Page 51 of Bulletproof Love

I drum my fingers against my polished mahogany desk as I study her features on the screen. The security footage Fairfax provided may not be high definition, but it’s clear enough that I recognize her. Dolled up in a barely there dress, tits hanging out like one of my whores. She may be masked, but I know it’s her. The friend.Falin Sinclair. And next to her, I’m sure I’ve seen him before.

“Pause it,” I command. Bruce fumbles with the remote, almost dropping it before freezing the image.

Those two cost us millions. Our most valuable clients closed their wallets tight after their auction got disrupted. Months of careful planning and relationship building, destroyed in minutes. Multiple assets lost. Fairfax will never trust me again.

I rise from my chair, circling my desk to get closer to the screen. “What do you know?” I ask my two useless lapdogs.

“We tracked them to Manhattan. They’re living in a?—”

I bang my fists against my desk, successfully silencing him. He grimaces while Dominic flinches a foot backwards. “Keep that information to yourself. If it gets out too soon, it could ruin us.” My lips turn up as I imagine presenting this gift to my uncle. Ivan has been breathing down my neck since Brennan’s unfortunate demise, demanding answers, results. This intel could change all that. Blake Hyland and her boyfriends—the cause of Brennan’s death, the reason for the collapse of our businesses in Willowbrook.

“What do you want us to do?” Dominic asks quietly, hiding partially behind Bruce. The bruises from our last conversation are still visible on his face.Good. He needs the reminder of what happens when he fucks up.

“Watch them. Learn it all. Take pictures, videos. I want to know everything. Where they shop, eat, fuck. Who they talk to.” I turn back to my desk, grabbing my straw and leaning over to do another line. “But do not engage them. If they catch on, I’ll make last time feel like your first blowjob.”

They’re eyes widen but they quickly adjust, nodding. “Got it.”

“And find out everything you can about the rest of them. The big one with the blonde hair and that quiet one. Background checks, known associates, everything.” I tap out more powder, forming it into a tight line. Realizing they’re still standing there with their heads up their asses, I yell, “Get out!”

Once they’ve finally left, I pace my office. After weeks of obstacles and failures, finally something is going my way. I replay the security footage from the gala, watching again as chaos erupts in the ballroom. Months of work destroyed because these dogs couldn’t keep their noses out of my business.

My phone buzzes from my desk, Ivan’s name lighting up the screen. I let it ring twice before answering.

“Uncle.”

“Tell me you have something.” His voice carries that edge I’ve grown to hate.

“Actually, I do.” I stand in front of my floor to ceiling window, watching the ants below go about their pathetic lives. “How would you like to hear some very good news about the people who disrupted our New Year’s celebration?”

The line goes quiet for a moment. “I’m listening.”

“I’ve found them. All of them. And I think you’ll be very interested in what I’ve discovered.” I pause for effect.

“Who did you find?” He asks, impatience in his tone.

“Blake Hyland and her boyfriends. There’s so much more.” He’s quiet on his end of the line so I quickly add, “Let’s meet in one week. Same place. I’ll have it all then.”

My hands shake as I hit the end button before he can respond. He’ll be angry, but I can tell him we were cut off. Soon, something as trivial as hanging up on him won’t matter. I’ll have everything I need to restore his trust. To prove I’m more valuable than Brennan ever was.

I pull up the frozen image of Blake’s blond friends as they snuck out a back entrance and study their details. “You should have stayed away from New York,” I murmur, heading over to my bar cart and pouring a shot of vodka. “But I’m so glad you didn’t.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

FALIN

As if itisn’t already messy enough in the apartment, now we can add a busted pipe and water leak to the mix. Inmybedroom—because of course the universe would punish me that way. “What did I do to deserve this? And don’t bring up that time in Cabo… that was an accident.”

And now I’m having a conversation with myself.

Blake hurries in with another plastic bin. “This should be big enough to get everything off the floor and out of maintenance’s way.”

“My entire life is being relegated to a Hefty bin. Tell me again, who picked this living arrangement?”

She hesitates as she picks up one of my wet T-shirts from the floor. “I honestly don’t know. Leon, probably.”

“Speak of the devil,” I say, as Leon taps on the outside of my door frame.

“I spoke with the building manager and maintenance is getting a plumber here first thing tomorrow.”

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