And then he picked up his phone and texted two words to a number I didn’t recognize. He set the phone down and turned to me.
"You won’t have to worry about them much longer," he said, running his knuckles across my cheek and I leaned into his touch. It was so good to be with someone that fought for me. I wasn’t in this all alone anymore.
CHAPTER 14
Kennedy
Stephanie lit her cigarette with shaking hands, glancing around the back of the nursing home like someone might be listening to our conversation.
“I can’t believe this shit. I’ve been sleeping with Byron for months and haven’t gotten closer to anything more than late night booty calls. And little miss Nova bats her eyelashes, and the new owner not only fucks her but marries her fat ass. I’m not sure this was the right way to go about this. I mean, it’s not like they’re doing anything illegal. Nova has always been cool with me. I know you have your issues with her, but do you really think we can go up against Mr. Sanderson and win? If it was just Nova, I would be all for it but…” Stephanie whined.
“But what? You already chose your side. Don’t forget if it wasn’t for my family, you wouldn’t even have this job.” I gritted.
“This isn’t what we agreed to when you convinced me to come out here. You said all I had to do was play my position, keep an eye on Nova and when the time came to give you any dirt I had on her. How is any of this going to help your brother get her and his daughter back?” She asked, continuing to look around.
“You’re worrying about the wrong thing? I huffed, leaning against the brick wall, with my arms crossed.
What the hell should I be worried about? I didn’t count on Nova marrying one of the most powerful men in the state and clearly neither did you.” She told me.
"Doesn’t matter." I said more nonchalantly than I really felt.
"You saw what happened. The staff’s on Nova’s side," she said.
I smiled grimly before repeating. "Doesn’t matter."
"Then what’s the plan?” she asked.
Stephanie took a slow drag from her cigarette, blowing smoke toward the sky while she waited for me to speak.
"We create an incident,” I said confidently.
“What? She stiffened.
“You heard me.” I hissed, tired of this bitch already.
"Real or fake?" she asked with a sign.
She knew she didn’t have any choice but to go along with my plan. I wasn’t in the business of leaving loose ends, and if Stephanie wasn’t helping my family get what we wanted, she was a loose end that needed to be dealt with.
"Doesn’t matter, all we need is a report and an accusation. State walks in and finds 'evidence' that the directors are neglecting residents because she’s too busy being Mrs. Sanderson."
"And if there’s no real incident?" Stephanie tapped her cigarette nervously.
"Then we make one." I smiled. I would get what I wanted one way or another. Nova wasn’t going to get away with the shit she put my brother through. And she damn sure isn’t going to walk away with Crew.
“I’m not going down with you if this doesn’t work. The money your family gave me was cool, but it won’t be enough to get us away from Crew Sanderson if he finds out what we're up to.”
“What do you actually know about the man? And don’t tell me about what you heard. From what we know, he runs his grandfather's business nothing more. So stop jumping to conclusions and do your job,” I said, rolling my eyes.
This bitch was on my last fucking nerve. I needed Stephanie to help me finish what I started. We would just have to play this safe and get this done quickly.
“I’ll call you when I have something,” she said, dropping her cigarette butt on the ground and walking to her BMW.
I shook my head as I walked over to my Lexus GX 550. I was running out of time. I need to get this done. He’ll be here soon.
CHAPTER 15
Kyle