Page 72 of Collide

Me.

If Danny failed to get the money we were owed and I had to pay alittle visit to our clients, you could guarantee blood would be shed for days.

As for Miles, he was my eyes and ears. Miles had hacked the camerafeed for the ballroom this fancy do was being held in, and he was monitoring all comings and goings from the app on his phone.I had other security stationed outside the building who would be ableto get here in less than a few seconds if we ran into any trouble, not that I was expecting any at a charity ball, raising funds for disadvantaged kids in third-world countries.

What can I say, I may be a murderous bastard but I do my bit forcharity.

From a scan of the room, all three of my men were where theyneeded to be, and I refrained from letting out a little laugh at the fear on Griffin’s face when Hendrix handed him the envelope. I returned my gaze to the dancefloor only to find Riley wasn’t where I had last seen her.

Panic washed through me. As much as I wasn’t expecting troubletonight, it didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. I shouldn’t have let Riley out of my fucking sight.My eyes darted around the room and I let out a sigh of relief when Isaw the back of her walking towards the door to the bathroom. Not wanting to seem like the obsessive stalker I actually was, I pulled up Miles' number on my phone and pressed the button to call him.

“Boss,” he answered after the first ring.

“Riley’s heading towards the door on the east, she’s probably going tothe bathroom but I want eyes on her,” I instructed Miles. Johnson Junior had finally come to the realization that I wasn’t listening and he gave me an exasperated look.

“Sure thing, Boss.”

From across the room, Miles pulled his phone away from his ear,tapped the screen a few times, and then raised it back to his ear.

“Yep, got her. She’s just headed into the bathroom. I’ll keep thecamera on the door.”

I was being paranoid but when it came to Riley’s safety, Iwould never take chances. I hung up the phone and turned back to Johnson Junior.

“Your ideas are interesting, I’d like to discuss them further so putthem in an email to me and I’ll review your proposition.” It was bullshit of course, but until I had the courier business under my complete control, I would do what was needed to appease him.

His frown turned to delight and he eagerly nodded. “Of course Mr.Wolfe, I’ll get them to you first thing tomorrow.” He beamed at me as though all of his Christmases had come at once.

“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I turned away from him, dismissinghim before he had a chance to reply, and instead fixed my eyes on the door where Riley had exited minutes before.

A minute passed.

And then another.

Getting anxious, I pulled my phone out again and phoned Miles.

“Has she come back out yet?” I’m sure Miles could hear thefrustration in my tone but I tried not to snap at him. I could have gone and waited outside the bathroom for Riley but I wanted to give her space, I wanted her to willingly come back to me.

“She’s still in there, Boss. You know what women are like, they takeforever touching up their makeup and shit,” Miles said casually and I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. He was right, what went on in women’s restrooms was a mystery to every man on the planet.

I hung up on Miles feeling a little bit more relaxed that he was onehundred percent focused on keeping an eye on my girl.

Another minute passed and then a figure appeared in the doorway, awaiter. I let out a sigh of frustration at how long she was taking, desperate to get her back to my penthouse and out of that damn dress, but then I noticed the waiter scanning the crowd, a panicked look on his face. As his eyes roved over the crowd, they landed on me, and he then immediately started pushing his way through the throngs of people, trying to make his way over.

Fear pooled in my gut. It was an alien concept, I wasn’t scared ofanything, but at that moment I was. I was scared shitless something had happened to her.

I started making my way toward the waiter, catching the attention ofHendrix, Miles, and Danny who started making their way toward me from where they had been standing in the room.

“Mr. Wolfe,” the waiter panted as we met in the middle of the room atthe same time my boys joined us. He was panic-stricken. “I, uh, I think something might be wrong. The girl you were with tonight was in the hallway with another man and she looked scared.”

Blood turned to ice in my veins, and before I heard the rest of whatthe waiter was saying, my feet were moving on their own accord to the door where I’d not long watched Riley go through.Out of habit, I pulled my pistol from the holster underneath my suitjacket, not giving a fuck if anyone from the ball saw I was armed. Hendrix, Miles, and Danny were following me, and the waiter was also keeping pace but all I could think about was the murder I was about to commit.

“What did you see?” Danny asked the words I couldn’t find, toointent on finding where the fuck she was.

“Erm, it looked like she was being dragged down the hallway butwhen they saw me, the man held her around the waist and pretended everything was fine. They were heading towards the emergency exit when I walked away. I thought something was wrong that’s why I came to tell Mr. Wolfe.”

An involuntary growl left my chest that seemed to echo down thehallway we had all stumbled into. Whoever had put their hands on my property was going to die.

The emergency exit was at the far end of the hallway and I took offtowards it, the others flanking behind me with their guns out. Hendrix grunted to the waiter to fuck off, and the kid did exactly whathe was told, disappearing through a staff door. When we reached the exit, I kicked the door open so hard it practically flew off its hinges, and as it swung back, it ricocheted off the wall behind it, causing an almighty bang that echoed into the night.

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