Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. One out of two is a pretty big deal with my mother. Listen, baby, I have a late meeting. I want Dash to stay with you.”
“You really don’t think I’m safe.”
“I’m paranoid right now.”
“You’re meeting with them, aren’t you?”
I sigh, not about to lie to her at this point. “I am, but Dierk is backing me up and at a public location.”
She’s silent several beats. “Just come home safe, okay?”
“I will. I love you, Bella. I really fucking love you.”
“I love you, too. See you soon.”
We disconnect and I text Dierk the details of the meeting. He confirms his support almost instantly. I stand back up, walk to the file cabinet, and finally figure out where I’m supposed to be looking. Almost immediately I find the file I’m looking for. I sit back down and lay it in front of me. Please, let this be what I need to protect Bella.
I flip the file open and at first it seems to be a basic case file, until it’s not. Everything I need to control the Allen family is right here, in all its dirty glory. I push to my feet. I’m going to make a copy and then head to the bank vault, where I’ll keep a copy, but I’m going to give Dash a copy for backup, too.
With a smile on my face, I dial Tiffany’s in Dallas, Texas and order Bella a very special necklace, before I get to work, preparing for drinks and conversation at the whiskey and cigar club.
Chapter Fifty
Tyler
The Wesley Cigar Bar is a dimly lit, old-world-feel kind of spot located downtown near my offices, which means, my stomping ground. It’s a place I frequent with clients and while I’m not a cigar guy, plenty of them are.
I arrive to the meeting early, tip the staff well and in advance, and settle into a private corner, where I order a ridiculously expensive bottle of whiskey. The Balvenie 40 Year Old Scotch is my choice, which runs seven thousand, but in this joint will cost me more like ten.
A truce between enemies is worth the price, as is, a declaration of war.
We’ll see where we land.
Knox arrives ten minutes early, unbuttoning his custom jacket before he sits down. He eyes the bottle between us and arches a brow. “Interesting choice. I haven’t tried this release.” He reaches for the bottle and fills a glass, before sipping from his glass. “A vanilla sweetness. Dry. I like it. You?”
“It’ll do.” I slide the file in front of me toward him. “Before you open that if you wouldn’t have touched my woman, I wouldn’t have dug for that. That bastard hated me so much he hid it in the case file that was my trial loss.”
He drags the file toward him, opens it, and starts reading. Two minutes later, he shuts it, downs the whiskey and pours another glass. “I might need the whole damn bottle. I assume you kept a copy.”
“Of course, I did. And part of me wants to ruin you with it, for one reason.”
“Bella,” he supplies. “I didn’t have her taken. Oliver worked for my father. He got ahead of me. I didn’t know until it was done and then I had no choice but to roll with it.”
“Why should I believe that?”
He removes his cellphone from his pocket tabs through a few items and then sets it in front of me. There’s a string of messages with Oliver, that include him asking Oliver what the fuck he was thinking, and warning him not to hurt Bella.
I return the phone and say, “Why the fuck don’t you have better control of your people?”
He laughs bitterly. “My father’s mess has not been easy to clean up with a brother who isn’t much better. I’ve managed to exile him to Europe. Now I can get the real work done.”
“So I’m to believe you’re the good guy?”
“I’ll do what I need to do to protect my family, but murder isn’t my thing. Neither is rape. I have boundaries. And don’t tell me you don’t play dirty to get the job done, within boundaries.”
“I don’t know you or your version of dirty and boundaries well enough to trust you. You did a lot of talking last night that sounded like bribery.”
“You have the file,” he says. “I had to make my point. I can come at you, if I want to. We both know I have the power and resources to do it. There’s nothing in this file that hurts me, but it hurts my brand and name and that’s not acceptable.”
“You’re sounding like an enemy again.”
“I’m not. I won’t go after you. You don’t go after me.” He refills his glass and lifts it toward me. “And we toast to a truce.”
I lift my glass and right before we toast, I say, “If you ever touch Bella again, murder would be too painless for you. And that goes for anyone in your circle.”