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)
“And I have a source that confirmed that to be true but it’s not where I can get to it. Not yet.”
“Then we don’t know what bullshit Ri gave them already and Ri can’t just pull back from the DA and say he was joking to save his ass. We have to prove that I’m innocent.”
“Agreed,” Blake says, “but you could stop him from delivering any further blows by going at him.”
“We could also shove the traitors in my operation into a hole and we won’t find them until they’re in trouble again.”
“But we stop them and Ri from handing over damning information to the DA or planting fake information the DA finds in a raid. Right now, there is nothing in the DA’s system on you.”
“Per an insider at the DA’s office, I assume?”
“Per their computer system that I hacked.”
I arch a brow. “You hacked the DA?”
“Yes, I’ve also worked for the DA and hacked for the DA.” He moves on. “Look, here’s my concern. Rosemond. He’s my concern. If he’s blackmailing Ri, Ri could be trying to connect him to you and get rid of both of you at once. If he’s not trying to get rid of Rosemond and you take down Ri, as I’ve said, you’ve hurt his money and you become a target.”
“Mia becomes a target.”
“Exactly. Mia and your company, because those things are what matter to you, in different ways, of course. We need to turn Rosemond on Ri, and get Ri focused on protecting himself from Rosemond.”
“Which he could do by turning the heat on him and me with the DA. That doesn’t work.”
“It works if we have the proof we need to prove he set you up first.”
His phone rings and he pulls it from his pocket. “Sorry, man. This is one of my men on assignment overseas. I have to take it.”
I nod and he answers his call. My mind goes to my father and I try to think about what he’d do right now, even what advice he’d give me which transports me back to the last piece of advice he ever gave me. Back to the day he died and that golf course in the Hamptons:
“You’re shooting like hell, son. I’d ask why but we both know why. You haven’t been good since she left. You damn sure haven’t been able to be here, in the Hampton’s since she left.”
“I’ve made more money for me and the company in the past six months than I have in my entire career.”
“I don’t give a flip about the money,” he says, turning to face me, his hands settling on his hips. “I care about you and her. She loves you. You love her. Go get her.”
“She’s with Ri now.”
“She’s working for Ri. There’s a difference between fucking him and working for him.”
“Oh come on, pops. She thinks I fucked Becky. She’s fucking Ri.”
“Have you asked her?”
“She won’t even talk to me.” I pull the ring out of my pocket, where I’ve held it every day for six months. “She sent it back.”
“Well, you damn sure know she didn’t want your money.”
“I already knew that.”
He throws his golf bag in the rear of the cart and I do the same. “Make her listen.”
“Becky was naked and pressed against me, dad. No words erase that.”
He turns away from me and presses a hand on the rear of the cart. “Fuck.” He fists his hand on his chest. “I don’t—feel right, son.”
“What? What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. I can’t seem to breathe. Call—”
He falls to his knees and I go down with him. “Dad. Fuck.” I dial 911 and then it’s like a tunnel consumes me. I have random moments of clarity. Me pumping my father’s chest. Me shouting for help. The emergency crew. The ambulance and me riding beside my father, holding his hand. And then his final words, “Son, protect what was mine and what is yours. Do not let anyone take what is yours. Don’t let anyone take who you love.”
And then he’d shut his eyes and never opened them again.
“Sorry about that,” Blake says, drawing me back to the present. “But, fuck. My man is in some heat right now, but then so are you. The most important thing right now is proving you’re innocent. Once we get that proof, and that could be a few keystrokes from happening, then we ensure Ri pays, and that Rosemond doesn’t come at you.”
“You turn them on each other,” I supply since that’s where we’re going with this conversation.
“Yes. I can make Rosemond believe Ri is setting him up even if he’s not. That gets Ri fighting for his life, not trying to take yours. I’ll then have a friend at the FBI offer him protection to turn evidence on Rosemond. That means Ri is out of the picture and in witness protection. But there are risks. Ri could end up dead and I need to know you know that. I’ll do my best to ensure that doesn’t happen. This protects you and Mia. That’s my priority.”