20. Brogan
It’d been an entire week since Declan and I had sex with Enslee.
Unfortunately, it’d also been that long since I’d seen either in person.
With the walls closing in around me, I thought it better to stay in the city for a few nights and had done so every one this week.
The only saving grace was the often X-rated video chats I’d done with Declan over that time.
This reminded me a lot of when he’d leave to shoot a movie and be gone for weeks or months at a time.
We’d always made the best of any distance between us, and my hand had certainly gotten a workout this week.
We’d told Enslee I had a business trip out of town because we hadn’t wanted to upset her. I thought for sure she would’ve recovered her memory by now, but she was still as clueless as to who I really was. It should’ve made me happy, and it might’ve had I been home to enjoy her body and Declan’s.
My lover and I had never had a third in our sexual games, but my mind was already running wild with all the positions we could do with three of us versus just two.
In fact, it was those thoughts and images that’d kept me hard all night and had provided the proper fodder for my dreams, which had become quite vivid.
I’d much rather dream about fucking the two of them and even being fucked by them, instead of the reality that’d been facing me for months.
It was a reality that was getting closer to fruition more quickly than I’d like.
It’d been the reason I now had six investigators looking for Layla, and any traces of her plans that she might’ve left behind.
I’m so sick of living like a goddamn prisoner awaiting execution.
Besides future plans for my now two lovers, I was thankful to have work to fall back on.
As it was, Sinclair Pharmaceuticals was in the process of trying to get FDA approval on a new pain management drug.
It was a non-opioid that would take the place of nerve blockers but still provide the same immediate relief.
This would be a game changer if it got approval, and the clinical studies so far had shown promising results.
My personal life was a clusterfuck, and everything was spinning out of control, but there were still professional obligations.
I had a company to run, and being the CEO, I knew my father was looking for any reason whatsoever to snatch everything out from under me.
That was even more true now that his dream of me marrying his best friend's daughter was basically over and done with.
I had no idea if Layla was ever coming back, and if she did, the agreement we previously had would be over.
After all of this, she'd be wise to stay away. Unfortunately, her continued absence left questions I couldn’t answer.
Throughout the week, I’d done my best to dodge Detective Graves’ phone calls.
It was easier to do when I realized it wasn’t for an official interrogation.
He just wanted to chat with me. I knew what that meant, and I wouldn’t fall for his tricks.
The detective wanted to get me talking, hoping I’d incriminate myself.
I was too smart for him and his games, and I had far too much work to do here at Sinclair.
And he hadn’t even been slick in his attempts.
I had the uneasy feeling of being watched no matter where I went in the city, which had been the main reason I’d played it cool and stayed in Manhattan.
Still, I did miss Declan, and even Enslee to a lesser extent.
In just a short amount of time, I'd gotten used to her being there.
Her presence alone seemed to make a difference, especially with everything so dark and heavy in my world, and she added just a bit of brightness to it.
She was a flower blooming through the ice in the dead of winter or a jewel shining through the ashes of a fire.
And my entire life was basically an inferno.
Everything around me seemed to go up in flames, then turn to ash.
Tonight, I did plan to head back to Staten Island, though.
I knew there’d be an interrogation there too, but Enslee was a lot easier to deal with now because the things she wanted to know were all lies.
I didn’t have to worry about telling her the truth because it would then cause even more issues for me.
The longer she remained in the dark, the better it’d be for everyone involved.
Declan had forwarded me a video of the scene from that night, and I’d analyzed every second of it.
From watching her pussy swallow my man’s cock to deepthroating my own, I’d replayed it over and over.
And maybe too much because I’d awaken in a cold sweat picturing Declan and Enslee there alone, and I’d see him bring her to screaming orgasms, ripping my heart out in the process.
What hurt the most in those visions wasn’t that he was with her because we needed to keep up the ruse and we both knew that might involve us individually, but seeing how much better his life could be without me in it was what twisted the blade in my chest.
“Fucking hell,” I cursed aloud as my cock hardened, all while anger over Layla’s disappearance being what might tear Declan and me apart, and I could not give any focus to either emotion right now.
With this new drug, I had a business meeting with one of the labs, and they’d wanted to meet down the street for drinks to discuss it.
This had been a medication I’d seen from its inception to now, and I desperately needed it to move to the distribution phase.
That meant it was time to reach out to these compound labs to see how to get this pushed through.
The easiest way to pretend everything is otherwise normal in my life was to stick to business as usual.
I shut down my laptop and stuffed it into my briefcase, along with the documents needed for this meeting, then I took the elevator downstairs. When I reached the ground floor, I saw the detective standing there. The moment our eyes met, he made a beeline toward me.
I’m so not in the fucking mood for this shit.
“John, what can I do for you?” I asked, addressing him by name instead of title.
“Mr. Sinclair, you were just the person I wanted to see.”
“For what?” I asked him as I arched my brow in question.
“I was hoping you’d finally have time for us to chat.”
“Is this an official interrogation?”
