going on, Boudreax?” Jesse asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Grant, get the door, will you? I’ll just hang back here with a gun pointed at the pretty programmer until this business is resolved. Don’t try anything funny, Porterfield. You won’t like the results.” He chuckled. “Your girlfriend definitely won’t.”

Grant knocked on Griffin’s door, then opened it wide. “Kenyon and Porterfield are here.”

“Good. Bring them in.”

Grant stepped into the office and motioned them inside. Boudreax shoved Jesse who stumbled forward. Simone followed him.

“What’s going on, Daley?” Jesse glared at the Special Projects division head. “You’re the one who asked me to take on the role of bodyguard for the division. Why were we met with an armed escort?”

“I have a new project in mind for your girlfriend, and I wanted you to hear about it firsthand.”

“You could have asked me to the meeting,” he said dryly.

“This was more expedient.” Daley turned his attention to Simone. “Take a seat, Simone. You, too, Porterfield.”

Another hard shove in the back sent Jesse careening into one of the empty chairs. “Knock it off, Boudreax.”

“Sit down and shut up.”

Oh, man. This wasn’t good. Simone looked at Griffin. “This better be good or Jesse and I will be resigning effective immediately. No one treats him like that and gets away with it.”

Griffin’s mouth curved upward. “I do. You’ll do exactly what I tell you to do starting right now.”

“And if I don’t?”

Boudreax rested the barrel of his gun against Jesse’s temple. “I’ll kill your boyfriend, and you’ll do the work anyway.” He leered at her. “You might even find yourself with a new boyfriend before the end of the project. After all, I have to make sure you cooperate, don’t I?”

“Touch her, and you die,” Jesse said.

“Who’s got the gun and the power, Porterfield?” He sneered. “It ain’t you.”

“You’re threatening Jesse?” Simone demanded, her gaze locked on her boss. “What kind of crazy joint is this place?”

“The kind making pots full of money, my dear, and you’re going to finish a very special project for me with a time sensitive deadline.”

“How soon does it need to be finished?”

“Tomorrow at noon.”

She blew out a breath. “You don’t ask for much, do you?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” He chuckled. “I had someone else working on the project, but you’d know that, wouldn’t you?”

Simone remained silent. What could she say to that? She didn’t know how much Griffin knew about their role in Allison and Beckett’s escape.

“Thought I might get a response out of you. I’m disappointed. What sob story did Allison and Beckett tell you?”

Jesse’s knee pressed against her leg in silent warning. A warning not to say too much, but how much was that? “Someone poisoned Allison last night at a restaurant. She was understandably upset.”

Their boss scoffed. “Poisoned? Get real. Who would poison a little nobody like Allison? I can’t believe you bought into her drama. What did you do?”

She shrugged. “We got them out of the hospital like they asked.”

“And then?”

---