Page 156 of Saved By My Buyers

“Oh? I didn’t hear if he had anything to do with Dolly’s disappearance,” I say quietly. The door is closed, and everyone here is banned from speaking about clients or us.

“I spoke to his father, and he was very disappointed to hear that Ivan has been such a jerk to Dahlia,” Greg explains. “He gave me full support in scaring the shit out of his son. Turns out, Ivan is simply jealous and intimidated by Dahlia’s gifts, which we knew, but he let things go too far. He kept egging Arina on, not realizing she wasn’t bluffing. He didn’t know Arina was working with her father until the recital. At that point, he tried to get Dahlia not to follow Arina, but it was too late.”

“Dolly wanted to find Bee,” I grunt. “I’d have done the same thing. What about the money the Boxley’s are missing?”

“I blamed it on Adamson and Gareth,” Greg says with a shrug. “I explained they’d been working together, and that Gareth was a known child rapist. The Boxley’s are writing it all off as a very costly learning experience, since two of their family members were involved.”

“Fuck, what a mess,” I say. “Is your work done with the Boxleys’?”

“Yeah, it’s all buttoned up, and I disappeared as if I never existed. It’ll never blow back on myself or my family,” he says.

“The Ghost lives on,” I tease him, bumping his shoulder. “I need to talk about what the girls want to do about their identities. Bee can take over her inheritance now without repercussions, which will help her pay for graduate school next year. I said I’d pay for it, but?—”

“They’re very independent,” Greg grunts. “Fuck, watching Dahlia wiggle out of that high window gave me indigestion. You have your hands full with those two. Oh, dark web had a contract out for Bee, but I canceled it due to inability to pay. Gareth was getting desperate for that money, but it’s what we needed to draw him out.”

Blowing out a breath, I rub my forehead. “At what cost?” I ask. “I’m emotionally wrecked after tonight. Too many things could have gone wrong, and this snowstorm is out of fucking control.”

Midnight came and went hours ago, and I’m just glad for a new year, new day. I need the opportunity to do better. The sun is high in the sky, which means Greg has been working for hours, while the girls have been sleeping and healing.

“We need an overhaul of our teams,” I tell Greg, rolling my neck to look at him. I’m so damn tired. I’m about to sneak into bed with Bee, because she doesn’t have broken bones in case I jostle her accidentally.

“We interrogate everyone as if they’re new hires. We check for bad debts, family illnesses, finances, fucking everything. Thomas was one of our most trusted people, Greg.”

“He was, and I’ve never been more blindsided than I was last night,” he sighs. “I’ve gotten started on it, and I told Sullivan he should close the school for two weeks, while I pull his people to run a deep dive on their lives. Nothing is going to be left unturned.”

“And Ciara?” I ask. I almost don’t want to think about her, but she won’t be allowed back on duty until she’s completely healed and attends therapy for any PTSD. It’s going to take some time.

Otherwise, she’ll be a liability, which she doesn’t want either.

“She’s in another wing of the hospital,” Greg says. “Severely depressed, feels like a failure. Thomas came at her with the force of a steam engine. No one her size would have been able to stop him, not that she’s tiny in any way.”

Ciara probably has more muscle mass than I do, and it still didn’t help.

“Fuck, it’s a shame,” I sigh. “She thinks she got too close to Dolly.”

“I mean, maybe? But she also didn’t stop screaming and fighting while twisted up like a pretzel in the supply closet,” Greg says. “This is a gray area. Ciara is still a damn good guard, simply on hiatus for a bit. Now, what are your plans?”

“Me?” I ask surprised. “My life is in Detroit. Now that the situation with Gareth is over, I’ll start looking at a property to buy that’s more suitable for us. I only got the apartment for security purposes. Bee’s accepted into school here too, and I don’t see Dolly walking away from music school.”

“You’re still happy being the face of the company?” Greg asks. “The meetings, the responsibilities, the occasional travel? The media?”

“Are you saying my relationship is going to cause an issue?” I ask drolly. Greg and his two best friends are in a relationship with one woman, I highly doubt that’s where he’s going with this.

“I don’t give two shits, and we’re living in a very modern world,” Greg says. “I’d fucking go public with you if I could. It just feels hypocritical to ask you to.”

“I have to talk to Bee and Dolly, but now that Gareth is dead and the Boxleys’ are no longer an issue, I don’t see a problem with it,” I tell him. “I haven’t liked keeping things a secret. Neither of them are my dirty secret and never have been. I just didn’t want Gareth to come sniffing around.”

“Okay,” Greg grunts. “If things change, tell me. You’ve been doing this a long time.”

“I still love it,” I say honestly. “It’s flexible work, my team is great, and they give me their best every day. It makes it fun to come into work.”

“Good. Now get some sleep,” he says. “I think you’ll be here for a few more days.”

Nodding, I yawn, standing to walk over to Bee’s bed and climb into it. Greg stares at me for a beat before shaking his head.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t go to an empty apartment either if my entire world was in this room,” he mutters. “Can I go get your shit from your apartment?”

“You set up the passcodes,” I murmur sleepily. “That would be great, thanks.”

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