Chapter 36
Zephyr
This time, Alina came to the apartment atop Jazz Sessions. I”d been forewarned by her surveillance team. I have to say that even though this was my first time working in any capacity with the NOPD and the DA”s office, I was impressed with how smoothly the operation was running. There were no surprises, and as Nick told him, Grace was working her butt off.
I had to take her away on vacation somewhere after this was over, I thought as I pretend limped and allowed Alina inside the small apartment.
I lay down on the couch, adding some drama to my movements. I was no actor, but I”d had enough injuries received during fistfights to do the role of ”dude who got beat up” justice.
”I presume you”re here to tell me how we can be friends, cher?” I was in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. I looked sufficiently banged up.
Alina leaned against a wall across from the couch. She was in a pair of tight jeans, high heels, and a black lace blouse that told me she didn”t have a bra on; she”d gone the pasties route with her perky tits. Definitely not real boobs, I deduced. I was experienced in these matters.
She smiled. It was feral. Any other day I”d want to bend her over any piece of furniture and drive my cock into her…but my dick refused to cooperate. It was enamored with a certain assistant district attorney and didn”t want to sink into any other pussy.
”I hear that Fat Tony is not very happy with you,” she purred. There was something porn starry about how she spoke, and it wasn”t fake. Her lips were painted bright red, and her face was very attractive. Any other day…yeah, yeah, she”d look great sucking me off, but alas, it was not to be. The mighty Zephyr Doucet had fallen. Hard. I didn”t have a problem with it, except every time I thought about Grace, I wanted to smile, and right now, I needed to wince to pretend the cut on my lip was real.
”Fat Tony and I are friends, cher. Now, why are you here, Alina? I can”t do much, considering I took a little tumble down some stairs, but” — I crudely pointed to my crotch — ”if you”d like to help me out, I promise to take care of you later when my lips are not bruised.”
Christ! Is this how I normally talk to women? No wonder Grace thinks I”m a man whore. I didn”t even have to dig too deep to pull this material out.
She sauntered to the couch, and I really hoped she wasn”t planning to suck me off. No matter how much this operation meant to Grace, this was one thing she wouldn”t want me to take for the team. Also, I doubted my brainless penis would even get hard. Right now, the damn thing was petrified as fuck that she”d touch it.
She went on her knees, and I held my breath. Grace was gonna fuckin” kill me. First time in my life, I was thinking about another woman while a beautiful one was in sucking distance.
”You did get beat up.” She poked the bandage on my ribs, and I jerked. ”Broken ribs are the worst. How many did you break?”
”I have a feeling you know exactly how many.”
She laughed and rose, settled on the armchair by the couch. ”I may have gone through your medical record.”
”And I thought the privacy laws actually worked.”
”Not for us.”
”Us?”
I had turned on the recorder the cops had given me, and I hoped that it was catching all this. It was innocuously hidden inside a wooden flower vase that held dry flowers and was perched on the coffee table.
”Like I told you, I work with my brother Anatoly at VK Corporation.”
I nodded. ”Right. What does VK Corporation do?”
She smiled again. ”Many things, including working closely with companies like BBH.”
”Doing what?”
”We move money, Zephyr. And we work with logistics, shipping, and real estate.”
”That”s a broad portfolio.”
I”d gone through mock conversations like this with Nick, Ash, and even Grace several times, but the real thing was nothing like what we”d practiced. I was worried I”d fuck it up. Was anyone hearing this? Was there a white van parked close by where a team of cops was listening in like they did in the movies? Was that a gun at her ankle, or was she happy to see me?
”I”ll give you half a million dollars right now. I”ll wire it right away. All you need to do is sign some documents.”
”I ain”t selling my shares of BBH, doll. My brother hates my ass already; I do that, and he”ll skin my ass.”
My heart was beating loud. This was it. This was what we were waiting for.
”I need you on the board, so keep the shares. What you”re signing is paperwork for a new BBH subsidiary.”
”You need Rome to authorize that.”
She smiled wide. ”No. I just need three members of the board and your general counsel.”
My heart stopped and started again. She”d said, general counsel. She”d said, Henri. Grace was right. This sucked big time.
”I”m assuming you want this subsidiary to launder money for you?” Was I going too far? Damn it. I should”ve shut my mouth.
She raised her eyebrows.
”I don”t like the corporate shtick, but that doesn”t mean I don”t know what the hell is goin” on in my family business.” I sat up, wincing for effect.
