Page 16 of Harry

“I wouldn’t be using that code to rob the place, trust me.”

She tosses me a look over her shoulder that says,yeah yeah, and it makes me want to prove myself to her.

The safe door swings open and reveals several notebooks, envelopes loaded with cash and a document.

“Well?” I ask.

“Uncle Philip was right about the legal firm,Klein and Gladstone, I remember seeing their name in the lobby next to this bank of elevators.”

“Yes, they do have an office downstairs.”

Harry unfolds the sheaf of paper and reads over the words quickly, before frowning.

She pulls a notebook from the pile in the safe and flicks it open, reading over the neat script I recognise as Richard’s.

“Bram was right, and Dad knew about it.” Harry collapses into the chair that was once her father’s and rests her forehead on her arms.

“He wouldn’t have been able to do anything without proof, and even then, human trafficking is accepted as normal business in most circles.” I want my words to ease her sadness but when she looks up at me, her grey eyes are red-rimmed.

It’s difficult seeing her like this. Trying to understand it from her point of view when I’ve been raised in this life is hard. Her strength and conviction are admirable, but it still remains that she is a woman, and even in this world, men don’t want a female leader, because women rule with their hearts.

The entire Cordez empire will have to change, and I’m not sure the soldiers will be on board.

Harry

We head back down to my hotel room, Aidan insisting on walking me back even though I know the way.

“I’ll introduce you to the staff another time,” he says and I nod my agreement. I need sleep and food, and to scrub the dirty feeling from my skin in a blistering hot shower. I don’t think I’ll ever feel clean again. “You’ll be spending a lot of time here…” he trails off, waiting for me to confirm that will be the case. But how can I know?

I open the door to my hotel room and Aidan follows me in. I’m becoming all too used to having him near, feeling his presence surrounding me, protecting me.

“What are my orders, Boss?” he asks. I find it strange how all the men in my office would rather choke on their own tongue than call me boss, and yet this great big hulking American mobster is quite content to let the word roll off his tongue.

I chuckle at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, reaching to push a tendril of my hair back behind my ear.

“At home, my nickname at work…it’s certainly not ‘boss.’” My voice catches as his finger brushes the lobe of my ear.

“What is it?” he asks, his voice lower, huskier than before.

I don’t want to tell him, embarrassment creeping over my skin and heating my cheeks.

“What do those fuckwits call you?” he asks, hooking his finger beneath my chin and lifting my face so our eyes meet.

“Ball-breaker Cordez,” I admit.

“Well, when we return to England, we’ll show them what ball-breaking really means.” Aidan’s dark eyes have lost their humour and I wonder why he would return to England with me. “You know they only say that about you because you intimidate them.”

“Yes, Aidan. That’s the problem.” I spin away from him, frustration tightening the muscles in my neck, wishing I was as confident with him as I am in the boardroom. “The only man I could ever talk to about anything to do with work was my dad. No man I met ever wanted anything to do with me, at all. Because I’m intimidating. Men don’t like intimidating women.” The realisation hits me like a freight train.

“I’m alone,” I say, sinking down to the bed.

Aidan drops down in front of me and cups my face. “You’re not alone, and I don’t think you’re intimidating.”

“That’s because you’ve seen scarier things than me. I am the scariest thing those men will ever come across in their careers.”

“Those men are pussies,” he grumbles, stroking a hand down the side of my face.

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