Page 109 of Dubious Match
“Fuck,” Hayes breathes. “Can you send yourself that email?”
“Yeah, I will just before I let the internet eat the original version,” I rasp. “God, and she just keeps fucking going. ‘I appreciate the years we’ve worked together and hope that we can continue in our mutually beneficial relationship. The next auction will be on June seventeenth, which means that we'll be having beautiful weather. 1259 West St in Savannah, Georgia will be where I plan to have it at. If there’s a change in the date or address, I’ll be sure to tell you. Madam Clara.’”
“She’s so nonchalant,” Hayes spits out, his face turning red with anger. “Clara really doesn’t fucking care that she’s ruining people’s lives.”
“She runs an auction, of course she doesn’t care,” I whisper, forwarding the email to myself before deleting the evidence that I did that. Taking a breath, I send myself all of the emails that Emilia has so I can go through them, and then crash her server.
Now, Emilia won’t be able to receive any messages, or retrieve all the emails that I just deleted. It’s a blank slate.
Next, I hack into her phone and delete her contacts, notes, and all important information. I make sure that anything she backed up is also deleted because her password to her external cloud is saved on her phone.
Fucking idiot.
Is it enough? Absolutely not, but I have an address and a date, and that’ll have to suffice for now.
I back out of the ROWS network and delete any evidence that I was ever there before closing the back door I slipped into. She really should do a better job of keeping hackers out.
I’m shaking with anger and adrenaline when I glance up and find that Emilia and her Merry band of Twats are gone.
“Can you call Cian?” I ask, my voice breaking. “I need to tell him what I found.”
“I’ll call Evan instead and have him drive here with the boss,” Hayes says, picking up the phone as I nod numbly.
All this time, I’ve been looking in the wrong places. The dark web has been completely quiet about Madam Clara’s grand opening for her floating auction because she wanted to keep it that way.
It’s smart, but I can still fucking hate her for it.
“He’s on the way,” Hayes grunts as I nod, standing to pour myself a stiff drink. “I won’t say it’s too early for that, and I’ll take one too.”
I add another glass as I pour him one too, returning to the couch to hand it to him. I don’t understand why I’m freaking out. I know that Emilia has a hand in the auctions, but to see it so baldly in black and white and that it’s been happening foryears?
“Un-fucking-believable,” I whisper, taking a long sip, enjoying the burn as it travels down. My skin pebbles up withgoosebumps as I shiver, and I consider pulling on a sweater even though I know this isn’t from the cold.
No, I know it’s the depravity of life that’s responsible for this.
Twenty-One
REMY
“Hollis, are you sure you want to come with me tonight?” I ask, worried as I watch her pull on her heels.
She looks stunning, her hair is curled and pulled into a high ponytail, and her green dress hugs her curves. My concern is that she’s been distant for the last week since her heat.
Hollis promises that it has nothing to do with us, and that she’s working on some things for the Senior Mafia Families. Except, I still worry because our bond doesn’t give me much information about her thoughts. I can sense anxiety and sadness, but nothing else.
Mal said that she’s blocking her thoughts, and that we need to give her the space to work through it. He’s right, but I hate it.
“Me?” she asks, straightening. “Remy, I think it’ll be nice to go out. I’ve been really preoccupied lately with work and mafia stuff. I’m excited, I promise. I don’t dress up like this for just anyone.”
Smirking, I walk over to her and drop a gentle kiss on her lips. I don’t want to fuck up her makeup. I think I’m wondering if I should scrap the date and make my own mess inside of her.
“You’re thinking about taking this dress off me, aren’t you?” she purrs with a sly smile.
“Hollis,” I almost whimper. “I have to pretend that my cock isn’t being strangled in my pants at this charity event. I thought it would be a good date, and now I really do just want to take your dress off you and stay home.”
“This is a great date,” she says with a throaty chuckle. “It doesn’t mean I won’t let you fuck me later.”
Groaning, I take her hand and watch as she grabs her clutch. Her earrings are dangling, a mixture of copper and emerald stones that end in green feathers. They give an element of youth and fun to her very formal appearance.
