Chapter 15 Resolutions
RESOLUTIONS
“We need to figure out who is going to permanently take over Daniel’s duties,” I said to Scott as I looked over the dwindling finances of Triguard. The current trajectory was not the progression we had been striving for.
The stocks had tanked, several high-end executives already jumping ship, clients and capital investors taking their money elsewhere.
The company would be dead in a year if we didn’t find a way to mitigate our losses and re-secure trust with the legal world.
And with Daniel now a pile of ash, it would be a little more difficult to find someone willing to fill his shoes and partner with me to secretly run the company from behind the curtains.
“That’s a tall order,” Scott replied from the conference table.
His eyes remained intently focused as he scrolled through the reports of the multiple investigations into the bombings of the server farms. So far, the authorities had been led to several encroaching cartels thinking the scent of blood in the water was an invitation for a turf war.
But my territories stood firm, the boundaries unyielding to the damage we’d sustained from the inside.
But if we didn’t patch our wounds quickly, more sharks would emerge.
A knock on my open office doors caught my attention, a single glance catching the sight of the two women quietly walking in my direction.
Sloane’s eyes were dark as she looked at me from behind the slight swelling of her bruised right lid.
Shadows of red and purple graced her jawline, a grimace cracking across her busted lip as she trudged into the room.
But the worst of it was the long angry red gash that streaked from across her cheekbone all the way down to her chin, the stitching keeping her skin together still very fresh.
Sloane hadn’t fared as well as she thought she might have during our little private “training” session earlier this morning. And while I made sure to leave my wife’s sole bodyguard intact, I wanted the reminder of her failure to stare at her right in the face every time she looked in the mirror.
She didn’t complain about the permanent damage done to her skin, seemingly accepting that she in fact deserved the everlasting condemnation. But as the defeated lioness prowled from the sidelines, the little mouse scurrying behind her finally made her appearance known.
“Where is Daniel?” Katherine asked, her voice soft with caution. “I haven’t heard from him since yesterday.”
I cracked my neck, ready to embrace the likely drama that was about to unfold.
“Have a seat, Katherine,” I said, nodding to the chairs in front of my desk.
Sloane folded her hands in front of herself and stood off to the side, her chin raised high like she was completely unbothered by the state of her appearance.
“What’s going on?” Katherine asked as she slowly lowered herself into the chair.
“Daniel is dead,” I stated flatly. “His body has already been incinerated and there will not be a memorial service for him.”
Katherine’s entire body stiffened, the blood draining from her face as her eyes began to gloss over. “What…what happened? Did Matt—"
“I suppose you could give Matt the credit for Daniel’s demise, considering it was the bullet he took to the head that ultimately ruined him,” I advised her. “Unfortunately, the brain damage he sustained could not be mitigated any longer. Necessary measures had to be taken.”
Katherine just blinked at me, her face made of white stone for several seconds before she regrettably found her tongue again, understanding finally dawning on her.
“You…you killed him?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes.”
She could only stare back at me in silence, but the emotions flashing in her eyes were far louder than any word she could ever speak aloud.
A brief flicker of relief danced across her features, but was then quickly followed by the shadows of fear, confusion, uncertainty, concern, and maybe even a little remorse.
And she had every right to feel them. Because her future was officially in my hands now, and I would be nervous as fuck if I were her too.
“Normally, in this situation, I would just ship you off back to your father to become his problem again, but unfortunately that option is no longer available to us.”
Her gaze bounced back to mine, dread now adding itself to the vast mixture of emotions in her eyes. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Aside from the fatal mistake he made attacking my wife yesterday, Daniel also made an additional mistake by sharing a certain family rumor with your father,” I replied, my knuckles cracking under the pressure of my palm.
“And your father made an even bigger mistake by threatening my family with it.” Her eyes fell back to her lap, her mouth falling open as she took in a few deep breaths.
“I’d offer you my condolences, but as I remember it, you weren’t very fond of him. ”
A grimace formed across her mouth as her brows furrowed, a quick sniff quickly following before she blinked away what might have been regret. “No, I wasn’t,” she confirmed.
