Chapter 29 Ian
I stared at the email, reading it twice. I needed to go to Ireland, now.
“Damn it.”
I hit the desk with my fist. “I’ll need to go take care of this myself. Kathy will have to go to help, too.”
“What about her?”
Rossi pointed below us.
“We need a little space. I think that having you take care of her meals and needs for the next few days should help us get a little perspective on who she is.”
I knew I was lying. I needed the space. The sex had been fantastic and I only wanted to go down and fuck her until we were both exhausted. And then start again.
For me, control was key, and I’d lost control when she climbed into my lap. It needed to be reestablished.
“I know that you’re not her biggest fan, but that doesn’t mean I want you to treat her any differently than I would. Three meals a day and monitor her to make sure that her mental state is okay.”
“Yes, sir.”
Rossi nodded. “I’ll take care of her. Considering the situation, I’ll be sure to keep her alive.”
“Mmm…”
I muttered, distracted. “See that you do. This should have come to my attention weeks ago.”
Rossi handed me the bag that was packed and ready to go.
My pilot was arriving as I raced out the door.
“She means as much to me as my company, Rossi. I can’t lose her.”
I stepped under the loud blades.
He shut the door and signaled that we were clear for takeoff.
I watched the ground fade and found myself wondering when I would be able to see her again.
Distance was needed. It would help me sort out my head. I could still monitor her, so I had that peace.
It was only a thirty minute chopper ride to the airport where my jet was being fueled.
We’d talked about our pasts earlier. I had revealed things that no other living person knew for certain.
Rossi may have guessed certain things over the years, but he hadn’t been around when I’d gone through some of the darkest times of my life. And I certainly never discussed it with him.
In the few short weeks we’d been together, she’d become that ray of sunshine that brightened my day.
This matter needed to be resolved so that I could get back to my girl. I just needed to get my head in order before I sat down to have an honest talk about moving forward with us.
If she was willing to have an us. It might take persuading. I hardened at the thought.
She’d mentioned escaping to the library. When I returned, I’d bring books. I didn’t want to stunt her growth or sense of safety.
There was a difference in the other stuff I was doing to her, but I didn’t want to take her mental stability for granted. Everyone had a breaking point.
My goal had never been to completely break her. I needed her to be loyal and want me in all ways. Maybe this time I’d done my job too well.
When she’d spoken to me of her past, it had made me realize that even though I’d had money, it wasn’t enough to change the fact that we had similarities.
That had to be why I was drawn to her from the very beginning. Like recognized like.
Money and living parents had made no difference to the issues I’d had, except when they made them worse. Collette’s family died and she’d had no money to speak of, and she’d ended up feeling just as lonely and abandoned as I did.
That was the very reason I was flying across the country and then to Ireland. There were things that needed to be taken care of, and I was the only one that could correct the mistakes that had been made.
Andrew Simpson was dead. Something had gone horribly wrong, and I was going to have to pick up the pieces. It wasn’t like I couldn’t get my hands dirty, but in this case, it had been easier to send others to investigate.
If I’d been seen nosing around, then whoever had screwed up might have gotten wind of it.
Not trying to brag on myself, but there was someone that was willing to manipulate things for their benefit.
I’d told Andrew not to go over there, and he hadn’t listened to me. Now, he was dead and it was all my fault. None of this would have happened if he’d done as I asked.
I needed to control those I loved. If I didn’t, I lost them.
The chopper landed, and I raced over to the plane as the pilot began to get things ready for takeoff.
“Here, sir. They sent this over from the office for you to look at during your flight.”
The flight attendant stated.
Distracted, I buckled my seat belt, already missing Collette.
As usual, Kathy had settled on the opposite end of the plane from me and was already working. She was a treasure when it came to emergencies like this; she was willing to take on any and all challenges.
Rossi’s cautions had made me hesitate and then my loss of control had sealed the decision. I wanted to share this part of my life with her, but I needed to be on firm ground before I did so.
While she was the one person that would have understood the choices I’d made, she was still a loose cannon.
I didn’t know her in her entirety.
Takeoff was a breeze, and I opened the manila envelope as the plane leveled off.
Pictures of Andrew fell to the floor as the contents slid free.
“What the hell?”
I bent over and picked them up.
Some were taken from strange angles while others seemed to have been cut. Someone didn’t want me to see the entire photo or who Andrew had been meeting in Ireland.
There was more going on than I’d assumed in the beginning when Andrew had come to me with his personal problem. He’d fallen in love with the daughter of an Irish Mafia boss.
It spiraled into disaster quickly, Andrew’s entanglement combining with the Irish Mafia moving in to try to steal my developing product and sell the prototypes.
Then Andrew was murdered.
He was my best friend, and I was going to ensure that his killers never saw the light of day.
Given he’d had a bodyguard and had been working on trying to find the leak the Mafia was exploiting, there was a mole in the company. Someone didn’t like what I was paying them.
