Page 23 of Crave Me

~Caspian~

I hadn’t told her.

Despite her offering me solace, understanding, and love last night, which had been just the right blend of elements to relay what I’d discovered from Ben, I hadn’t taken the in.

I hadn’t told her that his intel had enabled me to make the connection to Jeremy Wheeler, to that madman being the mole, the one who’d passed on intel to Elijah that had led to this nightmare before us now.

Barbarians. That was what he’d called us during the confrontation we’d had with him, before we’d thrown him out of the manor. With his skillset and his previous closeness to Skylar’s vendetta against Jett, he’d been in a position to acquire the necessary information to warn Elijah.

Skylar had already been through a great deal when it came to him.

Telling her this… it would only hurt her.

Until I could use this knowledge to our advantage, to bring Caleb and Bastian back to us, there was no need for her to know. Not until I had a solid lead from it.

The door to my home office opened, cutting into my thoughts, just as Luke strode on in.

“Sorry I’m a little late. I was checking in with the teams scouring the assigned area.”

“And?”

He grimaced. “They’re eighty-percent done. No leads as yet.”

I cursed under my breath. “All right, I need you to reach out to Boris and Jace concerning Wheeler. I already have two members of our security staff ransacking JW Securities for any potential clues as to his whereabouts. Any secure tech or devices they find will be sent to King-Tech to crack.”

“Boris, I get. He has underground contacts to disavowed former military personnel. But Jace is a wildcard. It’s why you insisted on such stringent controls when it comes to our business with him.”

“Wheeler is also a wildcard. I need somebody who thinks and operates in a similar fashion.”

“Still, while Boris is the loyal and honorable type and he’ll do this out of good faith, Jace certainly won’t. He’ll demand payment and it could make your arms contract with him far less profitable, possibly even a drain if he really pushes it.”

“I’m aware of the potential ramifications. Make it clear that any reward he’ll receive is contingent upon viable intel that actually leads to a definitive lead. Nothing short of that.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Nice.” He pulled out his phone and typed in my orders as usual, never one to risk missing a thing or a single detail. When he was done, he pulled another phone from his tactical jacket and handed it over to me. “Caleb’s phone. Finally cracked,” he told me. “The security he had on this thing gave King-Tech a run for its money. That’s why it took so long.”

“I’d expected as much,” I said, opening it. “That will be all, Luke. Thank you.”

As I started to look through Caleb’s phone so I could determine his contacts for his rehabilitation facilities and where he was at with each of them, so I could put my people in place to run them in his absence, I felt Luke lingering. “What is it?”

“Dante is running Mancini Syndicate operations from King Manor.”

“And? What of it?”

“That and the longer he remains here risks implicating King in his illicit activities.”

“King isn’t without illicit activities, Luke.”

“Full-on mafia is different. Those activities of ours are covert. Mancini’s are far from it.”

“King’s reputation taking a hit isn’t my chief concern.”

“It should be. This is your legacy. Your life’s work. You put a whole lot of blood and sweat into pulling this empire from near ruin and sending it skyward. It would be a shame if Elijah’s recent actions impacted that. It would be a win for him, King.”

“It won’t come to that. King will hold. I’ll see to it.”

“But—”

“Is your trust in me waning, Luke?” I demanded with a clear edge.

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