”I”m impressed, Zephyr.”
”How will you keep this hidden from Rome or that security guy he”s dragged in, Imran?”
”We”re taking care of those problems.”
Like hell!
”Look, Alina, my family hates my guts right now, but they”ll give me money. I”m not going to let you take care of my sister”s husband and a friend.”
I really hoped someone was listening and would make sure Rome and Imran were safe.
”And what about your friend?”
Yeah, this was not good. I knew which friend she was talking about, and I didn”t like it at all. I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees.
”Or maybe Angela is more a friend with benefits like you and I could be,” Alina continued.
I curbed the urge to pick up my phone and call Angela to make sure she was okay. They knew what she meant to me because Henri did. That was why she was bringing her up. Thank God he didn”t know about Grace.
”Back up a minute,” I stalled. ”You said, general counsel. Can you explain?”
”What”s there to explain?” she asked nonchalantly.
”Our general counsel is Henri Allard. That man is honest as the day is long, and he”ll kick my ass….” I stopped speaking because she began to laugh. Another nail in Henri”s fucking coffin.
”Henri has been working with my brother for ten years now, and we”re all very good friends.”
”Doll, it”s dangerous to tell me these things,” I murmured. ”I ain”t taken your money yet and may not do it.”
”You have two choices. Work with us, or we”ll make sure you”re dead. Fat Tony didn”t make sure you have a bruise the size of a basketball on your stomach; it was us.”
I took a deep breath, and almost as if my body knew I was acting, I flinched. ”Why are you coming to me? Go to…I don”t know…someone else.”
”Hugo has been working with us. So was your mother. Unfortunately, with her arrest, she will no longer be a member of the BBH board.”
That was what was in the BBH by-laws. If you were convicted of a crime, you couldn”t be a board member.
Grace was one hell of an investigator. She”d already known all this, and it had been her gut. Was this woman saying these things evidence? I suddenly worried I hadn”t turned the recorder on correctly. Sweat beaded on my forehead. It was a good touch, even if Alina thought it was fear of her and not that I”d screwed this op up.
”Make it a million,” I said softly.
”Half a million now. Half a million in six months. We need to know you”ll do your part in protecting our investment in Bayou Belle Holdings.”
”What”s your end game?”
She chuckled. ”To take over the company, of course. It would”ve been easier and faster if your grandfather had left his shares as we”d hoped to his heirs.”
”Is that why you were trying to have Rome and Gaia killed? Blaze killed?”
Alina chuckled. She pulled out her phone and tapped some keys. ”You have an email in your inbox. Sign the document electronically, and as soon as you do, I”ll wire you the money.”
”You can”t wire such a sum to my account.”
”Of course not. You”ll have an account in the Cayman Islands.”
”Popular islands,” I mused.
She cocked an eyebrow.
”It appears my uncle Pierre has an account there, my aunt Clare has one…my mother, and now me. And probably Henri. Anyone else?”
”You don”t need to know about anyone else. Now, be a good boy and sign that document so we can get to work. Enough time has been wasted.” She wasn”t flirting anymore.
Any document I signed, I”d been assured would not be legally binding as I was a civilian working undercover. I opened the email that took me to a DocuSign page. I signed the agreement, downloaded what I signed and mailed it to an account Grace had set up for me to send her materials for this particular operation. It looked innocuous and would not raise suspicion even if someone checked my email.
Her phone beeped, and she grinned.
She rose. ”It was good doing business with you. I”ll see you in a few months, but you will receive instructions on what to do and say at the next BBH board meeting.”
”Ah…my money?” I asked.
She smiled when my phone beeped. ”You just received a secure message with instructions. Now, don”t spend it all in one place.”
She left, and I locked the door after her with shaky hands.
I called Nick. ”You got it?”
”Loud and clear.”
I relaxed. ”I was scared I fucked up the recorder.”
”You couldn”t fuck it up, Z; we have another couple as backup.”
”I didn”t turn those on…oh, come on, Nick tell me they”ve not been on the whole time?”
”Okay, I won”t. Don”t worry, I”ll get them and make sure no one hears you jacking off on your couch.”
”I do not jack off on the couch. I make sweet love on it.”
Nick laughed. ”Stay in your apartment. I”m going to talk to Grace and Cap. Then we figure out our next steps.”
”Is it over?”
”Almost.”
”Thank the fuck. Oh, and before you go, I get to keep the half a million dollars Alina gave me, right?”
”Wrong. And you don”t need the money, sha.”