Chapter 12
Damien
“She said what?!” chuckles Logan.
Everest repeats himself, a smile playing at the edges of his lips.
I slam the door shut, and he and Logan have the grace to look embarrassed. Vale merely smirks, and Igor looks as dumb as ever.
I glower at Everest, and he shifts uncomfortably. I can’t believe he would blab. Here I thought we were one of the most powerful companies on the East Coast, and it turns out I’m surrounded by a bunch of gossiping sixth graders.
I’m annoyed enough as it is that my pet even gave him the message. I would have punished her harshly had Logan not texted me just then about the Cole situation. I thought something new had come up, but clearly a murdered family takes second place to an opportunity to make fun of me.
I should never have let Everest visit her.
He’s really a fucking idiot. Sometimes, I give him way too much credit. Visits are off, now. I’m keeping my captive to myself. And he has only himself to blame.
Vale’s gaze bores into me.
“So, you take orders from a chick now,” he says lightly, as he takes a nonchalant sip of water. “She says she wants cock, and you come running.”
I crush my styrofoam cup between my hands, the scalding liquid burning me. It’s ten p.m., but I sleep so little these days between thinking about Cole and the girl, that I’ve found myself wishing I could IV the coffee straight into my veins.
The burn of the coffee on the back of my hand distracts me just enough to keep from lunging at him.
He knows exactly what he’s doing. Egging me on. Trying to make me break in front of the others. Trying to show them my weakness.
“You’re overthinking it, Vale,” yawns Logan, leaning back in his chair. “We’ve got a sexy captive. Of course, Damien’s taking advantage of it. As for her requesting cock, well, so what? She’s bored, and he’s hot. Have you ever met a girl who didn’t want him?”
I can tell by his tone that he’s seen right through me. But he’s protecting me, as usual.
Vale isn’t an idiot, though. He stares at both of us quizzically.
“Oh yeah? And when do the rest of us get our turn?”
This time, I take a quick step forward, coming close to slamming him against the wall, but Logan is faster than me.
“Damien’s our leader, or have you forgotten that?” he questions, his eyes flashing dangerously. “Don’t fucking touch his spoils. Got it?”
Vale grunts and sits back, but I can tell by the glimmer in his beady eyes that this isn’t over.
I clench my jaw and sit down, then peek at my phone, which I hide carefully under the polished conference table.
I know it’s not a good idea, especially not now, but it’s the only thing that appeases me.
My girl is back in her bedroom. But she’s not in bed anymore.
She’s sitting on the chair, staring at the phone.
She usually seems to prefer watching the wall and the nothingness beyond the balcony railing.
But now, she’s staring at the phone intently, though she makes no move to pick it up.
Maybe she assumes it’s a fake. Or maybe she’s worried she’ll get punished if she does.
She’s not wrong about that last part.
“Anyway,” I hiss. “You said there was important business to talk about. So how about we get into it?”
I sit down, snapping my fingers at Vincent to get me another coffee, and wait.
“Sure,” nods Logan. “It’s about Cole.”
“Spit it out.”
He takes a deep breath. “Well, the Feds have picked up on the nanochip.”
The coffee Vincent has just given me nearly spills a second time. “How the hell is that possible? Did they find it?”
“No, no,” he reassures me. “But they did find a journal.”
“A diary,” specifies Igor with a condescending grunt.
“Yeah. A diary. And he wrote a lot of things inside. Things like…”
My blood turns to ice. “Like the same content that’s in the nanochip?”
“No,” he says again, and I let myself exhale.
“There were a lot of ripped-out pages, and it seems like he did the ripping out himself. Thought better than to leave around evidence in a journal. Diary,” he corrects himself before Igor can speak.
“But he did write about how he was going to put all his evidence on a nanochip.”
“Well, we all knew he was an idiot,” I grumble, leaning back in my chair.
“An idiot who found out a whole lot of stuff about us,” points out Everest.
“Exactly. An idiot. He discovered we’re bloodthirsty criminals and decided to out us, apparently forgetting the part where we’re bloodthirsty criminals. What exactly did he think was going to happen?”
“Speak for yourself,” mutters Everest. “I’m not all that bloodthirsty.”
“This concerns all of us,” I continue, ignoring his attempt at humor.
“Sometimes we mess up, but we stick together. Vale, for example, fucked up royally by giving the mission to Angel—” Vale glares at me, but I ignore it.
“—doesn’t matter, though. We’re all in this together.
His fuckup is our fuckup. We own it. The priority now is finding the nanochip.
A diary is nice and all, but it’s not evidence. We’re three steps ahead of the Feds.”
“But we’re in danger until the nanochip is found,” says Logan.
“The girl might know something about it…” begins Vale.
I lift my head up in annoyance, and notice Logan nodding ever so slightly. Not so loyal after all, I think with a twinge of anxiety.
“The girl had nothing to do with it,” I state. “That much is clear. We searched her belongings thoroughly.”
Logan licks his lips nervously. “True, but… if she was working with others…”
I bring my hand down on the table with a resounding smack.
“Enough. The girl isn’t a suspect. Our mission is to find the nanochip. End of story.”
-
That evening, we gather around the fireplace to play poker. It’s gotten a bit old. We have more money than we know what to do with, so the thrill of losing it is gone. But old habits die hard.
“One of these days, we should play for something else,” drawls Vale, stretching his arms. “If you know what I mean.”
Logan smirks. “We all know what you mean, pervert. Not the best time to invite whores in. With the rat sniffing around, I’d rather not risk bringing in random chicks.”
Vale grunts, tossing in his chips. “We’ve done it plenty of times before.” His eyes shift straight to me.
I ignore him, playing my hand in silence, eyes drifting to the phone in my lap.
My little pet is on the balcony again, bending over the railing.
It always freaks me out, like she’s wondering if she’d survive the fall.
I’ve found myself wasting far too much time thinking about how to keep her from the balcony.
There’s no mechanism to lock the sliding doors, I’d have to install a whole new system.
I could install metal bars on the outside, but that would take time, too.
Plus, I’m sure she already feels enough like a prisoner as it is.
I sigh. I’m going to have to put a stop to this balcony business.
Vale leans forward, his lazy voice breaking through my thoughts. “I still think we should raise the stakes. Cards for money is boring. Cards for… favors. Or maybe for the girl.”
I stand up so abruptly my chair falls backward, clattering to the floor.
“Fuck this,” I snap. “And fuck you. I’m going to bed.”
Vale chuckles. “Sure, run off. We’ll finish the hand without you.”
Ignoring him, I leave the room. I head to my office, grab a Post-it note, and write a new set of instructions.
Stay off the balcony, or you’ll get what’s coming to you.
Suddenly finding myself hoping she won’t listen, I go down to her floor and slide the paper under the door.