Page 43 of Controlled

Or else.

“It’s in order. I double checked this morning. The final pieces are coming into place,” Easton answered. “We will make a profit of forty-two percent, up almost two full percentage points from what we hoped for.”

Travis was beaming. “You are good at what you do. The quarterly financials are incredible so I can only imagine what next quarter’s will be. Hell, imagine the end of the year. I might have a new client for us in the coming weeks.”

“Who are they?” Styx asked. New clients had to be vetted out carefully. Especially now.

“Forze armate Italiane,” Travis answered as if I knew what the fuck he was talking about. “The Italian military. I had a call late last week. I’m heading to their command center in a few days to talk with them. After that, I’ll know more.”

Italians.

I had yet to tell my brothers what Kane had found. While they usually acted disinterested, God help me if I didn’t keep them in the loop. Why did I have the distinct feeling another breadcrumb had been dropped? Yeah, the Italian militia was a market we’d discussed for almost a year, but the timing was… odd.

“Keep us informed, Travis, but be careful. I had a feeling we’re being tested. You know how we don’t like surprises,” I told him and Styx laughed. There was a distinct reason the three of us owned the majority shares of stocks and full control of the company. We couldn’t trust anyone, even though we’d said that about each other up until about a year ago.

“Absolutely,” Travis said in answer. “I heard about the issue at the warehouse. One of your employees creating issues?”

He turned his full attention on me, and I sighed, holding up three fingers. “The issue has been handled.”

Easton lifted his eyebrows. I’d sent my brothers an email on the fake Arabian and that he was being followed. I’d fill in the blanks later.

“Good because we don’t need the goddamn Pentagon pulling out at the last minute,” Ralph huffed. “You know how fucking squirrely the generals are.”

Yes, I did.

Loud voices sounded just outside the conference room, one of them sounding like my assistant.

“No, you cannot go in there. That is a private meeting!” It was.

Before I had a chance to find out what the hell was going on, the door was thrown open.

“Get the hell away from me.”

I recognized the second voice as well yet couldn’t have been more surprised at who it belonged to.

The lovely Bella.

“I’m so sorry, gentlemen. She just barged in, and I couldn’t stop her. Do you want me to call security?”

My assistant was exasperated, wringing her hands.

“Don’t worry about it, Nancy, and that won’t be necessary,” I told her. “I’ll handle Ms. Rothschild from here. Just close the door behind you.”

Nancy wasn’t breathing by the time she nodded and closed the door behind her.

As soon as it was closed, Bella flew in my direction, pointing her finger in my face. “You killed him.”

The two non-family board members rose to their feet, obviously not used to a woman accusing me of something so heinous.

“I hate to break it to you, lovely dancer, but I’ve killed a lot of men. Who are you talking about?”

The look of horror in her eyes was brief, turning to fear then another round of anger. “You bastard. My best friend. My dance partner. You know exactly who I’m talking about since you followed us all fucking day long yesterday. Is that how you get your jollies? Spying on innocent women? You thought you could own me? Two bouquets of roses? Telling me I belonged to you? Hell, no. I can’t stand you. I assure you that I will make certain you are convicted of his murder.”

Her defiance amused my two brothers, continuing to disturb the other two members. They obviously couldn’t see the humor in the situation.

“Now, why would I kill your partner?”

She was suddenly taken aback. “Because… Because we kissed.”

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