Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 667(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“You,” he says. “I think the Becky show was supposed to break you two up. It was supposed to distract Grayson.”
I pant out a breath. “I think so, too. I’ve been thinking that for about twelve hours straight, and believe me, it’s a painful realization.”
“None of us saw it,” Grayson says. “Not me. Not you. Not the people around us.”
“That number that texted you the day of the funeral,” Eric says, “it was made from a phone that’s had two users since and none were Becky. We’re working on more.”
“Back to the here and now,” Davis says, “and my prior suggestion. We need to pick a criminal attorney, a killer that you trust and that isn’t connected to the firm.”
“He’s right,” I say, and this time I don’t argue for me to handle this. This is too big for my experience and I’m too close to Grayson. “You have no idea who’s working for Ri,” I add. “You need someone who’s a proven winner.”
“Agreed,” Eric chimes in and looks at Grayson. “Reid Maxwell,” he says, glancing at me to explain. “He’s one of the attorneys handling the Japan convention center,” before he adds, “He has ties to a couple of the best criminal attorneys in the country who happen to own the same firm.”
“What ties?” Grayson asks.
“His sister is married to one of them,” Eric says. “He represented one of them against the DA over a misconduct case, and the misconduct was against the DA.”
“Both are good choices,” Davis says, “but Reese Summer is married to Cat of the Cat Does Crime column and when she gets behind him and his cases, she influences a lot of minds. I’d go with Reese. He’s the best of the best and she’s a bonus.”
“Get me a number,” Grayson says. “Where are we on finding the mole?”
“I brought in a new security team. One of my old SEAL buddies works with them. I trust him. We won’t deal with Ri’s influence. They’re doing a sweep of our operations to find our moles nationwide. They assure me they’ll have an initial evaluation here locally done in two days. They’re good. We’ll get results.”
“How long do we have before charges are filed?” I ask.
“Uncertain,” Davis said. “But my source feels it’s weeks out, but not months. Weeks. That’s not long.”
“What else?” Grayson asks.
Davis looks at me. “The closer she is to you, the more chance Ri gets nervous and tries to speed things up.” He shifts his attention to Grayson. “She needs to stay away and if you love her, you’ll listen. I’m protecting you and her. Ri could smear her just to burn you deeper.”
Grayson doesn’t reject his words and I suddenly want to explode in protest, but not now with Eric and Davis here. Grayson looks at Eric. “What are your thoughts?”
“I’m not sure Mia being with you matters,” he says. “It’s all about positioning. If she stays, how do you make that work for you?”
Grayson stiffens, and I know he doesn’t like that answer. “Where are we on leverage against Ri?”
“The security team I hired has a master hacker on their payroll,” Eric says. “More soon.”
Grayson nods. “I’ll see you both in the city,” he says.
Both men look like they want to argue, but they don’t. They turn and leave. The minute the door shuts, Grayson pulls me to him. “I need you to go to Japan, work on that convention center project, and get out of target range until I make this go away.”
And so, the war begins. The war between me and Grayson, not Grayson and Ri, because he knows what I know. I’m not a master hacker, but I’m inside Ri’s operation, I’m close to him. He needs me here. “No,” I say, preparing for the storm to follow as I add, “I’m not leaving.”
Chapter twenty-six
Mia
The past, two and a half years ago
“Ishould not be in this car with you,” I say, glancing over at Grayson as he navigates his Porsche through Manhattan traffic, the man and the car radiating sexiness and power.
“We’re just going for pizza,” he says, turning a corner.
“In the Hamptons,” I say. “I can’t go to the Hamptons with you.”
“Why not?” he asks.
“All the reasons I didn’t call you. All the reasons I already told you I can’t see you.”
“And yet you got in the car,” he points out.
“I know.” I swallow hard. “Grayson.”
“Yes, Mia?”
“Can you stop the car?”
“At the chopper pick-up, yes.”
“I’m the kind of girl who’s fine with a slice of pizza at the corner pizza joint. Can we just do that before you leave?”
“We’re already here.” He pulls us into a parking lot for the chopper service that I knew was nearby but never gave much thought to it until now.
“And there’s a pizza spot one block down. I’ll even buy.” I give a strained laugh. “I just got this great new job, you know?”