Page 111 of Unlawful Seduction

Now was his time.

I’d listen, but in truth, I didn’t give a shit. I’d already made up my mind and this time, there was nothing that would drive me away.

“I’m serious. What’s wrong with Stowe?”

“Well, everything.” He sat back in his seat, scanning the small bar where he’d asked that I meet him. It was dark and nondescript. I suspected the man was trying to hide our affiliation.

Bastard.

Hell, I guess I couldn’t blame him.

But he’d been good to me over the years, the only friend I’d managed to keep after everything that had occurred. At a risk to his own life.

Yet I kept in the back of my mind every nefarious possibility. Now wasn’t the time to allow my guard to fall. Not when I was about to enter into a new chapter of my life.

His anxiousness worried me. Was it possible he was capable of betraying me?

“That’s not fair. It’s beautiful here. The people are friendly, the mountains incredible.”

“You could live anywhere in the world, and have over the last few years, yet you come back here. It’s all about the woman you’re pining away for. Right?” Mike had a wife and kids, but that didn’t mean he had a penchant for family life. He’d learned early on what money could buy and he preferred the playboy life. Sure, he claimed to adore his son, but he was grooming the teenager to follow in his footsteps.

“Dr. McGregor is something special. Then there’s the reality about my son.” I watched his reaction. He seemed to understand although I knew looks could be deceiving.

“A son she made it perfectly clear she didn’t want you to have anything to do with.”

“Things change,” I told him with a smile on my face. I took a sip of my drink. There were significant decisions to make and for all the promises I’d made in the throes of passion, I wanted to ensure that I wouldn’t interfere with her life or Brady’s for that matter. Yes, he was my flesh and blood and I planned onensuring he had a father figure. However, prudence and caution were still in order. “She’s warmed up to the idea.”

“You mean she’s warmed up to the money.”

I leaned over the table, my anger almost getting the best of me. “Not everyone is willing to sell their soul for money. You and I have been friends for a very long time, Mike. I’ve made you an extremely rich man over the years. I suggest you remember I’m not the kind of man you want to cross.”

I found it interesting he seemed slightly indignant.

“Is that a threat?” Irritation enveloped his expression and body language. The man knew he couldn’t best me, yet he often felt compelled to try to assert his manhood.

“That’s a reminder and nothing more. You enjoy your life in the Hamptons with kids you rarely see and three mistresses the last time I checked. I just find it curious how many excuses there have been.”

“You really think I betrayed you. Don’t you?”

“I’ll be honest, Mike. I don’t know what to believe. There’s something going on that I don’t know about, and I fear it’s going to take a personal trip to New York for me to find out.” I was tossing out a carrot to see if he’d bite.

His eyes opened wide. “I’ve done plenty of terrible things in my life, Beckett, but betraying you isn’t one of them. But you’re right. Something is going on.”

“Meaning?” I sat back, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

“Scuttlebutt around the Valenti organization, as if there’s going to be a resurrection. I’ve made some calls in an attempt to figureout if the Bratva or the Armenians have laid claim, which is entirely possible. You haven’t been out of the business for that long. They both have a stronghold and loathed the Valenti line.”

Who the hell didn’t?

Yet with all his pointed pontification, the man was nervous. I leaned closer. “Think about what I said, Mike. If you cross me, it will be the last fucking thing you do.”

He laughed at me, acting indignant. “You’re a piece of work. Does the pretty veterinarian know how many men you’ve killed over the years? Does she have an understanding in that intelligent head of hers that you enjoy torture and bloodshed?”

Now I was the one glancing around the room. What few customers were inside weren’t paying a damn bit of attention. “She knows enough. None of your business.”

“You made it my business when you trusted me enough to establish a trust fund. Also, when you continued to have me pay that woman off in fucking Wyoming.”

Instinctively, I wrapped my hand around his throat. The man needed a physical reminder of my superiority. “I made it perfectly clear I wasn’t to learn where she’s living. Why the fuck did you just say it?”

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