Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
I spot Ace and Coop across the room, only this time I see two more men, a really hot dude who looks black or mixed and an older dude who wears sunglasses all the time. Great, the whole damn MC is here, I think, and shove my shoulders back to project a confidence I totally don’t feel.
“Good morning, fellas. Ace, you wanted to see me?”
He gives a curt nod and motions for me to sit. “You know Coop and Preacher. This is Shades and Wild Man.”
“Guys,” I say and drop down onto a hard chair. Preacher’s presence, while nice, does nothing to quell the anxiety bubbling up in my belly, threatening to send that breakfast burrito on a return trip.
My mind scrambles to figure out what they want with me. Did they know I’d done my own research into them and Frank and the Iron Kings? Were they pissed? “What’s up?”
“Someone stole my money,” Ace says, and the expression on his face is unreadable.
“It wasn’t me,” I insist quickly.
“How do we know that?” The guy with the sunglasses, Shades, leans across with an antagonistic attitude.
“Because if I had any money, I’d be long the fuck gone from these parts. What does your stolen money have to do with me?” I ask the question, but I have a pretty good idea why I’m here now.
“You said you made some transfers for Braden?”
I nod, keeping my expression blank as wariness and fear grow around the lump of anxiety in my belly.
The hot dude that I can now see is mixed race, Wild Man, slides around the table to sit beside me. “Show me exactly how you made the transfer.”
I nod easily, but I swallow a big fat fucking lump in my throat because I know I need to show them—for real—and tell them the truth. “Sure, I can do that, but there’s something you should know.”
Preacher freezes beside me, and Coop’s face darkens with anger. “Just fucking say it,” Coop growls.
I nod. “I gave you an incomplete number for the Cayman Islands account.”
“Why?” That question comes from Preacher, and I turn to face him.
“Because you guys broke into my house and interrogated me and then expected me to trust you. I don’t know who the fuck you guys are and I needed to do my own research first.” I say a little snarkier than I intend. “You got anything to drink in this place? Where’s the old bitch at today?”
“Gia, stop,” Preacher says, glaring at me.
“Okay…I just wanted a drink. Jeez.” I swing the laptop around in front of me and fire it up, ignoring the heat of Preacher’s stare on the side of my face, and make my way to the parts of the internet that good people are smart enough to stay away from. I show Wild Man every step I take.
“It looks like Frank transferred some church money to the Iron Kings' account in the Cayman Islands, and he stole or embezzled or whatever from them.”
“You’re not seriously defending him, are you?” Shades’ anger is easy to see even with the glasses covering his eyes.
“Fuck, no. I’m just telling you what I found.” I point to several different accounts and nod toward Wild Man. “Just as your guy here, I’m telling the truth.”
He nods. “The transfers go from two of the Destiny church accounts to the Cayman accounts, and the only transfers to the Swiss account originate from the Cayman accounts. But that’s not all,” he says and squints toward the screen. “What else did you take?”
“Nothing,” I lie easily. “It’s research that has nothing to do with any of you or your club.”
An alert sounds from the laptop, startling everyone except me and Wild Man.
“Think you can steal from me, Gianna? I’m watching you.”
I gasp at the fact that whoever this asshole is, he knows my name. And my real name is nowhere on the web. Dark or otherwise.
“What the fuck?” I quickly type a reply. “Who the fuck is Gianna? Get off my shit or I’ll wipe everything you have.”
“You stole from me. I will find you and crush you.” Wild Man looks slightly amused, and that pisses me off.
The blood drains from my face as the implications of what I’ve done settle over me. I turn to Wild Man. “I…I…didn’t steal shit. I just made a few copies. An insurance plan, that’s all.”
“Well, whatever you stole from them is now on us,” Ace growls. “You’re hooked up to our internet and our IP,” he roars at me.
“Chill out. I used a VPN, so it looks like I’m logging in from the Philippines.”
Ace isn’t convinced. “So, how the fuck do they know who you are?”
I shrug. “I guess you guys aren’t the only ones with access to a good hacker. He’s probably been waiting for me to log on again since the bid.”