Page 59 of The One Night Match
We’re getting closer to being able to take them down. So close I can almost taste it. But we’re not there quite yet.
All the pieces are in play. Now we just watch the fallout from the mistake they’ve made. Anyone involved will try to flee, which should weed out those involved with their plan to take me down.
“I don’t know how it could have happened,” he lies, his ears turning red as he desperately tries to clutch onto an excuse that doesn’t exist.
“Maybe we miscounted?” Vernon says, his eyes flicking to the door in the ultimate tell. He’s looking for an escape. Too bad for him, there isn’t one.
“You think you may have miscounted fifty grand worth of product?” I ask carefully.
He nods. “Yeah, it’s possible. Human error and all that.”
“I see.” I look back to Dennis, who is starting to look a little green around the gills. “Do you agree with that possibility?”
“Yeah. Of course. It makes sense.”
I sigh. “You know, if you’re going to lie to your boss, you should at least get your stories straight, you know?” I shake my head as I slowly stand, fixing my suit jacket casually. “After yourcount came back so wildly different from that of the independent contractor, Colten and I did our own count, and you know what we found?”
Their eyes both widen, and genuine panic etches into their features.
“We found it was short, in line with your numbers. Which means not only did you fuck with the stock count, but you also stole my product.” I lean forward, slowly placing each palm on the edge of the desk, leveling my stare on Dennis. “Did you think it was a good idea stealing from a man who pulled the trigger on his father without blinking an eye?” I tilt my head. “Did you think you’d be able to outsmart me?”
The door behind them swings open, and Colten stands on the other side, his eyes wide and panicked, putting me on high alert immediately.
My best friend is the best of the best. The kind of smart that makes him question emotions and their validity, but seeing that look on his face tells me something is wrong. Very fucking wrong.
“Colten?” I say evenly.
“We need to go right now. The girls have been ambushed.”
My eyes flick down to Dennis, unable to stop his lips from tipping up in a smirk.
“What the fuck did you do?” I growl.
He shrugs. “Tick tock, De Luca. You gonna let your wife and sister die just to take us down? I knew your loyalty to family was questionable, but not even I thought you could sink so low.”
I shove my phone into my pocket and round the desk. “You’re acting like you’re walking out of here just because we are. Which you’re not.” I smirk as Davis steps into the room. The private security firm I hired recently employs the best that comes out of the military, and the two guys posted outside the door are no exception to that. “Don’t let them leave.”
He gives me a quick nod as I pass him, not bothering to say goodbye to the two assholes whose days are numbered.
I fall in step with Colten as we make our way to the garage. “Tell me what the fuck happened.”
“Ben radioed it in. The girls left the dress shop. There was nothing out of the ordinary while they were there or as they left. But two cars rammed into them as they were going through an intersection in a coordinated attack.”
“Are they hurt?” I growl, slipping into the driver’s seat of my Maserati and peeling down the driveway.
He hesitates, something he rarely does, and I turn to look at him as I shoot down the road, uncaring about the speed limit. I’ve hated coming into the city the last week because it means I’m further away from Riley if she needs me, but right now I’m grateful as hell that this is where our home base is for the darker sides of the business.
“Colten?” I snap.
“I don’t know. We lost connection with Ben as I came into the office to get you.”
Panic grips my chest in a way it never has before, seizing every breath before it can fill my lungs.
No. Fuck no. I can’t lose Riley. I can’t lose Lexi.
Fuck.
“You gotta breathe, man,” Colten says, his voice thick with tension, but he’s holding his shit together better than I am.
