Page 65 of Possession

I want to take him down and make sure he stays there. Timing is everything and inviting Landyn’s mom here will kill two birds with one stone.

There’s a knock on the office door.

I exit out of the screen I’m working in. “Come in.”

Rocco takes up most of the doorway. “You called for me, boss?”

I motion him in. “I need you to get a message to the Jackals. I have a shipment that will be ready to come across soon. I’m counting on you to set that up.”

He hesitates a beat, and I wonder if he’s having second thoughts about the club.

He finally lifts his chin. “I can do that.”

I pick up the keys that are sitting in front of me and toss them across the desk. “Take one of our cars. This will be available to you while you’re running messages for me. Tell him I’ve got a load going to Vegas. After he gets it across the border, I want to know how he’s transporting it. The last guy I contracted with lost the entire fucking thing, which cost us millions.”

“Yeah, but you got Landyn out of it,” he points out.

“Mrs. Torres,” I correct, because I have no desire to talk to him about anything besides the Jackals. Especially Landyn.

“Sorry, but the way I see it, you lucked out. She’s cool. And she doesn’t seem to hate you, which is good if you’ve gotta be married to someone.”

I tip my head and wonder why he thinks Landyn doesn’t hate me. Because she should, and she sure seemed like it last night when I ended the fun at dinner.

Rocco proves he’s as chatty as my wife. “She’s not busting your balls or some shit. I’ve seen it. It’s why my dad was always drunk. The longer it went on, the drunker he got, which only made shit worse. But that’s all my mom did—bust his balls. Who wants to stick around for that?”

The kid is a talker. Every conversation or meal we share, the more he opens up. It’s too bad he had to go and find a family in the Jackals instead of a Division 1 team.

I glance at the clock and get back to the subject at hand. Landyn’s mom will be here soon, and that’s a show I don’t want to miss. “You think you can do this? I want details, Rocco. I want to know where it’s happening, what my product will be transported in, and how they’re going to secure it. Logan cut a high-stakes deal with me, and I expect details in return. Since I’m paying out the ass, I deserve to know everything.”

Rocco stands and stuffs the keys into his pants pocket. He looks nothing like he did when he got here. He’s cleaned up, his dress shirt covers his tat, and he looks more like a frat boy from generations of money than he does a one-percenter. He pulls out his cell and starts to tap at the screen as he mutters, “I got you, boss. Logan will come through, and so will I.”

“Come straight to me when you get back. Do not tell anyone else anything. Got it?”

He reads something that comes through on the screen before looking up at me. “Got it.”

My gut wants to tell him to be careful and watch his back.

Damn. Who am I?

I’ve become my dad.

Or worse, my mom.

I pick up my phone when it rings. It’s Spencer. “Yeah?”

“Mrs. Alba is here, Mr. Torres. She just entered the gate and is about to park in the circle drive. Will you be joining them? Mrs. Torres has been pacing the front door for almost twenty minutes.”

I wake my computer and log into the surveillance system. Nellie Alba pulls her BMW up to the front doors and puts it in park. I’ve done everything I can to avoid Landyn today, so now is not the time to butt into her time. “Maybe later. Show her in and put them in the great room. Do not allow my mother-in-law farther into the house. I don’t trust her.”

I hang up immediately and sit back and watch.

Also known as investigate.

* * *

Landyn

I haven’t seenBoz all day. He was gone when I woke up this morning.

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