Page 45 of The Shadow

He runs his hands through his disheveled hair. “Is this about Aspen?”

“This is about you and me and the fact that you can’t respect boundaries. Maybe next time you’ll think twice about sticking your finger in another person’s face.”

He chuckles. “Hmm? Jealous you’re not the only man who’s had her?” He sticks his tongue out and wags it in the most vile and disgusting manner possible. “I thought for sure it’d take you a lot longer to snap with all that Special Ops bullshit training.”

I take the few steps toward his desk, leaning forward to rest my hands flat on his desk so I can look him in the eyes.

“There will come a time very shortly when my contract is up and I’ll no longer be required to protect you. I want you to keep this moment in mind, because I’m going to remind you of it when I cut your tongue from your fucking throat.”

His face goes white in a split second, this time a smile on my face as I push off the desk and turn to walk out his office door.

“I’ll be posted out here,” I say, slamming the door behind me and retaking my position just outside of his office door.

“You want to tell me why Connor Blake called me earlier telling me he doesn’t want you within one hundred yards of him?” Jimmy looks down at a Post-it note in his hand. “And said quote, ‘you better put your rabid dog down before someone else does.’”

“I thought you were supposed to be with him now?” I ask him, avoiding the question.

“Luka wanted to switch shifts; his daughter had an appointment and Harper was working so she couldn’t take her.” He wads up the paper and tosses it, turning back toward me. “What’s up, Harvey? You’ve been a little more reclusive lately and I know what that usually means with you.”

I shake my head in frustration, half at myself for losing my cool with Connor which I told Aspen I wouldn’t do and half because I’m annoyed I couldn’t just finish the job right then and there.

“I hate that fucking guy,” I mutter, knowing damn well how immature I sound right now.

“You and I both, buddy, but come on. We both know how to take our feelings out of the game. This is basic, entry level 101 stuff.”

I take a seat in one of the chairs in our office, leaning forward to let my shoulders and head sag.

“He’s blackmailing her,” I say, knowing full well there’s aspects of this situation I won’t be able to tell Jimmy no matter what but this he needs to hear.

“His wife?”

“Aspen.” Jimmy’s brows shoot upward in surprise, then furrow in confusion within a second of each other.

“What?”

Before I launch into the facts, I stand and close the door to our office. I tell him about the flirting, how he gained Aspen’s trust and disarmed her, only to blackmail her with a threat of releasing a video… one that turned out to be fake.

“What the fuck?” Jimmy shakes his head in shock. “I take it he doesn’t know that you know all of this?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I don’t get the feeling he thinks I know. I think he’s banking on the fact that Aspen would be too scared to tell me out of fear of retaliation from him. She told me he knows about her debt; she confided in him about how her mother died after months of treatment and hospice leaving her drowning in bills that he has since promised to pay off once she delivers her part in the financial fraud.”

“So what was this morning about, then?”

“He got in my face, being disrespectful, and when I reminded him that I was the one in charge, he didn’t take kindly to it. He brought up Aspen, though, thought that I was doing it out of jealousy.”

“Jealousy?” He eyes me suspiciously and I just ignore the question. I had no intention of getting into the dynamic of Aspen and me with Jimmy this morning and that’s the way I intend to keep it.

“Look, I’m not backing down with this fucker. He doesn’t like that I’m the one standing outside his office door. I don’t give a fuck. This is my operation and I’m taking point, but I’ll be damned if he thinks that he’s going to walk away from this whole situation intact, Jimmy. It’s not going to happen.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that when this shit goes sideways with him, and we both know it will, I need you to trust me that I can handle it. I made a promise to Aspen and I intend on seeing it through.”

He nods his head. “What was the promise?”

“That she wouldn’t have to go through this alone.” I stand up and stretch, looking at the time. She went to her yoga class after work so she should be done soon. “I’m going to go pick her up from yoga now.”

“Hey,” Jimmy says to me.

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