Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
“You’re not going to just…waltz into the man’s hotel. Seriously, promise me that you’re not.”
Frederick’s body swayed. How many glasses of scotch had he actually downed? Things were sort of hazy after glass number four.
“It’s a trap,” Hugo told him.
Frederick slapped his hands down on his desk.
Yes, the move looked dramatic and intense, but it was mostly so he would stay upright and not fall on his face.
“It’s…not.” He’d intended to go to bed earlier, but he’d waited, wanting to hear about Edward’s attack.
He’d hoped to discover that Simone had been eliminated.
But the woman had survived. Survived and was now…engaged to Ryan Quinn?
Hugo marched toward him. He’d shoved his phone back into the pocket of his coat. “It is. One hundred percent, it is a trap. Look, I know you ran a background check on Ryan Quinn…”
Well, Frederick hadn’t done it personally. He had people who did that sort of thing. Someone in HR? “He’s rich. And he’s pissed.” Frederick glared at Hugo. “You shouldn’t have told that waiter to attack Simone.”
“You gave that order,” Hugo gritted.
“Things are blurry.” The words sounded slurred to his own ears. He should sit down. Maybe eat something?
No. Sleep. Sleep would be best. Not like he wanted to storm Ryan Quinn’s hotel room right then and there. “Tomorrow.” That was the plan. “Tomorrow morning, I will meet Ryan for breakfast. We’ll settle this…unpleasantness. Put it behind us.”
Hugo sucked in a breath. “I get that you’re drunk off your arse.”
He was not.
“By the way, boss, murder isn’t ‘unpleasantness’ to most people. It’s a crime. And the fact that Ryan Quinn has casually committed murder should alarm you.”
Frederick shook his head. The whole room seemed to swirl around him. “He didn’t do it. It was her.”
“I disagree. I think it was him.”
Hugo could disagree all he damn well wanted. But Frederick knew what was happening. “You just have a soft spot for her.” A nod. “I get it. I wanted to fuck her, too.”
Hugo’s round face didn’t look quite so friendly.
“Women are dangerous. Traitorous.” Oh, how he knew that to be true. “She’s pulling the strings. Somehow, she’s got Ryan thinking they are going to get married.” That bombshell had blindsided him. “I can fix this.”
“It’s a trap,” Hugo repeated. “He’s setting you up. You would be an absolute fool to just walk into his hotel.”
Even drunk, Frederick did not like the man’s tone. “Watch it,” he snapped. “You forget who pays your salary.” He raised his hands off the desk. Slowly. Then he pulled out his own phone. He thought about calling Konstantin, to give the man a head’s up, but…
No, that would just be more problematic. Better to resolve this issue himself. Frederick tossed the phone onto his desk. “I’m getting some sleep.” Maybe the room would stop spinning once he’d slept for a few hours. “And tomorrow, I’ll meet with Ryan.” Good. Done. Excellent. “I’ll fix things.”
“I doubt that,” Hugo muttered.
He’d started to weave his way to the door, but at Hugo’s mutter, Frederick paused. “What did you say?” He hadn’t fully caught Hugo’s response.
“I said…” Louder, “I don’t doubt that.”
Good. Excellent. “It’s too hot in here.” His fumbling hands yanked at his collar even as Frederick kept heading for the door.
When had he put two doors in his study? His hand reached out, and he missed the doorknob.
Oh. Maybe only one door was actually there.
His hand slid to the side. Fumbled. And found the doorknob.
“What about the hit on Simone?”
Why would Hugo not stop talking? He was making Frederick’s head hurt.
“Do you want me to call off the hit on her?”
Now that was a weird question. “Why would I want you to do that? She’s a thief and a killer. She needs to be eliminated.” Simone was a problem.
“But—”
“Eliminated.” He yanked open the door and stumbled out.
“You’re a dumb bastard,” Hugo groused as he watched Frederick weave out of the study. The man nearly crashed to the floor and had to grab the doorframe for support.
Hugo propped a hip against the desk and watched the drunken idiot stumble away. Ryan Quinn had given a very clear order. No one was to harm Simone Sailor in any way, shape, or form.
Or there would be hell to pay.
Apparently, Frederick was too drunk to be afraid.
Major mistake.
He was also too drunk to listen to reason. Hugo had warned him that the morning meeting at the hotel would be a trap, but Frederick refused to listen to reason. His funeral.
And, as far as who paid his salary, Hugo certainly could not forget that important detail.
His hand reached out, and he scooped up the phone that Frederick had left behind.
His fingers swiped over the screen. He knew Frederick’s passcode.
He’d watched the bastard type it in earlier that night.
It had taken three fumbling attempts before Frederick had done it properly.
So unlocking the phone was easy. Scrolling to check through the recent call log was easy, too. And hitting the screen to dial one of those numbers again…
So easy.
Hugo smiled as he put the phone to his ear. It rang twice before it was answered.
A gravelly voice demanded, “What now?” A voice with the hard hit of a Russian accent.
“Hello, Konstantin,” Hugo greeted him.
“Who is this? You are not Frederick!”
“Don’t hang up! Don’t! I have news that you want to hear.”
“You have Frederick’s phone.”
Indeed, he did. “Frederick is currently passed out drunk.” If he wasn’t dead to the world yet, he would be soon. “And I really felt you needed to know about some of his plans for tomorrow morning.”
Konstantin didn’t hang up.
He did listen.
“A trap is about to be sprung,” Hugo began.