“Well, no. Nothing like that. I wanted to check in to see how things are going. And to see if you've heard from your fiancée.”
“No, I haven't,” I answered. “If that’s all—”
He cleared his throat and quickly interjected. “Do you happen to know where she might be? Have you thought of anything she may have said? Or anything she might’ve left behind? Did you know of anybody that might’ve been after her?”
I smirked as he rapidly fired off questions he knew he had no chance of me actually answering. “As you said, this isn’t an official interrogation. Besides, I don't have my attorney present, so I’d rather not answer these questions. If there's nothing else, then have a great day.”
His facial expression fell because I had him.
I knew my rights, and unless he was willing to actually haul me down to the station, which my lawyer would have shut down within minutes, he’d have to actually indict me or have me arrested.
There really wasn't much he could say or do right now.
I wasn't required to tell him anything, and I didn't plan to.
As I started to walk away, I heard my name.
“Brogan.” I turned and leveled him with a deadpan stare.
“Were we not done?”
He walked toward me, and when close enough for only me and him to hear, he snarled. “You know, I hate arrogant pricks like you. Rich guys who think they're so much smarter than everyone else. Ones that use their money, their power, their titles to evade the rule of law.”
“As I’ve asked before, is there anything else because I have a meeting to get to.”
“Enjoy your freedom for now but know that I’m watching you.
While you're able to evade justice right now, those walls are starting to close in.
It's only going to be a matter of time before we find the missing piece of evidence, and as soon as we do, your ass is going to end up exactly where it belongs.”
My smirk never left my face, but it widened at his words. “Big threats coming from you, Detective Graves. Should I let my attorney know about them?”
The man scowled as his eyes glared through me. “Watch your step and just know that what happens in the dark always comes to light.”
“Since that’s all, Detective, have a good day.”
I switched my briefcase from one hand to the other, then walked through the front door.
This time I was the one to scowl as I walked down the sidewalk.
Because the meeting place was just two blocks away, I didn’t bother going to get my car.
No one wanted to drive in this crazy traffic unless absolutely necessary, so I decided to just walk. It also helped to calm down my anger.
The more I was harassed and interrogated, the more I wanted to make Layla pay.
She’d completely uprooted my already private life and upended everything in it.
For what, I still didn't know. Upon disappearing, she hadn’t taken what was left of the monthly stipend I’d been giving her.
Nor had she waited until the actual nuptials, where she’d stood to gain a lot more money once the wedding happened.
Upon her disappearance, I’d quickly frozen the account created for her in hopes that it would bring her back so I could prove her disappearance had been intentional on her end.
At the very least, I’d be alerted to any activity regarding it.
If she tried to spend any of it or even make a withdrawal, I’d know.
Maybe she’d suspected as much and had found another cash cow.
If so, that was making this much more difficult on me, especially since no one viewed her as a runaway and instead thought her to be a victim of something nefarious by my hands.
As I walked, I’d cleared one block and nearly another before my phone rang. I slipped it out of my pocket and glanced down at the caller ID, noticing that it was one of the private investigators that I’d hired.
Quickly, I answered it. “Do you have anything for me?”
I got straight to the point because I was getting tired of people wasting my fucking time.
It was not something that I had a lot of right now.
Time was of the essence, and finding this woman and bringing her back so the entire world could see that she was alive was all that fucking mattered to me.
What happened to her after that point, I couldn't give a flying fuck. She’d be out of my life.
“I’ve actually found something,” he replied.
“You did?” I asked incredulously as I came to a stop. When I did, the person directly behind me nearly collided with me, so I stepped out of the way and into the nearest alleyway so I could speak without being interrupted by the throngs of people walking up and down the street. “What did you find?”
“She’d come into an influx of cash just a few days before she’d disappeared.”
“And the origin of it? Where did it come from?”
“We're not sure, but we're tracing the number on that hidden account right now. It looks to have come from an offshore account.”
“Will you send me that information?” I asked him.
“Sure thing, and in the meantime, we’ll continue to run a tracer to see what we can find out.”
“Do you know the sum of the deposit?”
“I’ll send it all to you.”
This was what I’d needed, and what had enabled her not only to leave without a trace, but also to stay away all this time. I fucking knew it. That was the one thought that kept repeating in my head. I turned back to my private investigator.
“Send me all that information and keep looking into the account. Once you're able to find out anything, I want it all.”
“Understood. I’ll send it to you shortly,” he said before the call disconnected.
While I was now angry, this only seemed to back up my point.
I didn't want to alert my attorney or anyone else to anything until I had concrete evidence, but if I could find out where this money came from, I could possibly even trace her whereabouts. That was the only thing that mattered at this moment. A calendar notification beeped on my Apple Watch, and I let out a growl before stepping back out onto the sidewalk. I finished walking the last half a block to the office where my meeting was about to start. I’d see this through, then with it being Friday, I’d head back to Sinclair for a few more hours, then return to Staten Island to spend the weekend with Declan and Enslee.