Page 27 of My Merciless Don

Yeah. These gangsters just might make a worthy foe.

Eyes on the prize, Audry.

Yeah yeah.

I logged off and sat back. I wondered…what was the prize I wanted to win, this time?

George looked up at me, eyebrows raised. “You done?”

“Uh yeah mostly. I wanted to check on the progress of my virus, but I can’t log in to that. Could you help me?”

He shook his head, “Sorry. You don’t have clearance for that. But yeah, your virus is a success. We’re raking it in. Also, we’ve sent our first cargo with the new courier, so we’re waiting to see if the Triad notice that they’re short on cash flow before payment is due and what they’ll do about it.”

“Fingers crossed, huh?”

“Fingers, toes, everything. If something goes wrong and they suspect us…” He shook his head, then gave her a somber look. “Obviously I tested your virus, but we’re trusting you here. If you screw us over, there’s going to be nowhere you can hide.”

I felt a bit of a chill at those words, but shook it off. He wouldn’t be the first gangster to threaten me, and certainly not the last. “I understand,” I said quietly.

He nodded and returned to his work and I returned to mine. As much as the Triad deal was a test run for them, it was also one for me. If the virus worked on the Chinese operation, I could escalate it to every organized crime family represented by the council. They were individual entities, but the council had links to every system and could access basic information.

That was literally all I needed. A way in.

Once I controlled them all, there’d be no stopping me and my stepfather would have no choice but to declare me the heir to his legacy. There was nothing he admired as much as ambition and this had to be the most ambitious project any con artist had ever attempted.

I flicked a glance at George, his warning flashing before me, multiplied by all the crime bosses. If I survived this attempt, it’d probably be a miracle.

“George?” I said.

He looked up at me. “Yeah?”

“Why did you ask me about Amy that one time?”

He blinked in surprise. “Uh… well, just the resemblance, I guess?”

“Resemblance? Everyone keeps talking about that, but I haven’t seen a single picture of this Amy anywhere. If she was the boss’s fiancée, shouldn’t there be photographs of her around?”

“The Capo had them all removed. He couldn’t stand to look at her. Guilt, y’know?”

I shook my head slowly. “No, I don’t know. I thought the Bratva killed her.”

“Yeah, they did. And why did they do that?”

I frowned in thought. “To fuck with Marco?”

“That, or she was collateral damage. Either way, he blamed himself.”

I felt a frisson of pity for Marco and ruthlessly clamped down on it. “Do you happen to have a photo of her?”

He gave me a look. “Even if I did, it’s not my place to show it to you. You want to know about Amy, ask the boss.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. That was the last thing I wanted to do. Talk about awkward. “Fine. Thanks for nothing.”

George gave me a sympathetic smile and a shrug. “Them’s the breaks, sugar. Now are you done snooping or you need some more time?”

I grinned at him, closed the laptop and handed it back. “I’m done. Thanks.” I got to my feet and walked out.

I fiddled with my bracelet, which contained the microchip I could use to monitor my virus. I had activated it on the system so that the next time George logged into their system accounts, I’d have my in too. Once I was in, I could transmit the details to Kylie. I had to be careful about that though, because I knew they were watching me, both physically and electronically, waiting for me to make a move.

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