I nodded in acknowledgment. “Since both of your parents are now gone, there is no one left to send you back to, which means your care remains within my discretion.” The reminder didn’t sit well with her, the worry growing in her softening gaze.
“And as much as I would love to send you off to be someone else’s problem, I’m not going to do that. Yet.”
After considering the options last night, there was a possibility that Katherine could still serve an important purpose for me.
“What are you saying?” she asked gently.
“I’m saying that for now, you will remain here, under my roof and protection, with the specific purpose of assisting and encouraging Jaden through her pregnancy and transition into motherhood,” I answered, hating the taste of the words in my mouth.
“It seems that, despite my reservations, she appears to trust you. So you will use that trust to positively influence her into accepting her new role as a mother. Fail at this, and you and your daughter will find yourselves on the first flight out to a brothel in Haiti. Do I make myself clear?”
Katherine’s eyes glanced down at her lap again, a confused frown sinking her facial features as her hands curled into fists. But her delay in acknowledging her situation, as if she had any other choice at this point, was grating on my nerves.
“Katherine,” I warned, my gritted teeth emphasizing my impatience for an answer.
She closed her eyes and shook her head, taking in a deep breath before slowly exhaling.
“Sorry,” she spoke quickly. “First you tell me my husband is dead, then you tell me my father is dead, and now you’re telling me in order to keep myself and my toddler daughter out of a Hattian brothel, I need to convince your wife to embrace a pregnancy we both know she doesn’t want.
You’ve dropped a whole lot in my lap just now and I’m trying to come to terms with it in less than a minute. ”
I cocked an irritated brow at her, unwilling to entertain her sensitivities.
“A yes or a no will suffice,” I grated.
“What happens after Jaden has her baby and she’s secure in her new role to your satisfaction? What happens to me and my daughter after we’ve fulfilled that purpose?”
I could feel my jaw grinding my teeth in frustration. “Then perhaps I will allow you to assist in the selection of your next husband so you might bore him with your questions instead of me.”
Katherine folded her glossy pink lips, looked back down into her lap, and nodded. “I understand,” she murmured.
“Good. Make sure to keep your little mission to yourself. If Jaden knows, she won’t trust you anymore and you’ll become useless to me, and you know how I feel about useless things,” I warned her.
She nodded solemnly. “Of course.”
“I suggest you get to it then,” I said, pointedly turning away to my desktop and officially dismissing her.
She quickly stood from her seat and hurried back toward the door, Sloane catching one last glance from me before escorting her out and shutting the door behind them.
“You know she’s going to end up telling her at some point,” Scott commented, the hint of amusement lingering in his tone as his eyes remained focused on the reports.
“I know,” I replied, sighing as I turned my gaze to the security footage of Jaden laying on the couch in her little den, just staring blankly into the open space.
“And it doesn’t matter,” I continued. “Even if Katherine were to tell Jaden, she would still comply just to save Katherine’s skin. And that’s good enough for me.”
Of course, I preferred it if she came to terms with her pregnancy naturally, but if a threat was what she needed to get her ass in gear, then so be it. Either way, she would learn to bond with the baby, whether she wanted to or not.
“If you say so,” Scott replied, the slight chuckle making me want to cut his tongue out. I just killed my fucking brother because he raped my wife yesterday. I was not in the mood for anyone’s humor.
“Why don’t you tell me something useful, like an update on those investigation reports?” I shot back at him.
He groaned, flinging the papers onto the table. “There’s nothing to tell. Just more bureaucratic bullshit and chasing tails that don’t exist.”
“Good. Let’s keep them running in circles. Once I finish this shit with Matt and his little side fuck, we can focus on wrapping up the investigations and getting Triguard back on track.”
Scott looked up from his task, his mouth a thin line as he leaned back in his chair.
“You’re not going to tell Matt about Daniel?”
I almost rolled my eyes. As if that would solve anything.
“And let Matt think he won? Absolutely not. Plus, it wouldn’t change anything. I’d still be gunning for him regardless, and he knows this.”
Scott nodded as his eyes wandered the room in thought. He knew the score. And he knew the game wouldn’t end until one of us was dead.