Page 86 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

His face tightened in anger. He didn’t expect me to know what happened between him and Jade. As long as he felt I was still on his side, everything would be fine. “And why do you say that?”

“Because your informant at the FBI was also working for Zavala. Drug trafficking is only lucrative as long as you have buyers. If Jade had gotten that information to anyone worthwhile at the FBI, his whole operation would have gone south.”

“He wasn’t strictly my informant,” he said with a shrug. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

“Except that your informant approached Zavala not even two weeks before the first attack on Jade. I found a large deposit from Zavala into your informant’s account a week before the attack, and a second deposit the day after. If I’m correct, he was paying for information, and for the hit.”

I didn’t have him convinced, but I had him considering his options. With any luck, as soon as I left, he would be on the phone trying to find out what the fuck was going on. And the microscopic bug I’d already planted under his desk would tell me everything I needed to know. It was a long shot, but one that I hoped would glean a little more information for us, and hopefully stir the pot enough for someone to make a mistake.

He sighed and leaned forward. “I’ll look into it. In the meantime, I’d like to know how you found out about what exactly Jade did.”

I smirked at him, though my fist was clenched at my side. “She has nightmares. I persuaded her that things would be easier on her if she told me what the problem was.”

“And?”

“And now that I know exactly what she did, I’m surprised you weren’t more forthcoming with information. But I can understand why you wouldn’t want something like that getting out. I’ve dealt with the issue and made sure she has no access to any information, and she’s guarded at all times. For her safety, of course.”

His eyes glittered with amusement. “For her safety.” He flicked a piece of lint off his suit, clearly satisfied with himself over his perceived talents for making his own family keep their mouths shut. “I’ll admit, I never saw it coming. After all these years, to find out that your own blood would turn on you is devastating. If it weren’t for her mother, things would have turned out very differently.”

“Her mother isn’t even aware of what’s going on, from what Jade tells me,” I answered, watching him carefully.

A sly smirk crossed his face. “Her mother is heavily sedated.”

I raised an eyebrow, wondering why he would have her heavily sedated. “Medical problems?”

He shook his head. “It turns out Jade is more like her mother than I realized.”

“She turned on you too,” I surmised. “So, the medical problems…are they real?”

“To an extent. She would have recovered, but I knew I would never be able to trust her again. Like you, I had an arranged marriage. So, trust me when I tell you, the only person you can trust is yourself. And me, of course.”

“Of course,” I nodded.

Anger twisted in my gut as I realized this man disposed of any family member that didn’t agree with his illegal activities. His wife might not be dead, but from how Jade described her mother, she’d be in a better place if she were.

“Now that I know how deep it runs, I’ll be sure to keep Jade on a very tight leash.”

He nodded and stood, signaling it was time for me to leave. “Keep me informed on any further developments. I’ll be in contact if I hear anything.”

“I would appreciate that. I won’t take up any more of your time.”

I turned and headed for the door, just barely holding my shit together. It didn’t matter how pissed off I was. I couldn’t allow him or any of his goons to see how angry I was. It would ruin everything and put Jade and her mother at risk. I got to the bottom of the stairs and shouted for her.

“Jade! It’s time to go!”

Two minutes later, she appeared and hurried down the stairs to my side. My face was hard as steel, and thankfully she took the hint and kept her mouth shut. I slid my arm around her waist and walked her out to the car. Chase shut the door and got into the front, only lowering the partition between us once we were on the road.

“Did you get what we needed?”

“Later,” I snapped, then slid my fingers between Jade’s and squeezed tight. Only once we pulled back into our own drive did I finally relax knowing she was out of his sight. I would never let her go back there again.

* * *

“Asher, what’s going on?” Jade asked as we got out of the car.

I was too pissed to talk right now, and I needed to discuss this with the guys before we moved on anything I’d learned today. Not to mention, we needed the recordings from his office. I needed to know how honest he was being with me. He was a scumbag, and I didn’t know how much I could trust anything he said.

I shoved the front door open and stormed inside. I needed to let loose and hit something, but knocking shit around with my head still fucked up wasn’t a good idea. I was still recovering from the brain bleed, and if I made it worse and left Jade unprotected, I would never forgive myself.

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