Page 22 of With This Ring

Two hours later, I rub my dry eyes and glance down at the notes I’ve taken. I’m not sure what Charlie is talking about. Kai’s business is extremely profitable. He’s making money hand over fist, spending money on quality items, but getting them at a bargain. He pays his employees above minimum wage, while still retaining a maximum workforce. To put it shortly, Kai has a good mind for business. Which leaves me to wonder what the fuck is Charlie on about. I’ll have to dig more into it, see what the real problem is.

There’s also an issue with the books that I’m sure Kai doesn’t know about. Despite him saying he doesn’t need my help, that’s the furthest thing from the truth. His bottom line is off. Byalmost twenty thousand dollars this month, close to thirty last month. If I’m right—and I know I am—someone is stealing money from Kai.

Shaking my head, I go back to the front of the office where I see Percy taking frightened glances at Gavin. Gavin is only slightly larger than me, but his shrewd brown eyes and the hard set to his face ensures most people are scared of him. I’m used to seeing his mug, so his permascowl means nothing to me. I thought I heard them talking a few hours ago, but maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.

“Let’s go, Gavin. Thanks, Percy. And do me a favor.”

“Ye-yes sir?” His voice trembles and I have to fight not to chuckle.

“Don’t tell your boss I was here. I’ll tell my husband myself.”

He sighs gratefully and nods. “Yes sir. Thank you, sir.”

When we get to the car, Gavin gives me a long look. “I see you’re getting used to that word.”

“What word?” I ask, though I know exactly what he’s talking about.

“Husband.” I scowl. “Don’t sweat it, boss. You two would actually make a good couple if you stop throwing punches all the time.”

I scoff, though it’s half-hearted. Ever since I stuck my dick in him, I’ve been thinking the same thing. No denying that our sex was hot. It was like Kai was made for me, his hole molding around the shape of my dick. And his moans. God, his moans. They burrowed into my brain, the memory of them cropping up at the most inopportune times. I’ve been walking around with a semi ever since we fucked.

“It’ll never work. We hate each other.”

Gavin smirks as he pulls away from Kai’s company. “Do you?”

I don’t answer, just stare out the window at the scenery passing me by. Do I hate Kai? Have I ever? I’ll venture to say I don’t really know him. His family and mine have been at odds since before I was born. It was expected of me to not like the enemy.

But he’s not the enemy anymore. He’s my husband. We’re supposed to be allies. What’s the point of us being miserable when we’re stuck together for years, decades even?

Fuck, it’s all so perplexing. Sex always confuses things, and my head is all fucked up. Namely because I want more. Unfortunately for me, Kai said once to get me out of his system.

I clear thoughts of my husband from my mind when we pull up to the warehouse to meet with the Colombians an hour later. My other men are parked in an SUV already waiting for me with the product. I had them meet me here since I was going to Kai’s company beforehand. Going over his budget was nagging at me, so that had to be done before I took care of my real business.

Hopping out of the car, I motion for my guys in the other car to bring the product inside.

Dante Lopez, the head of the Colombian family stands by a row of tables, his men and workers behind him. He grins when he sees me, holding his hand out for me to shake. Out of all the families that have territory in our small slice of South Jersey, Dante and I get along best. I know his family is content to run his business far away from Yorkley where our territory is.

“Good to see you, Carter,” Dante says, his deep Jersey accent sounding familiar. Like me, he does business for his father to prepare to take over one day. “You’re early.”

I nod and incline my head to my guys so they can put the cases of heroin, coke and pills on the floor by Dante’s feet. “We have some trouble down in our part of the city, so I wanted to make sure you had what you needed before shit went south.”

“Shit,” he says, shaking his head. “We’ve heard faint whispers of trouble in your area. Any ideas of who it is?”

“Vague ideas,” I tell him honestly. “It’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Dante steps forward, dropping his voice. “If I hear anything, I’ll let you know. Since we are so far away, there’s not much I can do from here. But I’ll help where I can.”

I clap hands with him and pull him in for a one-armed hug. “Thanks Dante. We’ll keep our ear to the streets.”

His men bring out the cases of money and transport them to the SUV. Dante and I talk about his next delivery, then we head out.

Kai is on my mind as we drive back to Jersey. Well, not him. His company. Someone is skimming off the top. I don’t like Kai, but I hate stealing even more. If the St. Clair’s are anything like us, they pay their people handsomely to earn their loyalty. Judging from how much money the company rakes in, I’m sure Kai pays more than what is state mandated. That means he has a greedy bastard on his payroll that thinks he’s worth more than he’s paid.

I’ll have to take over as lead accountant for him. He probably delegates the responsibility, expecting his people to be loyal. But he shouldn’t be stupid.

“Take me to see Kai,” I tell Gavin. “I need to?—”

My words are cut off by a large explosion in front of us. The car that has my money and my men in it shoots into the air, now turned into a metal fireball.

---