Page 71 of The CEO's Revenge

He scowled at me. “I was beginning to get worried. You’re never late. If anything, you’re always the one waiting for me.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, surprised by how impatient he seemed to be.

He took me by the elbow and unceremoniously steered me towards a booth in the corner. I felt his fingers bite into my flesh as we walked quickly. I could feel tension emanating from him in waves. Gone was the suave, sophisticated man of our previous meetings. And in his place was a tightly wound and tense man. As Max had warned there were others at the table – four men to be exact. Something about the men bothered me. They seemed cold and watchful. My heart began to pound. I did not like the look of them or my situation. My head swung around to look at Robert.

“I wasn’t expecting company.”

He smiled tightly. “Call it a staff meeting. As you’re now a member of my staff, do take a seat.”

Without ceremony, he pushed me into the booth ahead of him, effectively sandwiching me between himself and another man.

“Do you have what these dimwits have failed to find?”

I looked around at the table at the surly expressions which followed Robert’s insult. I opened my hand to reveal the flash drive. He smiled coldly and looked around.

“It seems I should have hired pussy from the get-go instead of you dicks and the job would have been done long ago. Maybe I wouldn’t be losing clients to that asshole faster than a whore opens her legs.”

Something was very wrong. I shot to my feet. “I’d like to go please.”

Robert grabbed my hand and tugged me back down. “Not so fast, sweet cheeks. We’re going to check the information on your drive and make sure it’s legit. Let’s see if it’s the real thing or more of the rubbish he’s been feeding me until now. If I wasn’t sure I have my tracks covered I’d be tempted to think you’re all double-crossing me and working for him behind my back.”

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. “I want to leave. I don’t like the vibe here.”

“Let her go, Robert.” The man to my right spoke.

“No fucking way. I want to make sure this is legit. Because if it isn’t,” he fixed me with a glare, “she’s going to have to explain herself, just like you’ll all have to explain yourselves. For the money I’ve spent on the sorry lot of you, at the very least, I should get something of use.”

I sank back in silence, not daring to look at the others directly. A furtive glance here and there showed they were just as nervous as I was. We all held a collective breath as one of the men, obviously an expert in the matter, inserted the flash drive into his laptop. I felt as though my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Was Max nearby as he had promised he would be? I was about to look around when the man suddenly slammed his laptop shut and shouted. “Fuck, it’s malware. That will corrupt your whole system.”

Robert moved so fast I didn’t see it coming, let alone have time to react. His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist in a vice-like grip. “You fucking worthless, lying bitch! You’ve set me up, haven’t you?”

I looked at him in a shocked panic. I’d never seen Robert like this before. He was like a stark raving madman. His eyes bulged and a big angry vein throbbed wildly in his temple.

“You’re hurting me,” I gasped.

“After everything I’ve done for you, you spread your legs for that piece of shit, spin me a bullshit story, and betray me.”

He raised his hand and, reflexively, my free hand came up to block my face. Fortunately, the man next to me caught and held Robert’s hand before it could connect with my face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you think we’re going to sit here and let you hit a woman?”

“Thank you, Steven. I’ll take it from here,” said a cold hard voice.

Six pairs of eyes swiveled towards Max as he stood a few feet away from the table. He held my gaze for a few moments and I felt calm sweep over me. Then he looked at each of the men, except Steven who had stood up for me, and was obviously in Max’s employ.

“Was it worth it, gentlemen? I could have told you it wasn’t, but why take my word, I’m just an ex-convict.” The men had the grace to hang their heads shamefully.

Max turned his derisive gaze on Robert. “Hello, Robert.”

“Well, well, well. Come to rescue your girl?” Robert asked. He was trying to appear cool and sarcastic, but his voice came out shill and desperate.

“Of course,” Max drawled.

I cried out when Robert’s fingers bit suddenly into my forearm.

Max held up a flash drive similar to the one he had given me. “Let her go, Robert, unless … you no longer want this, of course.” His voice vibrated with anger.

You could have cut the silence with a knife. It seemed to me as though the strange hush had fallen over the restaurant too. Beyond Max’s shoulder, I could see a tall man speaking quietly to what seemed to be the restaurant manager. The manager looked worried but the tall man patted his shoulder and kept speaking softly. I assumed it was another of Max’s men. I looked back at Max who was staring at Robert. He moved the little device in his hand as if it was a fan.

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