Page 104 of Sinner

I curled my fingers, squeezing my fisted hand. How could she do this? Exhaling, the tension in the room was creating a lit fusewith everyone. How had I been so wrong about her? I couldn’t buy it just yet.

I’d experienced this exact behavior with reporters before. I was shocked the man hadn’t picked up the phone and contacted me, offering a retraction if I paid him handsomely.

Which I wouldn’t do. Anyone who knew me was well aware I loathed extortionists of any kind.

“I will enjoy ruining the man,” I said absently.

“You do understand the guy isn’t smart enough to put all this together. Right?” Elizabeth asked. I’d noticed the moment she’d walked in how ashen she was. The truth about the semi-crisis we were facing was that the single article could create irreversible damage for years to come. I’d seen that before as well, some of our competition reduced to rubble.

And our reputations were as brutal individuals and savage, merciless businessmen. It wasn’t a stretch to think we’d bought off or threatened anyone standing in our way.

“How in the hell did this happen?” Christopher asked, his deep voice shaking. “How in the fucking hell were we blindsided by a two-bit reporter? Let alone the fact we had no clue Merrick and Sindom were merging. I mean, come the fuck on.”

“Perhaps we should be asking you those very questions, Chris,” I told him, an edge in my voice. I wasn’t in the mood for any bullshit today. It had taken half the night and threats made to the editor of the gaming magazine to send us a copy of the full article before it had hit the streets at approximately eight this morning.

The phones had already started ringing, investors terrified of the ramifications.

Smirking, I shook my head as I wondered how long it would be before the FBI came knocking on our door.

He flashed me a hateful look as he jerked to a standing position, his entire body tense.

Christopher was usually a gentle soul, unless participating in the annual event. However, we were all on edge. When he lunged in my direction as if he was going to throw a punch, I stood to my full height, eager and ready to take him on.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I growled.

“You’re threatening me now?” he challenged.

“I don’t threaten, Chris. I take action.”

“Oh, the big fucking he-man. Yeah? Go for it.”

I laughed. He truly didn’t understand with a snap of my hand, I could render him unconscious.

Or worse.

The heat in the conference room was explosive.

“Calm the fuck down,” Wilder snapped. “We’ll somehow manage to use the freaking article to our advantage. Dorn is a pig and his reputation precedes him. However, I am curious how you didn’t have a hint regarding the merger, Chris. That’s not like you. You’re always on top of everything. Every issue. Jesus.”

We were all asking the same question. “I don’t know,” he answered. “What I do know is they did highly illegal activities prior to signing on the bottom line. I did a discovery run a monthago and there was nothing on the horizon. I did one last week. That’s when I found out about the game similar to ours, but nothing to indicate a merger of any kind.”

I laughed bitterly. “I do find it interesting you also knew very late in the game about Merrick’s new and comparable game release. No pun intended.”

Christopher appeared almost defeated. “They played us all. Okay? Tossing out crumbs we’d gobble up. They hid the merger as if their lives depended on it.”

A flash of murderous desire jolted my system. I glanced from Zach to Wilder and could tell they were both thinking the same thing. If only I’d been able to react more quickly with Joel Merrick, things wouldn’t have gotten out of hand. I certainly couldn’t go on a killing spree at this point in time, but goddamn if I didn’t want to.

Wilder pressed a few keys on his laptop, staring at the screen before spinning it around for all of us to see. It didn’t take a financial genius to notice how the company stocks had reacted since the market opening.

The article had already produced a solid hit. It was barely after ten in the morning and the stocks had started to fall.

“Whew,” Elizabeth muttered. “That’s terrifying. All the hard work we put into the game. Months of work.”

“We’re going to lose sales,” Zachariah said. There was no emotion in his voice, but I sensed his anger. “But I agree in that we’ll use this to our advantage.” He gave me an evil grin.

Hell, I was enraged.

Soon, the blame game would start and while I was angry that Christopher in his role as our attorney had been behind the eight ball for two major issues, the real truth about who was responsible for the heightened deception hit closer to home.

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