Page 38 of Unlocked

“I knew something was going on, but I didn’t know how far back this really went. You understand the position this puts all of us in, right? What am I supposed to do now, Jamison. What happens when you both decide you’re done fucking around with her and she gets angry? What happens if you both want something serious with her and she has to choose? You have to fucking see the problem we have here.” Sebastian stares at me expectantly, waiting for a response.

“Right now, I’m sure the last person she wants is me, Sebastian. It won’t cause an issue at work, that I can promise.”

“We can’t get rid of her,” Xavier states out of nowhere. “She’s literally the best we have ever had in Human Resources. Besides, who gives a fuck if her credentials are fake. No one outside of our circle needs to know that.”

Sebastian nods his head in agreement, bringing a smile to Riley’s face. “He’s right. She is the best we have had. Firing her would do the company more harm than good. We can all agree on that. This Lockhart thing, though. How the fuck did Kaz get involved with him?”

I hold my finger up to stop him as I dial Andre’s phone and he answers the facetime call. I’ve already discussed a little bit with him, but not everything. I quickly catch him up before continuing.

“That’s just it. I did quite a bit of digging. I don’t think Kaz even realized how close she was to that circle. Like I said before, she fought in the underground when she was younger. It’s how she survived, seeing as how her mom is a junkie and her dad was never in the picture. It didn’t click for me until I read through some of her shit. Little Devil. That was her nickname and guess who gave it to her?”

“Fucking Diablo Degerson,” Andre says putting two and two together.

Xavier whistles, “Holy shit. As in Frederick Degerson’s uncle?”

“The one and only,” Sebastian replies before turning to me. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking right now?”

“If it’s that Kaz is possibly the daughter to one of the men in charge of the underground, then yes brother, I am. And if that’s the case, this is much bigger than The Triad or The Cellar.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on?” Riley voices with concern.

“Ever heard of the four horsemen, Riley?” Andre cuts in. “Imagine four very prestigious families. Now imagine those families controlling the entire underground. Each family is in charge of one part.”

She looks at Sebastian. “Why didn't you tell me all of this when we were meeting with Frederick?”

Sebastian laughs, “Frederick was the least of my concerns. As far as any of us were concerned, he’s just a lapdog for his uncle. A playboy and the running joke to his family name. But it does make sense now why he is going after Lockhart. If he can dismember the Triad, he essentially will be taking out a part of one of the Four’s businesses.”

“Bolt Corporation cannot be involved in any of this,” Xavier huffs. “We are a fucking law firm and half these guys are clients.”

“That brings me to our final problem,” I sigh out when everyone looks at me. “The reason Lockhart was meeting with Kaz. He wanted her to bring him something of mine…She brought him my toothbrush.”

The room goes silent. No one says a word as I look at all of them. Background noise from Andre’s facetime video causes us all to look at his screen. We catch a quick glimpse of bleach blonde hair before his phone topples over and I hear him cursing in Italian. The call ends and the room is left silent again.

“I’m texting Sasha right now to make sure everything is okay,” Xavier says as he types out on his phone.

“Jamison, do you know for sure?” Sebastian asks.

I shake my head no at him. “I need proof and that requires bait,” I say, eyeing him for his response.

“Might be our only option," he replies, eyeing me back.

Riley looks at both of us confused. “I don’t know what you both have planned but Corrine and I want to see Kaz. Take us there now, please.” She stands up, immediately grabbing her purse and Corrine does the same.

Chapter 31

Kaz

I’m sitting on the couch in Jonathan’s living room, him next to me, when Jamison walks in. My whole body tenses up when we lock eyes. What is he thinking right now? Is he even sorry? The look on his face is completely blank which pisses me the fuck off. How dare he come in here and act like he didn’t just torture me over nothing. Jonathan leans in front of me, breaking my eye contact with his brother.

“You okay, Pretty Girl?”

I nod yes at him before looking over his shoulder to find Riley and Corrine walking into the apartment. I jump up, a smile immediately forming on my face. They both run over and hug me.

“Are you okay, Kaz?” Riley asks concerned.

Corrine looks at Jamison with narrowed eyes. “We heard what happened.”

“It was just a slight miscommunication,” I try to reason, knowing full well I have a shit ton of secrets I’m still keeping from them.

---