Page 52 of They All Own Me

For now.

Chapter 28

Connor

I watchDom and Tatum walk in the house and it's painfully obvious what went down on that jet. The way they keep their distance but can't stop stealing glances at each other speaks volumes. In this business, you get pretty fucking good at reading people. You can tell alot about someone based on body language alone. And theirs is screaming newest members of the mile high club.

Dom's usually perfectly pressed shirt has a slight wrinkle at the collar. Tatum's blonde wig isn't quite as pristine as when they left.

"Meeting. Now." I clear my throat, running a hand through my hair. "We need to discuss the situation with Thomas."

"What's the update?" Dom asks, all business despite the lingering tension.

"The press is eating up the concerned husband act." I pull up the latest coverage on my tablet. "But we've got a problem. Thomas has been making calls to some contacts in Hong Kong. I think he's trying to pin this on the Triads to cover his own ass."

Tatum drops onto the leather couch, kicking off her shoes. "Of course he is. He'd rather start an international incident than admit he's in bed with everyone."

"That's not all." I pace the room, my jaw tight. "If he keeps pushing this angle, it could blow back on our entire operation. The Triads start digging, they'll find out we have you."

"So what's the play?" Dom leans against the wall, arms crossed.

"We need to accelerate the timeline. Get Thomas to crack before he can cause real damage." I stop pacing and face them both.

I pull up the latest news coverage on my laptop, grinding my teeth at the scrolling headlines. Thomas has plastered a million-dollar reward across every network for information leading to Tatum's return.

"This complicates things." I push back from my desk, addressing Dom and Isaac. "Every wannabe bounty hunter and PI in the tri-state area will be sniffing around."

"We need someone to stay with her at all times now," Dom says, running a hand through his hair. "Can't risk her being alone with that kind of money on the table."

"I'll do it." The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. "I can monitor the security feeds from here, coordinate our moves. Makes the most sense."

Isaac raises an eyebrow. "You sure that's why?"

"Focus." I pull up the satellite view of our territory. "We've got three locations that need handling today. The warehouse on 5th, that meeting with Rodriguez's crew, and the shipment coming in at midnight."

"Fine." Dom checks his watch. "Isaac and I will split up, handle the immediate fires. Connor keeps eyes on everything from here, maintains our alibis."

I look in her direction. "What kind of access did Thomas give you to the accounts?" I ask.

Tatum shakes her head, snacking on a piece of beef jerky. "None. He kept me completely in the dark about finances. I got an allowance, if you can believe that. Like a child."

"Not even joint accounts?" I lean forward, studying her face.

"Everything's in his name. The house, the cars, even my credit cards are just authorized user accounts on his." She takes a sip of water. "He said it was to 'protect our assets' but really he just wanted control."

"What about his office? Any paperwork lying around?"

"He's obsessive about keeping everything locked up. The only time I saw anything financial was when he'd leave bank statements on his desk, but those were probably just decoys." She taps her fork against her plate, thinking. "Although..."

I raise an eyebrow. "Although what?"

"He does have this old leather briefcase he carries everywhere. Even sleeps with it in the bedroom sometimes. I've seen him input some kind of code to open it."

"You remember the code?"

"No, but I remember the sound pattern. Six beeps, pause, four beeps." She demonstrates the rhythm with light taps on the table. "He's weirdly protective of that thing."

"That's something we can work with."

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