Page 34 of Hunted Temptation
Chapter Thirteen
VAUGHN
The goddamn California State Comptroller…and I shot him in the fucking head, leaving him in the front seat of a car. Zero fucks given, considering what he was doing at Scoggins’s, or at least trying to. Testing things out or whatever the fuck they had planned. I don’t know, and I don’t care. And I would do it again a million times over.
I’m glad they are dead and even happier that I got to be the one to end them. There is also a sense of relief that fills me as I think about the fact that I was able to get Elodie away from that situation. She didn’t deserve to be born into that, to be used the way she was. No child does.
Even if our time together is done, she’s safe, and that’s really all that matters at this point… at least that’s what I tell myself. Even though I want nothing more than to keep her. I’m not going to hold her back, keep her from doing what she needs.
“What do we know about him?” I grind out. “Aside from the fact that he’s one of the most powerful men in the state.”
It’s Lucille who breaks the silence, and then she gives me a wince before she speaks. “I found his name on the web,” she announces. “I didn’t know what I was looking for exactly, but when I found it, it was eye opening.”
“Eye opening?” I ask.
She hums, her tongue slipping out before she slides it along her bottom lip. She clucks her tongue before she continues.
“Someone wanted him dead, and it wasn’t any of us. Although I can’t deny that it makes this a little easier on us.”
"Does it?" Theron asks.
“It does,” she snaps. He lifts his brows but doesn’t comment on her short tone. “Dozens of people would have killed him had they had the chance, and whoever added him to that list wanted him dead the most. Well, other than us.”
Sliding my gaze over to Nadine, I arch a brow and shift my focus to her. If anyone can find out who put the hit in for the comptroller, it would be her, and judging by the way she continues to shift around in her seat, I have a feeling she already knows.
As much as I want to tell them all to hurry the fuck up and just spit it all out, I know that some of this meeting is for nothing more than dramatic flair. So, I give that to her and wait for her to continue.
“I was able to find out the name of the man who put the hit into the system, but he doesn’t exist. It’s fake. All I could find out was that the order was submitted in New York. Nothing else, and honestly, that part probably is fake, too.”
“What happens now?” I ask.
Trying to get information out of this group has become fucking tedious. I am playing the game right now, but I don’t think I’ll last much longer. I’m itching to find out the truth, so I know what I’m dealing with. I have a feeling that this is deeper than I even imagined.
Nadine inhales a deep breath and holds it for a moment before she lets it out slowly. I watch as she places her palms on the table before she gently pushes down, straightening her legs, standing tall and never releasing eye contact with me, but it’s not Nadine who speaks.
This time, Colette begins, and I’m surprised because she hasn’t said much of anything during this meeting. Now she’s got something to say, and I’m going to be the man who listens.
“I’m pretty sure it has to do with money, maybe even money laundering. The name of the man from New York wasn’t connected with Marcello, even if it was real and he was living off the grid. I asked,” Colette murmurs. “I couldn’t find what organization he was connected to, because I’m pretty sure it’s all fake, every part of it. At least what he’s putting out there is.”
I don’t know what to do with that lack of information. Instead of asking her, demanding that she tell me every little thing she knows, I bite my tongue… literally. The taste of blood fills my mouth, and as much as I want to demand more information from her, I don’t know how much there actually is to demand, so I don’t say anything.
I wait.
And I wait a little longer.
“Nobody will miss him, but I don’t know exactly who it could be. All the research I’ve done has come up completely empty. Dead end after dead end.”
I’m no stranger to the web she’s been searching on, or to the quality of people who are listed on there and the ones who do the listings. They’re all part of the underbelly of society. And while Securus has always stayed on the up and up, I have not. I am part of that underbelly.
What I don’t understand is how I was there, on the job, without knowing it, and killed both him and, who I assume was,his assistant. Or whoever the fuck he was. I want to know how they got to California and how they’re connected to Scoggins.
“I went ahead and took the job for you, and the money,” Lucille announces, her lips curving up into a smirk.
Blinking, I can’t stop my lips from curving up into a smirk. “Did I get paid?” I ask.
Lucille laughs softly, but instead of confirming that, it’s Theron who speaks for her. “You did, but we all took a cut, so it’s not as much as you probably would have wanted.”
Shaking my head once, I clear my throat as I let out a chuckle. “It is more than I thought I would ever have, considering this was on the house. I wanted that fuck dead. I wanted Scoggins dead, too. I got what I wanted on that front, and that was payment enough. Put my portion in Elodie’s account.”
