Chapter 18
Aidan
I was strangely calm, all things considered. I went home to my penthouse and changed into my workout clothes. I went to the gym in my building and did my usual routine of running and weights, pushing myself until I felt my muscles rip. Then I went back to my place, drank a protein shake, and showered.
I hadn’t planned the idea I’d sprung on Samantha, but as soon as it surfaced in my brain I knew it was right. Don’t get me wrong—the idea of the two of us shedding our identities in order to fuck was screwed up, and many people would likely disapprove. But it was the right idea for Samantha and me. I’d seen the certainty of that reflected in her eyes.
I liked to be with strangers. It seemed she liked the same thing.
Except this plan had a built-in failsafe. We already knew each other and—I hoped, at least—somewhat liked each other. We’d had three months of familiarity and a buildup of trust. For me, I wasn’t risking a night that I likely wouldn’t truly enjoy, with a woman who might demand more than I was willing to offer. And Samantha? She had more to risk than I did. A night with the wrong stranger could be embarrassing or humiliating at best, dangerous at worst. Women walked a tightrope that men never had to think about. With the plan I’d laid down, Samantha would get to play, yet know she was safe at the same time.
And she’d obviously liked the idea.
I wasn’t too worried she would get cold feet and change her mind. Samantha was nothing if not smart, confident, and brave. She wasn’t a pleaser and I’d never seen her waffle over a decision. She had a cool determination that most women would give a limb to have, which was one of the many reasons she was at the top of her profession. And in a work setting, I very much admired her calm.
Saturday night, though, I planned to break it.
I had come out of the shower and was drying myself off when my phone rang. It was the private detective I’d hired to look into the Egerton brothers.
“I got the payment,” he said when I answered. “Thanks for being so prompt. It’s what makes you one of my best customers.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, scrubbing the towel over my hair and dropping it on the bed.
“You sure you don’t need anything else? There were definitely a few unexpected pieces in the info I found. I can keep digging if you want.”
“No,” I told him. “I’m done. I’m going to drop it.”
“Really? That isn’t like you. I got the idea this was some kind of revenge thing.”
“It was, but I’ve thought better of it now. I’m going to let the matter rest.”
He sounded disappointed. Some of the tidbits he’d found really were juicy. “If you say so, Aidan. What are you now, forty? I think you’re getting soft in your old age.”
“I’m thirty-four, and fuck off.”
He laughed. “Have a nice weekend.”
“I plan to.” I hung up and looked at the phone.
I had lied when I said I was going to drop it. I had no intention of doing any such thing, but I didn’t want his services anymore. It doesn’t pay to have any one person know too much about you, especially if you’re hiring them. People you’re paying can always be bought by a higher bidder. It isn’t a fault of theirs, it’s just the way people are. You can’t buy loyalty, which plenty of ancient kings and current Mafia dons could probably tell you.
However, you don’t need paid loyalty when you have friends like mine. I thumbed through my numbers and dialed Alex.
“Howdy,” he said in a fake Texas accent when he answered, because he knew it sounded absurd and that it drove me crazy. I pictured him back in Dallas, sitting in his top-floor apartment, alone like I was.
“Are you bored?” I asked him.
“Always,” he replied. “Tell me you’re going to amuse me.”
“I have a side project if you’re willing to take it.”
Alex knew me well, so it took him only a beat to catch on. “Does this have something to do with the Egerton brothers?”
“Bingo.”
“You gave a good impression in Chicago of having moved past being angry about that.”
“I’m an excellent actor when I need to be.”
“Damn, you are cold.” He sounded pleased. I heard him take a sip of something. “Go ahead.”
Here’s the thing: Alex was the only one of us with a prison record. He wasn’t a career criminal, but he did have a certain willingness to cross lines that the rest of us couldn’t or wouldn’t cross. He knew people the rest of us didn’t know. Even as a teenager, Alex knew things like how to hotwire a car or how to spot an undercover cop patrolling our shitty neighborhood. He knew which guys on which corners sold what, even though none of us ever bought anything. When we first rented our apartment together all of us were underage, which meant none of us wanted to get caught up in the system. Knowledge was power, and Alex had a natural talent for the right kind of knowledge.
“I’m going to forward you the report I got,” I told him. “There are a lot of details, but the basics are that the Egerton brothers possibly stole the original code for their stupid, multimillion-dollar app from a rival six years ago.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Alex asked.
“Probably because you have an IQ to speak of.”
“That’s information that could make their investor value tank right before their IPO.”
“Certain people would see it that way, yes.”
“And where is the former rival now?”
“That’s the funny thing. At first he tried to sue. It got pretty far, but then the case was dropped. No settlement or legal agreement. It was just dropped and the man moved to Florida.”
“Maybe he likes beaches and malls. I hear it’s beautiful there.”
“Maybe a thirty-year-old programmer is a little out of place amongst the retirees.”
“Sounds like an interesting theory. Why don’t you pay your investigator to dig him up?”
“Because I don’t completely trust him,” I replied. “Because this has to be done right, which means no leaks. Because I want this guy dug up, and I don’t really care what means are used.”
Alex took another sip of whatever alcohol he was drinking. “Let me get this straight, Aidan. You’re asking me to leave my very important position brokering deals for Tower VC and go to Florida, so you can take completely insane revenge on two guys who made comments about your assistant’s ass.”
“And her pussy,” I said, because I was still pissed about it. “Otherwise yes, you’re correct. Come on, Alex. Doing oil and ranching deals has you bored out of your mind. You want a challenge.”
He was quiet for a second, and then he said, “What I want, apparently, is some alligator repellant and a mosquito net.”
I smiled to myself in triumph. “Thank you. Enjoy yourself.”
“You know, you’re right. I probably will. What do we tell the others?”
Dane and Noah weren’t going to be brought in on this little scheme. Not until it was already over. “I’ll convince them you’re on vacation,” I said.
Alex snorted. “Good luck with that, but that’s your problem. I’m off to buy some SPF 50.”
After I hung up, I had a brief moment of second thoughts. Samantha likely wouldn’t approve of what I was doing. Not that she had any affection for the Egerton brothers, but she wasn’t the type of person to take out a long, protracted, expensive revenge.
I was.
I’d told her I wasn’t a very good person.
Besides, it didn’t matter. Tomorrow, we weren’t going to be ourselves anyway.
I picked up my phone and texted her. Jacques Bar, 10:20 p.m.
I had told her to wait for my instructions, and here they were. Bossy and a little imperious. I’d made the time puzzlingly specific in order to throw her off her game.
There was an agonizing minute in which I got no response, and then another. Finally, a single word came through by text:
Yes
I smiled and tossed my phone down. The game was on.