Page 35 of Royal Flush

“What is going on? I only flew in a few hours ago yet here I am called to a special, el pronto meeting. Confession time.” I took a sip of my drink.

We would always have issues to contend with, from fluctuating stocks and disgruntled shareholders to enemies who enjoyed watching us squirm, but I had a bad feeling whatever had happened while I was gone would alter the course of our future.

Gage returned to his perch on the posh leather, searching for something on his computer,

“A couple of days ago, I had a couple suspicious emails from people claiming to be from the FTC,” Valerio said almost in passing, his voice lower than normal. “After I ignored them, I had phone calls.”

“The Federal Trade Commission?” I asked, knowing full good and well that was the agency he was referring to.

He nodded. “The last time I told the fucker off since he was hassling me. Then two representatives showed up at the office.”

“For what reason?” I huffed. There’d been certain people who had reported everything from bogus issues to insinuating we’d been involved in various heinous crimes. Hell, during my father’s tenure, some asshole had contacted the police screaming there was a dead body in the lobby.

Had the three of us crossed various lines over the years, perhaps doing more than toeing the fine line between right and wrong? You bet. There wasn’t a successful businessperson around who hadn’t. Had we used methods of blackmail and extortion against an unscrupulous asshole?

An easy ‘hell, yes.’

However, the FTC enforced antitrust laws that prohibited anticompetitive mergers and other business practices that could lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation.

The three companies we owned had been under an umbrella corporation since the beginning. We weren’t price gouging anyone. And our choices of services had only increased both in value and in number over the years.

Valerio laughed bitterly. “They wouldn’t provide me with details since they were just sniffing around but I could tell they were after something.”

“Which meant someone tipped them off bogusly,” I said in return. The practice certainly wasn’t unheard of.

“Whatever the case, I had a bad feeling and still do,” Valerio continued.

“We face that kind of shit all the time,” I said, half laughing. The two of them were more disturbed than normal. Shit. We’d had guns pointed in our faces by cops and idiots breaking into our offices looking for a quick buck. “That can’t be all that happened or you’re getting soft, brother.”

Valerio walked to the window, which had a spectacular view of both the city and the ocean.

Was he favoring his right arm? I couldn’t tell for certain.

“It’s not. The same day, I had a visit from the Security Exchange Commission at the Royal Agency. They just dropped by demanding credentials and our records. I managed to push them off, but they’ll be back with a court order.” Gage was damn good at dealing with the SEC, keeping abreast of any and all changes in the laws. Handling people’s wealth had strict overview as it should.

And the majority of our clients were worth tens of millions of dollars if not more.

“Let me guess. The reps touted impropriety yet refused to tell you the name of the whistleblower.”

When Gage did little more than sigh, I stepped forward. “Okay. So we need to narrow down the possible haters, developing a decent list of who we give holy shit to.”

Valerio was usually the calm and collected one who rarely had his feathers ruffled.

Not this time.

Whatever had been insinuated had burned him a new asshole.

“While you were punishing some broad, Gage and I developed that list.” He pulled something from his desk drawer, tossing it in my direction as if unable to give a shit if I could catch it in midair or not.

I did.

“Men from our little black book?” I asked way too casually for my brother’s obvious pissed-off mood.

“Stop acting like some freaking playboy, Braxton. We are running a billion-dollar business with high profile clients from coast to coast. We can’t afford to have rumors started in this town or any other.”

I’d never seen my brother so worried. It was completely out of character.

“Jesus Christ, Valerio. We’d dealt with much worse including months ago. Remember?” I slapped my crystal glass onto the bar, taking a few seconds to open the file. There were six names listed, only one of them a woman. There was even a goddamn politician on the list. I wasn’t aware he’d been one of our clients.

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