Page 58 of Innocence
Twice now, money had been skimmed from the Deviant House profits, and only four computers had access to those accounts. All of which were in this house, and owned by a Cordova.
None of my brothers would need to skim off the top, the money was already ours. Trust me, I’d love nothing more than to pin this shit on Carmine. Then Jackson might listen to me. That would just be allowing a thief to walk away, and that I could not abide.
I had it narrowed down to three suspects. Ashley had access to Jackson’s office and knew all his passwords. She was the unlikely suspect. The last time money was taken, she was occupied with a customer.
I knew this, because I fucked Ciara while I watched her. Besides, the little slave wasn’t very tech savvy.
Next on the list was Gregor. Sneaking Russian bastard was here both times it happened. He had a pretty steep debt with the Bratva for taking more than his share. His brother was Dimitri Markov’s second in charge, and the only reason he was still alive. Or allowed here.
Every time the head of the Bratva came to our parties, Dimitri would find new and interesting ways to humiliate Gregor.
It was quite amusing, until the prick decided to take his anger out on our slaves. Jackson wanted to keep a good relationship with the Russians.
I told him if Gregor damaged one more of our slaves, I’d deal with him myself. They were our property, not his. Disrespect would not be tolerated.
My final suspect was one of the guards on duty both nights. Joe Schneider wasn’t a new hire. I’d used him before in other areas of the business, but he was new to the island.
He asked for an upgrade in pay. Until now, I didn’t care why. He’d been with me for three years and there happened to be a position here.
It turned out that Joe had a rather large gambling debt, and was weeks away from losing his house. And probably his wife, as well.
A knock on my door drew me away from the footage I was watching. Good thing about having security everywhere was that everything was recorded. Including what our customers did in private rooms. It came in handy when we needed to grease a politician’s wheels.
“Come in,” I called out, while zooming in on two people talking in the hall.
“Jackson sent me to see if you need help.”
My hands fisted into tight balls.
“Not from you,” I growled at Carmine.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “You got it all figured out, do you?”
Smug bastard.
“You can leave now.” I returned to my computer monitor. One of the men was Gregor, but I couldn’t quite make out the face of the other.
“I saw your pet today. She looked pretty cute with that braid in her hair.” He dropped down in the chair across from me and tapped his finger on his chin, “Come to think of it, she was in the courtyard. Isn’t Tobias’s room by the courtyard?”
Son of a…
“Unlike you, our brother follows the rules.”
“I follow the rules. I won’t touch her as long as she’s wearing your collar.” He braced his arms on my desk and leaned forward, “But it’s gotta come off sometime.”
I sat up and rolled my neck. Carmine and I hadn’t come to blows in a long time. Mostly because it wouldn’t stop until one of us was dead, but if he kept pushing me…
“Are you threatening to take my property?”
“Oh, I won’t take her.” The smile fell off his face as he rolled his glare up to mine, “I’ll just fuck her up.”
In a matter of seconds, I was out of the chair and around the desk. Carmine was ready. He stood up, going toe to toe with me.
Carmine’s chest bumped against mine as he leaned in and growled, “Remember, brother, you started this game.”
“And I’m gonna finish it.”
I lunged, fist raised and ready to smash his fucking face into my floor. Before I could land a strike, I was grabbed from behind.
