Page 116 of Lilly

"He hid the real one, but it wasn't a fake assignment. Phillip gave Dean another one. To kill an associate. We'd proven that she told our secrets to more than one person so she'd already been slated for punishment."

"You mean death," I say, anger in my tone.

"Pearce, you know how this works. I've tried to stop it but I can't. I'm only one person working against a league of men who feel differently than I do. And if I push too hard, I'll be the one being killed."

He's right. But it still infuriates me that we have such barbaric rules for punishment. There has to be a better way.

"And you're sure Dean did this?"

"That's what I was told. And I confirmed it with someone at my level."

So Dean is capable of murder. It's just like I thought. He's not as innocent as he tries to come across. He has an evil side, which is why I don't want him anywhere near my daughter. Although I, too, have an evil side, I've worked long and hard to control it and keep it from overtaking me. But not everyone can do that. In fact, very few people can, which is why my fellow members have no problem killing an associate, or anyone else who gets in their way or tells our secrets.

Lilly needs to stay far away from Dean. And she needs to end things with Reed, sooner rather than later. If she doesn't, I'll be doing it for her.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Pearce

By Wednesday afternoon, I've attended all the meetings William needed me to attend. It was two full days of meetings and I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Back when I was running my company, I was never this tired, even after working over a hundred hours a week. My semi-retirement must have me trained to not work this hard. Either that or I'm tired from the stress of what happened last weekend.

Since being out here, I've been checking in with Lilly and Rachel throughout the day and in the evenings. They're both fine but Lilly doesn't sound like herself. She's upset about Reed but Garret said as far as he knows, she hasn't talked to him yet. Going this many days without talking, I'm sure Reed suspects something's wrong

At five, Sue appears at my door. "Mr. Kensington, I was going to head home. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No, I'm fine. Have a good night."

She walks into the office. "Are you not feeling well?"

"I'm a bit tired."

"You don't look well. Maybe you should go home."

"I will shortly. I just need to type up some notes from the meeting."

"I could stay and help."

"No. I can do it." I smile. "Go ahead and go home."

Once she's gone, I get a glass of water, then locate the bottle of aspirin in William's desk and take out three. I have a pounding headache that has come and gone for two days now. Maybe I need to eat something, although I haven't had much of an appetite either. I'm probably coming down with something. Sue said she was out with the flu last week. I hope that's not what I'm getting. I haven't had the flu since I was a child.

As I type the meeting notes into the computer, the words on the screen fade in and out. I'm feeling dizzy and lightheaded, like I might pass out. This happened this morning too. And yesterday.

What the hell is going on with me? Exhaustion? Headaches? Dizziness? No appetite? Is it the flu or something else?

I pause to think, and realize that William has had similar symptoms. Actually, he's had the exact same symptoms, only more severe than mine.

What does this mean? Is it this building? The office? Is there something in here that's making us sick? But nobody else seems to have these symptoms. Sue seemed fine and so did everyone else.

Another wave of lightheadedness hits me and my eyes drift lazily over the desk, then stop suddenly on my glass.

The water.

I shoot up from my chair and race over to the cooler. Only William drinks this water. And now I'm drinking it and have the same symptoms as William. There has to be a connection.

I get out my phone and call Logan.

"Logan, we need to talk," I say when he answers. I check the label on the water cooler and see it's from a company based in New Jersey.

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