Page 42 of Accepted Precedent
Once we’re dried off, I change into a suit without a tie while she prepares for the wedding, which should be canceled by now. I haven’t heard from Christopher’s aide, Cara, and I’m getting nervous. She’s been on my payroll for a few years and was the perfect woman to tempt the philandering arse. He’s never been able to resist her.
I check the location tracking on her phone, and it appears she’s in a car. It doesn’t make sense; if she left him, she should’ve called me. I can’t risk talking to her if she’s with him, so I send a quick message to one of my fixers before pocketing my phone in my jacket. Someone will need to finish the job if she didn’t.
After a few deep breaths, I step behind Evelyn at her vanity as she puts on the diamond earrings I bought her nearly a decade ago. My heart swells; she kept them all these years. I help with the necklace and press a soft kiss to her cheek.
“Beautiful.”
“Of course they are. You bought them,” she laughs. Her breath hitches as I trail my lips along her jaw and suck hard on her neck to mark her, grazing my teeth on the now-sensitive, dark pink spot. “Damn it! Now I’ll need to cover that up.”
“Don’t you dare. You know I wasn’t talking about the jewelry. I have to get going, love. Have you heard from Andrew?”
She nods. “Yeah, he said he’ll meet me at the venue.” I lean in, about to kiss her goodbye, when my phone vibrates in the breast pocket of my jacket. “You going to get that?”
“No, darlin’.” I close the small distance and don’t fucking care that I’m smearing her lipstick. If things were different, I’d bend her over right here, more than happy to be seen in public with her looking well-fucked… andmine.
My phone buzzes again, and this time I reluctantly check it, hoping it’s Cara. It isn’t, but I’m glad it’s Dave, who I’ve tasked with calling in Christopher’s heart attack. This wedding can’t happen, and I need good news.
Dave Smith
Boss, we have a problem.
Project Boutineer was unsuccessful.
Fuck.
“Sorry, angel, I have to deal with this. I’ll see you later. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Evie deserves better than me rushing out of here, but there are bigger things at stake. I press a final kiss to her lips, then click the call icon next to his name as I leave the room. “What happened?”
“I was outside of the hotel, waiting for Cara’s text, but it never came. She could’ve got the dosage wrong. So I just waited longer. About thirty minutes later, they both walked out and retrievedtheir car from a valet. They drove off and… Fuck, Mick! This is the most fucked-up thing I’ve seen in a while.”
“Spit it out!”
“She was, well… her head was twisted in the crash as if she was giving him a blowie on impact. He ran the car off the road. She’s dead; he’s unconscious."
“Dead? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m fucking sure! The arsehole drove off the road—likely mid-orgasm. He finally had a heart attack and?—”
“That’s enough,” I snap. “Is her location correct?”
“Yes, boss.”
“I’ll be there in twenty.”
I button my jacket and rush out to the sedan waiting for me. They’re only ten, maybe fifteen minutes away. When I arrive at the scene, there are several emergency vehicles, and I pull up the local fire chief’s number and clickcall.
“Huffman,” he answers as if he doesn’t know it’s me.
“Chief Huffman. As you’re aware, your team was dispatched to a scene. I need it to disappear.”
His gruff reply pierces loud enough through the receiver I have to turn it down. “And how the fuck do you expect me to make that happen, Mickey?”
“Figure it out. I need your team out of here within the next two minutes, or we’re going to have problems.” I hang up, and less than a minute later, the men file into their trucks and drive off.
“Boss?” Dave hedges. “I did a quick assessment, and it looks like it was a delayed response to the overdose.”
