Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Twenty minutes later, I’d drafted and email and sent the pictures to the wife of the CEO, a woman who didn’t need this level of stress when she was already trying to raise four kids on her own without a nanny because her husband claimed it was “her job.”
But it was what her lawyer sister said she needed. Proof. Undeniable proof. Because he had the access to the money, which meant he would throw a lot of it toward fighting her about alimony and custody and even child support.
Meanwhile, the woman had worked her ass off to support him when he was building his business.
It was a case that would end up being pretty high profile, and I was going to pay attention to the progress, rooting for the scorned wife all the way.
Then the door was opening, and the muffled male voices spilled out and filled the small room, making Val’s tail waggle furiously, but he stayed where he’d been told to as his owner approached.
“We will get started on the case immediately,” Mike said, all ass-kissy when he had dollar signs in his eyes.
“Mmhmm,” A said, reaching for the dog’s leash and heading toward the door. “Oh, one last thing,” he said, standing in the doorway.
“What’s that?” Mike asked, eyes bright.
“I want her on the case,” he said, nodding his chin toward me. “And only her,” he added, making my head whip over, too shocked to respond.
What was he playing at?
Why would he want me after getting his ass kissed by my four other coworkers for the past half an hour? And knowing damn well that I would not be kissing his ass.
Mike’s gaze was hard, and I could practically hear his thoughts. Most of them accusatory. Like I’d somehow tainted Andres against the rest of them before they’d come out to see he’d arrived.
“I’m afraid that is out of the question,” Mike said, setting my teeth on edge. Because, again, I knew him well. He didn’t want me on a case that could bring in the big bucks.
A, though, was not a man who tolerated being told no.
“No?” he asked in that sort of raspy voice of his. “Well, it’s her or no one. So I suggest you work your shit out,” he said, waving around at all of us. “Me? I got no problem going somewhere else.”
With that, he was gone.
To give my coworkers credit, the screaming didn’t start until the door was completely closed.
CHAPTER TWO
A
If there was one thing I’d learned growing up on the streets, it was that you were always surrounded by animals.
Rats and snakes, in particular.
Rats were easier to flush out, since when someone was talking to the cops about you, that shit didn’t stay buried.
Snakes, though, snakes were slippery little fucks.
But I had one.
And I needed to know who it was.
“Hey, boss,” Marco called, making me jolt away from where I’d been staring out the window, looking at the grounds of my estate, not really seeing anything, too lost in my thoughts.
If you’d have told the little street kid I’d once been that one day, I would buy one of the most expensive mansions in a beach-adjacent town in New Jersey, I wouldn’t have believed it.
When you spent your childhood with a grumbling stomach and nothing to put in it, you didn’t usually have lofty dreams of multi-million-dollar properties. You just wanted your next meal.
“What’s going on?” I asked, glancing over at Marco, wondering if he could be the snake.
That was the thing with being the boss. You couldn’t trust fucking anyone. Not completely. You always had to be on your toes. You always had to question everyone’s motives.
I knew from personal experience what happens when you underestimate the people who work under you.
After all, I’d been the one to slice the throats of the drug lords I’d once worked for.
“Just got some word from the farmers,” he said, meaning the crew we had in Mexico, growing, and processing the poppy that was used to make heroin.
“About what this time?” I asked.
“There’s been some reports of people sniffing around.”
“What kind of people?” I asked, feeling my spine straighten. We’d just barely gotten some peace. I didn’t want another fucking war on my hands. Especially when I was too far away to keep an eye on shit personally.
“He said no one has gotten a good look at ‘em. But there are people at night.”
“The fuck am I paying these people for if they aren’t doing basic perimeter work?” I asked.
“What do you want to do?” Marco asked. Even if he wanted to suggest some changes, he didn’t really have the brains for it. We both knew it.
“Send Manny down there,” I said, shrugging. “See what he can find out.”
When it came to vicious sons of bitches, Manny took the cake. Once saw him cut a man’s tongue out, then shove it so far down the guy’s throat that he fucking choked to death on it.