Page 54 of Merciful Lies

“After you,” Angel says, and I walk first, Giselle following me.

I remember that hallway as the one I walked in that night I first came to settle my brother’s debts and my heart squeezes.

So much has happened since then.

Sammy is gone.

I don’t have to worry about the bakery anymore.

I’m pregnant.

I’m married.

Hell, I hardly recognize my life anymore. And suddenly, it’s not such a bad thing.

I mean, I wasn’t exactly living life to the fullest before I got involved with Nico. To be honest, I was barely making ends meet.

The bakery is an obligation. Not something I enjoy. And the bakers have been making it difficult to try to do my job there with their constant threats and demands. Ever since Javi came on board things have been worse.

Sure, Nico and I didn’t meet conventionally. But we are together now.

And it just might be the best thing that ever happened to me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NICO

This fucking bitch won’t shut up and I am so over this meeting. Goddamn housing inspector thinks he can shake me down for more money.

He doesn’t know I know about his little addiction to a certain escort service. Or the fact he likes to do unsavory things with the women he rents for the evening.

I’m not one to tell anyone how to get off or how to make a little dough. Which is why I paid one of those women quite a hefty fee to film this sick fuck while he was getting his cookies.

Personally, I’m not into golden showers or whatever the fuck you call it. But if this guy needs a woman to pee on him to get off, that’s his business.

However, I can make it his wife’s business. In fact, I tell him just that in so many words before I walk out of his office.

“Wait, Nico?—”

“Mr. Fury,” I snap, my back to him as I straighten my suit jacket.

I know. It’s weird, me in a suit, but the truth is I conduct all my legitimate business meetings in suits. I can’t just knock around in black t-shirts and jeans and expect people to take me seriously.

So, tailored suits with pristine white shirts and light Italian linen make up much of my summer wardrobe. I usually change before going home, though, and I wonder how Anna will like me in this getup.

“Mr. Fury, please, that video, you won’t really tell my wife?”

“Mr. Hamilton, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. Now, I expect the approval stamp to be on those projects we mentioned by noon tomorrow. Give my best to Vivian,” I say, naming his wife of thirteen years.

All the shit I know. Fuck. I exhale and walk to my car.

But it weighs on me. All the nasty information I have on the people in power in this fucking city is enough to send the whole infrastructure crumbling down. It would bury them all.

It never fails to amuse me that the more legitimate deals Viper Enterprises takes on, the more aware I become that the business world is infinitely more fucked up than the criminal world.

At least there you know who’s who. One bad guy recognizes another in a dark alley, but when you’re in a boardroom or a fancy office in city hall, it becomes more difficult to tell.

“Boss?” Tommy asks, holding my door open.

I take it from him and vault into the car. It’s eight o’clock, but it’s July, so the sun is still out. My fingers are itching, and I recognize the feeling.

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