Page 59 of Claim Me
He tried to smile. The man was definitely worried. “Good to know. They run up huge bills and don’t pay for them. Theystiff the bartenders and waitresses. That was bad enough, but a couple people have disappeared. They were staying here and suddenly there was no sign of them.”
“Guests?”
“Yeah. Important ones.”
Interesting. “I’ll need a list of those guests.”
“Yes, sir. What else can I provide you? Mr. Valentine told me to give you whatever you needed. I’m sorry he’s not here. He must have gotten held up with a distributor.”
“Tomorrow there will be a meeting and I suspect the great Popov will make an appearance. Where would you suggest that meeting take place? I want the ability to secure the area while not interfering with business.”
Drake grinned. “I have the perfect place. There’s a small restaurant I can close for a private meeting.”
“Perfect.” I nodded and glanced around the facility. “You need to know Charlie died from his injuries.”
“What? No.” His voice held sadness and he looked away briefly. “My God. Does Marissa know? Charles was so proud of her. I think she had a concert in LA. God, I need to call her.” As soon as he started to stand, I placed my hand on his arm.
“Relax, Drake. Charlie reached out to me prior to succumbing to his injuries. I’m taking care of her.”
“Oh, thank fucking God. A man like you doing so is perfect. She won’t get hurt.”
A man like me. Charlie had evidently mentioned he was concerned for his safety.
“What did Charlie tell you about my arrival?”
He seemed confused or as if I’d thought he’d done something wrong. “Just that he had hopes you might partner with him.”
Partner. He had intended on reaching out to me for a business arrangement. A deep ache formed in my chest.
“Who shot him? The Russians?”
I swirled the liquid in my glass, debating telling him the truth. He’d find out soon enough. “It’s my belief Popov was responsible. Can you keep that to yourself for right now?”
“Of course. I can’t believe it. I warned him the Russians were bad news just like I did with his father.”
“Yes, I agree with you. Charlie did things his way.”
“Yes, sir, he did. He spoke of you often. I’m glad you’re here.”
My thoughts were entirely different. Charlie had risked everything to protect Marissa and his employees. A truly good man, something I couldn’t consider myself after events of the past. My thoughts drifted to the single worst moment of my life, something I never talked about including with my family.
But the day was one I’d never forget.
Maybe it was the reason karma had locked my path to the future. And with another beautiful woman.
“I’d like to see the restaurant now.” I’d do my own investigation of Charlie’s office at another time. Right now, I still needed time to lay out a plan.
After Drake showed me the facility for the meeting, I headed out, intending on returning to the house right away.
Until I noticed I was being followed.
Well, the motherfuckers couldn’t be any more obvious than they were. In broad daylight, they weren’t bothering to keep a typical distance. That meant they didn’t have the fear of my presence they should have.
As I popped into a local grocery store, I grabbed a Styrofoam cooler I noticed on one of the front aisles, proceeding to fill it with drinks. Ice would come later. While the three men didn’t come into the store, they did park close enough they could keep an eye on what I was doing.
Laughing, I headed to the checkout, immediately retrieving my phone. My brother answered on the second ring.
“You have news?” he asked, the question laced with amusement.
