Page 1 of Dash

Chapter One

Dash

The racket of a helicopter landing on top of the skyscraper filled me with dread. After making me wait for two long hours, Richard Astor’s true heir had arrived at the building. The only thing I could expect from this meeting was misery, trouble, and more misery.

As if that were possible.

“Why me?” I glowered at the enormous portrait of Richard Astor. It loomed over me, larger than life, as stern, arrogant, and commanding as the tycoon had been when he walked this earth. “Why the fuck did you choose me?”

I suppressed the urge to march out of this ridiculously ornate boardroom and find the nearest trashcan to burn the papers stowed in my messenger bag. Instead, I gritted my teeth, slid the documents out, and settled them before me on the long, otherwise empty, mahogany table. I resented every provision the old man made in those documents, every instruction he’d given me in his infuriating will.

Loosening my tie, I forced myself to take a deep inhale. The lavish red-and-gold meeting room was huge, and yet I felt claustrophobic. I was caught in the magnate’s spiderweb, trapped inside the very expensive English suit I’d unretired from my stash of civilian wear, smoldering with resentment, guilt, and other emotions that a Marine Raider like me had no right to feel.

I was here to seeher.

No, it was worse than that. I’d come here to face off with her, to confront the disdain she held for me and to ratchet it up. Gravity squashed my chest at the thought of incurring her anger again, and yet, for her sake, I had to be here.

The universe sure knew how to punish a guy for hismistakes, how to stick him in hell and keep him burning in the devil’s flames, reliving his failures. At the same time, I had to be honest with myself. I was willing to do anything—including enduring Athena Astor’s wrath—to be in the same room with her.

Snap out of that flawed mindset, Marine. You’re here on a mission. A mission that will only increase her contempt for you. There’s no way around that.

I clamped down on my teeth and shoved my deep longing for her aside. I couldn’t allow my memories of better times to distract me. A surge of fury directed at Richard Astor locked them in place. Anger was the one emotion I could rely on to get me through this day.

Richard Astor had put me in an untenable position. His will had the makings of an ambush constructed by a cunning foe to ensure my tattered heart got burned to ashes again, right before I joined him in death.

And still, here I was, working on his schedule like an Astor groupie, the very thing I’d always refused to be. Fuck the old man. Fuck me and my irrational need to protect Thena.

The letter stowed in my inner pocket burned a hole in my jacket. Hell, it felt as if it was scalding my chest as well, searing the old man’s orders onto my skin like a damn tattoo. Since the Astor heiress was making me wait some more, I pulled it out, slid the folded paper from its envelope, and for the hundredth time, read it again.

Dashiell,

If you’re reading this, I’m six feet under. Might look legit, but odds are the grim reaper had help and the motherfucker hunting me has expedited my descent to hell. He won’t stop with me. He’ll come for thegirls next.

How do I know this?

He told me himself, in an anonymous, untraceable call to my private number. He said, and I quote, that “he was going to wipe me and my seed off the face of the earth.” Since I’m dead, you must conclude he meant it.

I tried to get the piece of shit before he got me. I hit a dead end. I also kept this out of the purview of the Astor Group. If my murderer is an insider and/or if he learns we’re coming after him, he’ll move on the girls faster and harder. So, no one knows about this shit. Not even Thena. Don’t tell her. You know why she can’t find out about this.

I know you don’t trust me, so I’ve left legal authorization for you to clarify the matter of my murder to your satisfaction. The attached documents will piss off a few people, but I don’t give a fuck. These arrangements will ensure you’ve got everything you need to find my killer before he goes after my daughters and to protect them while you hunt the fucker.

Whoever he is, he’s as dangerous, resourceful, wealthy, and cunning as I am. Or was. Beware. You face a formidable foe.

I gave you a lot, but I also demanded too much from you. If I were a sentimental fool, I’d apologize for some of that shit, but I’m not sentimental, or a fool, and apologies are a load of crap.

You’re a self-righteous, arrogant son of a bitch. You’re also smart, tough, and trained to operate in the danger zone. You know my girls. If anyone can keep them safe, it’s you.

How ironic. All these billions and yet, in the end, you’re the only asshole I can trust with my daughters’ lives.

Right about now, you’re thinking you want nothing to do with this, and yet you’ve got three good reasons to do as I say. You know what they are. Youwilldo this.

Your mission is to get the bastard and keep my treasures safe. I leave my fortune, my legacy, and my family in your hands. Don’t disappoint me.

Richard Astor

I made a huge effort not to crumple the paper in my hand. Instead, I folded the letter, slid it back in the envelope, and stored it back in my pocket. To make my point, I was gonna need it.

Looking up, I grunted at the magnate’s ridiculously large painting again. Cased by a gilded frame, the portrait looked as if it belonged in a medieval museum. Stately and handsome even in his later years, Richard Astor had maintained his good looks to the end.

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