And my friend had died for it.
Pride was involved too. Nothing would be allowed to stop my tech from hitting the market.
This had become deeply personal, and I was going to make sure that whoever was trying to undermine me regretted it before they ceased to exist.
***
The plane touched down briefly to refuel before taking off for Belfast.
I’d spent the first half of the flight working on an angle to find the person that was betraying me.
Rossi had been updated and began to search through all the financials of my employees. If there was a trail, he would find it.
My thoughts turned back to Collette.
He had warned me about her. Could he be right that she was trying to play me?
I shook my head in disbelief.
There hadn’t been anything in her background that would link her to this fucked up situation. She had no money and no connections that we could find.
Maybe she’d just been opportunistic and used the situation to make a vertical jump up the corporate ladder.
There was proof that she’d been interviewing after graduating only months before.
Everything in my gut said that she was the real deal. Her reactions were genuine. When I’d put her to the test, she’d responded with an innocence that proved her words.
Doubt always niggled at me though.
In the packet, Rossi had included information on the investigation that the FBI had been conducting on Andrew’s death.
They didn’t know anything other than he was dead. Their investigation had stalled. Some woman named Ingrid had continued to dig into his death, but the official statement was that the trail had gotten cold.
The FBI hadn’t discovered Andrew’s connection to the Irish Mob. It was how he’d met the woman he fell in love with.
The branch he’d had contacts with dealt with stealing tech, but they would take any kind of corporate smuggling jobs.
It was why I’d had problems with the shipping containers after my contact’s death. Andrew had set up the connection with Kane so my shipping wasn’t disturbed, but now Kane was dead. Greasing a new set of hands, had to be done carefully or I’d have the feds breathing down my neck.
Especially since they were ‘investigating’ Andrew’s death. They should have been able to connect Andrew to Kane with no problems. Was someone deliberately bungling the investigation?
Collette’s smile flashed through my mind. My every thought that wasn’t tied up in work was becoming connected to her. Even if it was work related, I still managed to link her to it.
Who would have thought that I’d become this attached to her in such a short time?
She’d gotten me, hook, line, and sinker.
If I retaliated against the Irish Mob for Andrew’s death, I didn’t want anyone to get wind of the fact that Collette meant something to me.
They would use her against me. I couldn’t take a chance that she would end up dead or worse.
Rossi would guard her with his life, but I didn’t want to risk him if we didn’t have to.
I was walking into the lion’s den and would need to tread carefully. They didn’t know I was coming and balancing this trip with the needs of a new product release was tricky.
There could be no room for errors.
Giving in the constant urge, I pulled up one of the cameras, so I could watch Collette over the plane’s Wi-Fi.
She looked so disappointed when Rossi had brought her food instead of me.
A warm happy feeling swept over me. She might not show it, but she definitely liked me. If things went smoothly overseas, then I would be back home in just a few days, I’d be back in the driver’s seat, and we’d talk and iron out this new phase of our relationship.
The minute I stepped off the plane, I put all thoughts of Collette out of my mind. There could be no connection between us while I was on dangerous ground.
***
Things moved quickly, but when Rossi’s number flashed on my screen, I knew in my gut that something was wrong.
“Hello? What is it?”
I gripped the phone, dreading what he was going to say.
“Sir, she’s collapsed. I’ve moved her to the townhouse and brought in your personal physician to make sure that she’s going to be okay.”
The earth moved out from under me.
“Well, is she?”
I held my breath, waiting for an answer.
“Yes, he says that she’s been undernourished. It’s why she fainted. She’ll be fine with some liquids and rest.”
My biggest fear had come to life. I held my breath again.
“Why would she be undernourished? We’ve fed her. She hasn’t gone without.”
“No, sir. I took her meals each day and collected the trays myself. The food was gone.”
I knew exactly what had happened. She was too smart, too determined.
“She put it in the toilet. She didn’t eat. It was a hunger strike.”
“Sir?”
The question in Rossi’s voice was evident.
“There wasn’t anything else she could control except her food intake. She did the one thing that was in her power to make things balance.”
“The doctor says that she’ll be fine and not to worry. How soon will you be able to come back?”
He knew me so well. I would be back on the plane asap. I needed to see to her.
“Keep me informed. I’ll be leaving in the next few hours, but it’ll take me at least twelve hours of travel.”
“I’ll keep her safe for you, sir. I should have kept a closer eye on her,”
he apologized.
It was hard not to agree with him, but I bit the words back. Rossi was one of the best out there. He’d learn from this. At the end of the day, she was alive and that was what mattered the most.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up.
It was like having to deal with my mother’s death all over again. Only this time, Collette was still alive.
Things were going to change when I got home. I wasn’t going to let her waste away. She needed to know how I felt.
She had made a choice, and I needed to honor it.