Page 149 of Dex

“You already said yes,” he replies, cool and quiet.“You just didn’t realize what the yes meant.”

I stand too fast, the chair scraping behind me.“This is blackmail.”

“This is business.”He rises too, calm and smug.“And you know the terms.I suggest you take the night to think it over.But we both know you’ll come around.”

I turn and walk out before I scream.Before I cry.

But the second the elevator doors close, the tears come.Hot, angry, silent.They trail down my cheeks and burn all the way down.

This is the second time I’ve made a deal with a devil.And the worst part?I walked into hell all by myself.Again.

Chapter 39

DEX

I’ve been texting Daniela all night long.

Can we talk?Please.Just let me know you’re okay.

No response.

I wait an hour.Then another.

I send an email.I call twice, once from my cell, once from the office line.Straight to voicemail both times.

I leave another text.

Just get in touch.Please.I need to know you’re okay.

Still nothing.I check my phone again.Still no message.Still no ticks turning blue.Is she ignoring me?Or has she shut me out of her life completely?

I hold onto the hope that it’s because she’s in love with me and she knows that if she reads a single word I sent, she’ll crumble.

In trying to fix the problem the old man has created, because I know what matters to Daniela, and what is right, I took my eyes off us, got distracted, and now she’s gone.

But I love her, and this isn’t the end of it.I’m getting her back.I haven’t slept a wink and now I’m getting ready to board a flight to Brazil.I tell the old man, and my brothers that I’m away on business.I don’t take the private jet.Everything must be done stealthily.

Every time I close my eyes, I see her with him—Oscar Fucking Ramos.I let my wife slip through my fingers, the only woman who’s ever had my heart.And maybe… maybe she thinks I don’t deserve the chance to make it right.

The thought rips me to shreds.But this is my one and only goal in life—to get her back.My brothers are working the plan.Rio has personally contacted the trusted legacy investors, rival firms and quiet allies of Daniela’s family.The buzz is building and has created just enough market noise that the old man’s intel network starts to pick it up.

In a few days’ time, Rio will engineer the “crisis” that will help a quiet rumor to spread.The old man will start to take notice and by the end of the week, he’ll panic.Sometime in the next week or two, the shell company will step in anonymously offering a generous but not suspicious buyout of fifty-one percent.

I call Rio for an update.I need to go to Daniela, and I want to know he’s got this.

“Don’t you worry, we’ve got this,” he reassures me.“The old man will take the bait, and I guarantee that by the time you get back with your wife, he’ll be discussing a transfer.”

“You’re sure?”

“I told you.I’ve got this.”

I press a hand to my chest, trying to calm the thudding panic beneath my ribs.“Anything I should know about?”

“It’s all working as planned.He’ll get the company back,” Rio confirms.“Through the shell company as agreed.The old man won’t be able to trace a damn thing.”

I exhale, feeling a sharp relief.“Thanks, brother.”

I have a battle looming ahead of me, but I’m prepared for it.I can handle Ramos.It’s Daniela I fear.It’s her answer I fear.Fear that she might not want me back.

---