Page 60 of Enticing the Fixer

Carla grabs her purse and rushes out the office door. The woman works less than anyone I’ve ever known.

“No. I’m not going to.” The IP address for the virus installation floats across the screen. I squint and reread. That’s Kinsley’s computer. The one in her office. That’s…. Interesting. Maverick continues to speak, but I no longer hear what he’s saying.

I switch over to the other program running in the background. Kinsley again. The money is going into an account under Kinsley’s name. What in the hell? I click on screen after screen, shutting everything down. “Maverick, I’ve got to go.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kinsley

“We need to talk.” Ethan Rossi stomps away from his BMW and in my direction. He eats up the distance between us like a runaway train with his belly as round as the engine.

Okay, he’s not that fast, but I wouldn’t be surprised if smoke rolled out of his head.

“We can wait until the next board meeting.” The last thing I want to do is get into a shouting match with Ethan in the parking garage. Where any of the employees could overhear our conversation.

“No.” His jaw flexes as his cheeks turn pink from the exertion. “We can’t.” He wraps his black windbreaker around him. “The fallout from the data breach has dropped stock prices by 5%. We can’t afford for the prices to tank anymore. You need to be quiet about this.”

“I’ve already contacted the media for transparency. It’s required.”

“You’re an idiot.” His eyes bug out as he gapes at me. “You should have sold the company before doing that. We have a buyer.”

“I’m not selling the business.” My hands ball into fists at my sides. “This is my father’s legacy, and I’ll ensure it succeeds.”

“At the risk of….” He pauses and looks in both directions as if he’s now worried someone will overhear our conversation. “Your own health?”

My head jerks backward. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what that means.”

“No. No, I don’t.” My heart beats erratically in my chest, and I clutch my purse tighter under my arm.

My purse. What’s in my purse? Is there anything I can use for protection? What if he does something to me? He’s older, but he’s sixty pounds heavier and at least five inches taller. The only sound in the parking lot is a car door shutting, but that’s on another floor.

This is what I get for cutting work and getting a tattoo. Everyone came back from lunch an hour ago.

“You don’t want what happened to your father to happen to you.”

All the spit from my mouth evaporates and pools in my armpits and my palms. “My dad was killed by a drunk driver.”

My response is met with silence. Ethan’s bulbous nose is pink with large crevices along the tip. When he moves, I yelp and jerk backward. The pull of the plastic on the inside of my arm alerts me to the tension throughout my body.

“What’s wrong with you?” His eyes narrow into slits as he straightens his coat and rakes a hand through his hair. “Don’t always believe everything you hear. It’s not a safe way to live.” His eyes bore into mine. “And you need to sign the paperwork to sell the company before there’s no turning back.”

He spins on his heel and marches back to the BMW. I clutch my chest and inhale. Was that a threat? A warning? Why in the hell does everyone keep implying my father was killed?

He clicks the key fob, making the horn honk.

“Why do you want me to sell?” The words are out of my mouth and into the universe before I can slam my hand over my mouth. What’s he supposed to say? So I don’t have to kill you like I did your father?

Ethan glances over his shoulder. “Because dangerous people will stop at nothing to get what they want. Money makes the world go round, and there’s a lot of money hinged on this deal.”

He yanks the door open, slams it shut, and guns the engine.

Adrenaline races through my body. We’re alone in the corner of the parking garage. I’m on foot, and he’s in a vehicle. The red light of the camera is black. I wave my hand in the air, but nothing happens.

Go. Get out of here.

I speed walk between two cars and turn to travel between the parked cars and the cement wall of the parking garage. The Jeep in front of me is butted up against the wall. Do I wait or go back to the main area of the garage? Can I climb over the bumper?

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