Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24027 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24027 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“Sir, I need a minute of your time.”
I nod. “Shawn, take Evie upstairs and let her pick out a room. Any she wants. Have someone go into the city and get her some things. Evie, you tell them what you need, and I’ll be with you in a moment.”
“Anything I want?” Evie asks as I turn away from her. She’s eyeing me with the sly look of a mischievous child—testing me.
“Within reason,” I reply. “Within reason, Shawn.”
“Yes, sir.”
I follow Geoffrey to the study. He closes the door behind me and locks it. This must be serious.
“The feds hit another one of our warehouses,” he says quickly. “Down by the docks. Not a big loss. One of our men was taken in, but he’s solid. No record, they won’t be able to get anything out of him. But, sir, I think we have a mole in the organization.”
Taking a breath, I go to my private bar and scoop a bit of ice into a glass then pour myself some scotch. Geoffrey wants an answer and quickly, but it’s times like this that require focus and contemplation. I wait, swirl the ice in my glass, and watch as the scotch begins to melt it.
“A mole,” I say. “One of Carl’s?”
Carl Kade, the man gunning for my spot in the crime world. He thinks he’s got what it takes to bring me down and has been stepping up his attempts in the last three months. There’s an unspoken code in the underworld that you don’t rat each other out to get ahead, but Carl’s the kind of guy I could see breaking that code to take me down.
“Almost certainly,” Geoffrey replies. “It stinks like him.”
The uncomfortable feeling of knowing there is a traitor in my midst slinks down my spine like a parasite. In times like this, the old Callum would have just started stacking bodies until the threat was neutralized. That’s still an option, but it would mean weakening my position significantly and then building back up again, which would take time.
I can feel Geoffrey waiting for my decision. He’s a trustworthy man, but he’s also a tense man, whose mind is always moving. I guess you could say I pay him to worry.
“So…what do you want me to do, sir?”
“Nothing,” I reply. “For now.”
“Nothing?”
I turn. “Let’s play it as though we think it was a random FBI raid. Like we suspect they may have us under surveillance. That way the mole will think he’s safe, understand?”
Geoffrey nods. “Smart.”
“That will give us time to think of a plan to smoke him out.”
Geoffrey smiles. “Anything else, sir?”
“Yes, that girl you saw me with,” I say. “Her name is Evie, and she’ll be staying with us now. Have someone pick up a white lingerie set for her and tell her to meet me in the spa in a half hour for a massage.”
With a slight smile, Geoffrey nods and leaves through the door.
A mole, I think as I sip my scotch. So you want to play hardball, Carl?
I take my scotch upstairs to my room where I shower and dry off. Despite this new threat, my mind is on the new visitor in my home and what’s about to occur in the spa which I admittedly haven’t used in months.
I’m actually watching the clock, waiting for the half-hour to go by, just dying to see what Evie’s going to look like in the lingerie I sent for her. Will she look elegant and high-class, or downright sexy like a professional? The fact that she’s been all covered up in her raincoat so far has been killing me. I even head down to the spa ten-minutes early just in case she’s there.
Christ, what’s gotten into me?
Someone, most likely Geoffrey, has already turned the heat and steam on, so the spa is ready. I can smell the lavender oil in the air, but it’s doing nothing to calm me; I’m already getting turned on as I step out of my clothes and wrap myself in a towel, and when I hear the sound of Evie’s footsteps approaching, heels clicking down the hallway, my heart starts racing.
I slide up onto the table just as she enters the room and closes the door behind her.
“Mr. Alister,” she says simply. Someone coached her on that. Geoffrey.
“My men call me Mr. Alister,” I reply. “Call me Callum.”
Evie comes around to the side of the table where I can see her, and what I see takes my breath away.
She’s wearing a pair of delicate black heels that carry my eyes up to white stockings that are clipped to a white garter belt framing a lace pair of white panties that are so sheer they’re almost see-through. Her hips make me think of one thing: breeding.
Her stomach is flat and perfect and draws my eyes up to her young, perky breasts, held up by a white lace bra that matches the rest of her set. Also sheer, I can just barely see the darker pink where her nipples are.