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)
Ri could end up dead.
This protects Mia.
My father’s words come back to me: 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.
“Do it,” I say and I feel no remorse. Mia is my first priority. My company and my employees are my second priority. Ri is nothing and I do believe that even my father, with his strict moral compass, would want him to know it.
Blake pulls us up to the high-rise where Ri’s offices are and into a parking garage. A few minutes later, I’m sitting in a surveillance van watching Mia on a camera as she joins a staff meeting. Ri enters the room and instead of looking around the room and communicating to the room of twenty, his gaze lands on Mia. He can’t take his eyes off her and if I sit here, watching this much longer, Rosemond might not need to kill Ri. I will. For forty-five minutes, he lectures the team about production and projections that aren’t where he wants them to be. For forty-five minutes, the entire room has to know he can’t keep his eyes off fucking Mia. It’s almost like he knows I’m watching.
The meeting ends and Mia, like the rest of the group, stands, only when she would escape, Ri calls out her name, “Mia, my office before you leave.”
That’s a mistake. He has no idea what a mistake he just made because if he touches her again, I’m not staying in this van.
Chapter forty
Mia
After ordering me to his office, Ri heads out of the conference room. My mind races and I know I’m headed into dangerous territory with him. I sense it. “Mia?” Kevin asks. “Do you need help?”
“No. Thanks. Goodnight.” I rush toward the door and spy Ri already headed down the hallway. “Ri!”
He stops and turns. “My office.”
“I’m running to the bathroom first,” I say, needing an excuse to talk to Kara who is no longer at her desk but it’s her I need. “I’ll be there in three minutes.”
“Make it two,” he snaps, his jaw set hard, anger radiating off of him the way it had the entire meeting which was generally miserable, as he kept staring me down. In turn, Kevin scowled at him, and everyone knew it was about me.
I rush down the hallway to a bathroom nearby, step inside and enter the stall and since I don’t know if this room is being recorded, I pull out my phone and text Kara: I’m going to be in his office. Create a distraction. Get him out of there long enough for me to get the number off that phone in case he takes it home tonight. And yes, I know Grayson won’t approve which is why I’m texting only you.
Kara calls me and I answer. “You’re safe to talk where you’re at and no, Grayson won’t approve, but you have to do it. I’ll get him out of there and I’ll warn you by phone when he’s returning. The risk is minimal as the office is all but empty. Just get the number and get clear of the desk. Text it to us right away.”
“Got it.”
“Go. Now.”
I hang up and I know I have to do this. I can’t keep coming here. Grayson won’t be able to take it. I feel it. I know it. I have to help where I can and be prepared not to come back. I stick my phone in my pocket and exit the bathroom. My path back to Ri’s office is swift. Once I’m there I find Tabitha gone and the door open. I step inside. “Shut the door,” he orders from behind his desk where he stands leaning on the hard surface.
“No one is out there.”
“Shut the fucking door, Mia.”
I remind myself that I’m wearing a wire. I have plenty of help nearby. I shut the door and lean against it. “Afraid?” he asks.
“You’re acting weird.”
“I know you were with Grayson this weekend.”
I’m stunned despite being prepared and I react instantly. “You had me followed? Really, Ri? I’ve been here a year. Have you had me followed the entire time?”
“He’s a competitor. It’s reasonable.”
“That’s a yes. I can’t believe you.”
“You were at his house.”
“I don’t have to explain myself, but yes, I was. He owed me money on an investment and he made me collect in person.”
“For the entire weekend?”
“Yes, Ri. And now I know he and I are really over. I had to find out. I had to know.”
“He fucked Becky. That was pretty over, or I thought it was. Maybe you don’t give a shit what pussy he sticks his cock into as long as you have his money.”
“You’re a son of a bitch, Ri. I can’t believe I ever came to work for you.”