Page 106 of Sinner

Christopher blew out a heated breath. “Yes, we could. But what do you hope to gain from it? He listed accusations, but in a way a judge might not see as being harmful. He used very careful wording, which likely means he was coached. Maybe this was planned just prior to the announcement of the merger.”

In other words, the man’s family would continue protecting him. I got it.

Zach snorted. “Yes, timing is everything. If the three of them were working together, it truly was a brilliant plan. You should check and see if Mr. Franklin has a sudden new crop of stock in either Merrick or Sindom. When the merger occurs, he could suddenly be a rich man.”

“A very good point,” Wilder said.

Christopher nodded and threw me a hateful glance. We’d never been on the best of terms. I thought he was a cocky bastard and he believed me to be the devil incarnate.

I thought we were both right.

What I was mulling in my jaded brain was whether Jessica had been used or if she was a part of the devious plan. Either way, at this point she couldn’t be trusted.

That didn’t mean I had any intention of letting her go.

“Then we go about business as usual for now,” I said, although my mind was elsewhere, my scathing desires bordering on psychotic. Dorn needed to pay for his sins. “That’s all we can do. Our customers and our employees need to see our confidence.”

“And if the stocks tumble?” Zach pushed.

“Then we deal with it. Let’s not allow our team to worry. We’ve weathered other storms. We’ll get through this one,” Wilder stated for a second time. He was turning out to be quite the corporate man. “I do want to find out where Dorn got his information. There was some proprietary business of ours listed. Find the damn leak.” He was directing his command to Christopher.

“That I will do,” Chris said as he moved closer to the door. “Did Ms. Waldrop learn anything while being a test subject of the Dark Nights?” He was also well aware Jessica was auditioning for a slot with the Obsidian Society. Only Elizabeth remained in the dark, although she was very calm at this point. I was beginning to wonder if she knew more about the Obsidian Society than she was letting on.

She was paying attention. That much I could tell.

“Anything? She knows her way around primal games. Part of that is the work she’s currently doing with Sindom.”

“You know what I mean, Xander. Was she provided with any proprietary information as pillow talk? Given your close relationship, I would deem it entirely possible.”

“You fucking asshole.” That was it, I had my hand wrapped around his throat in two seconds flat. I’d have lost my shit and snapped his bones if Zach hadn’t intervened almost as quickly.

Elizabeth gasped and jerked to a standing position.

Wilder exhaled, chuckling under his breath since he knew me better than anyone.

Christopher was already foaming at the mouth given my choke hold. At least the man knew better than to throw a punch at this point. He was terrified of what I might do given my nasty tone.

Plus, I was grinning as the adrenaline flowed through my veins, images of ripping out his throat playing the darkest reaches of my mind.

What irritated me was that he was directing the question to me, insinuating I’d gotten close to her in an inappropriate way. Well, I had, but he wasn’t going to learn just how.

“Just fucking stop it,” Zach snarled as he pushed one hand against my chest, the other against Christopher’s.

“It’s a goddamn valid question,” Christopher insisted, his voice tamped down by my suffocating hold.

Fine. Maybe it was.

I glared at him, the intensity of my emotions all over the place, which was something I wasn’t used to at all.

“She enjoyed the game and provided recommendations, Chris. Nothing more.”

He kept a hard look, but nodded in some level of acquiescence and I finally let go. Curling my fingers, I kept my fist in front of his face as a warning.

“I’m sorry. I think we’re all just reeling,” he said by way of an apology. “I know better than to think you’d betray your own company.”

Not good enough, but I’d let it go.

As I thought about how I wanted to handle Jessica, the hunger furled deep within my system all over again.

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