Page 29 of Dash

I squinted at the tablet, found the spot, and skimmed over the correspondent’s analysis.

The sudden change in the Astor Group’s C-suite conveys a lack of confidence in the leadership capabilities of the tycoon’s eldest daughter, Athena Astor. She’d been the de facto heir to her father’s fortune before news broke of Mr. Dagger’s takeover. As per Mr. Dagger’s statements, effective immediately, Ms. Astor no longer has a role within the company and is notresponsible for her father’s previous decisions or the company’s performance going forward. This is a blow to Ms. Astor, who up to this point was one of the richest heiresses in the world and a power player on her own.

“Well, shit.” I huffed. “That didn’t work as planned.”

“As planned?” she squeaked. “So, you admit to planting the story?”

“Affirmative.” When I’d given the interview, I’d been intent on protecting Thena and redirecting her enemy’s attention to me, but reading the correspondent’s take, I could see why the article may sit wrong with her. “I planted the story.”

“To make me look like an incompetent imbecile.”

“Bullshit.” I gritted my teeth. “You’ve known me for a lifetime and yet your opinion of me and my motives makes me think you never knew me at all.”

“Then prove me wrong.” She snatched the tablet from my hands and dropped it on the carpet. “Are you going to say something about this newspaper article?”

“I have a lot to say to you.” I fought to cool my temper. “I just need to find the right place to start. But first, how are you feeling?”

“I feel fine,” she bit out. “Other than the fact that someone is trying to kill me, you’re about to steal my business, and I want to boil you alive.”

“If you have cause, I’ll let you do it,” I bit back. “But now that you’re better and you and our circumstances have ended our truce, you need to give me a chance to clarify.”

Her chin whipped up. “Clarify what?”

“All the things that need to be clarified between us.”

That cooled some of the anger fueling her fury, some but not enough.

“Fine.” She crossed her arms and stared me down. “Clarify away.”

My cell rang. It was terrible timing and yet I needed to be in the loop. “I have to take this.” I clicked on the call and put it on speaker so that Thena could hear as well. “Sitrep?”

“The guys have cleared the block and the building,” Bozeman announced. “There are no hostiles in sight. Our team is currently deployed to defend the penthouse. You’re all-clear, but the NYPD has taken charge of cleaning up the mess.”

“Mess?” That didn’t sound good. “Elaborate.”

“We caught up with the shooter three blocks away from you,” Bozeman reported. “He’d set up on a window in an office building and used the fire escape ladder for a quick exit. We were waiting for him at the bottom. When we cornered him in the alleyway, he was shot dead.”

“We needed to interrogate that asshat.” I cursed. “Who the fuck shot him dead?”

“Long distance sniper shot,” Bozeman offered. “We didn’t see him.”

If Bozeman hadn’t seen the shooter, then we were talking about someone skilled.

“I’ve got backup on the way,” Bozeman continued. “We’ve doubled surveillance, added security personnel, and increased our patrols. So far, our investigation suggests the tango was a gun for hire widely known to the authorities. We’ll continue to investigate, but you know NYPD. They now own the case.”

I swore in my head. “Did they see you?”

“We’re not rookies.” Bozeman’s deep voice held a hint of offense. “Mina’s already working at grabbing the videos and erasing us from the chase.”

“If anyone asks, direct them to BB,” I instructed. “They’ll take care of us.”

“Copy that,” Bozeman acknowledged. “Granite out.”

“Well, that was a worthless shitshow,” I muttered, pushing myself off the floor despite my thigh’s painful protest. When Thena tried to get up as well, I motioned for her to stay in place. “Wait here.”

She rolled her eyes but stayed put. Her fierceness was one of the traits that made it hard to keep her safe. Her glower followed me as I left the closet. Her anger burned in my gut. The last thing I needed was her doubting my ability to protect her even more than she already did.

Glock in hand, I eased my way out of the bathroom and, sweeping the space with my gun, cleared the bedroom. With the adrenaline gone, my thigh spasmed some more, complaining about my actions. Shit. I felt ancient. Given the threat on Thena’s life, I needed my body to get with the program.

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