Page 58 of Spark
“I engineered your luck,” was what Simon wanted to say, while hitting Leo in the face with a brick until what little brain he possessed leaked from his ears.
But he locked down his control and held his tongue.As badly as he wanted to, he couldn’t tell Leo he’d been the one to orchestrate the whole thing.He’d spent hours examining the building’s layout, planning the most careful way to set the fire.While Simon would’ve strongly preferred to do everything himself, he’d had no choice but to enlist Runner’s assistance with the security system.The loop—a rather good one, if the price tag was anything to go by—had given Simon the time he’d needed to get into the lab undetected and the access to strategically place the ethanol, then ignite the fire.Everything he’d needed, right down to the accelerant and the HazMat suit that had protected him from both the fumes and the heat, had been right there on-site.
The risk had made it impossible for him to stay long after the blaze had begun.Getting away with the whole plan only to be caught in his getaway wouldn’t do.But the video footage Runner had been able to tap into once the loop had been removed was proof enough that the blaze had served its purpose.
The firehadbeen catastrophic.And Leo’s DNA kit had burned the longest.Which meant Simon got to keep Leo just where he wanted him.
Under his thumb, where the arrogant little shit stain belonged.
Simon looked at Leo, returning to the moment.“Some guys have all the luck,” he agreed.
The buzz of an incoming text on his cell phone, discretely tucked into the breast pocket of his suit jacket, snared his attention, his pulse escalating the tiniest bit at the burner phone number listed on the screen.
“I have some matters to attend,” he murmured, the deference in his voice tasting rancid, even though it was necessary.
Leo laughed, throwing back the last of his martini.“I guess thatiswhat I pay you for,” he said as Simon retreated to his office, pulling his phone back out to make the call.
“Go ahead, caller, you’re on the air with Gray,” came a low, pleasant voice, and Simon huffed in frustration.
“I’m responding to your message.I assume this line is secure.”
Runner snorted.“You’re paying me to be a smartass, not a dumbass.Anyway, I want to go to prison about as badly as you do, so, yeah.This line is fucking bulletproof.”
“Point taken,” Simon said.“What do you have for me?”
“Could be nothing,” Runner said, but Simon shook his head.
“You don’t deal in nothing, and you don’t call me for fun.Talk.”
Runner let out a single bark of laughter.“I like you, Simon.You cut right through the shit.There was a bit of interesting activity at the lab yesterday afternoon.”
Simon inhaled, keeping his voice perfectly metered despite the unease brewing in his gut.“I’m listening.”
“Two people showed up at the scene, a man and a woman.He had a badge.”Runner paused, and Simon could hear the soft click of a keyboard.“They masked up and went in for a look-see.Stayed less than an hour, then took off.”
“I thought you said the arson investigation was complete,” Simon said.
“It is,” Runner said.“Or it was supposed to be.This could just be one last sweep of the building to see if they missed anything.The place has been quiet ever since.But I haven’t seen these two before, so I thought you’d want to know.”
Simon knew this was likely nothing.A formality.A last-ditch attempt at putting fresh eyes on a scene in order to find a trail he’d been too smart to leave behind.But he needed complete control over the situation if he was going to fix Leo’s fuck up.Leaving anything to chance, even a small detail, wasn’t part of his plan.
“Find out who they are,” he bit out before ending the call.No one was going to stand in the way of him and the empire that was rightfully his.
Not if they wanted to live.
18
If Chloe never saw another paper lantern again, it would be too soon.Granted, they looked even more festive and cozy than she’d imagined, hanging down from the rough-hewn rafters in the Blue Barn’s private party room and filling the space with glowy, jewel-toned light.But after assembling a couple hundred of those suckers?She’d been all too happy to hand them off to Tyler and Esme for the final task before the party.
Crossing “hang lanterns” off her punch list—because of course she had a printed copy that she’d color-coded and organized per a pre-party timeline—Chloe stood back and snuck a glance at Tyler, who was spotting Esme on the ladder as she adjusted the last handful of paper globes by the entryway.
She’d been so preoccupied with losing her virginity, part two, that she hadn’t given a lot of thought to what would happen afterward; namely, that she might want to do itagain.But she hadn’t expected the sex to be so good (no.Earth-cracking, orbit-bending, and seriously, she was never going to be able to settle for the word “good” ever again).Even worse—better?—he’d gone right back to normal with her, even when things had gotten intense at the Thirty-Third.Tyler hadn’t bubble wrapped her or babied her.Nope.Instead, he’d stood by his promise, going with her to give Esme an update on what they’d learned about the fire at the lab.Esme had responded exactly as Chloe had thought she would, with her fair share of frustration and fear.But just like the first time they’d gone to deliver bad news, Tyler had backed Chloe up, giving Esme enough facts to be up front without scaring her, and she’d eventually calmed enough for Chloe to reassure her that Intelligence was doing all they could to take Navarro down.Esme’s walls were still solidly in place, but at least now they weren’t covered in barbed wire.She’d even smiled, albeit for only a second, when Chloe had told her about the donut dessert bar they’d have at tonight’s party.
As if Tyler could feel her eyes on him, he turned to look at her, keeping both hands firmly on the ladder where Esme stood, halfway up.His brows dipped slightly in a non-verbal “you good?”, which Chloe answered with an equally slight lift of her chin at Esme.Tyler read it with ease, nodding back, and only then did Chloe let herself smile.
“Well,that’sinteresting.”Addison’s voice yanked Chloe back to the dining room, sending a flush over her face that could probably power Rhode Island.
“The lanterns?You saw those ages ago in the catalogue, remember?”Chloe tried, but Addison called her out with a single snort.
