Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
The sincerity in her voice astonished me. How had I met the perfect fucking woman for me? I didn’t deserve Violet, that was for sure. But nothing would stop me from keeping her.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I loved her, but it was definitely not the right time. Instead, I stalked over to her and gave her a hard, hot kiss before heading to King’s office.
King, Blaze, Wizard, Ace, Ink, Shadow, Kevlar, and Cross were all at the conference table to the right of the door. I grabbed one of the other chairs and sat, halting their hushed conversation.
“Wizard?” King prompted.
Wizard pushed a folder in each of our directions, then leaned back in his chair and tapped the keyboard of his laptop, which was perched on the table in front of him. “That’s pretty much everything we know about this group. There’s also a chart for the hierarchy and an info sheet on each of the key players.”
He continued to share what he’d learned, with Ace jumping in from time to time. Idea after idea on how to finish things swirled around in my head, and from the thoughtful expressions on everyone’s faces, I had a feeling they were similarly occupied.
Finally, Wizard ran out of steam, and the questions started. We tossed out suggestions, analyzed some of the data more thoroughly, and worked the problem from every angle to find a solution.
“Hold up,” Shadow murmured, staring at one of the sheets of paper in his hand. “Jean has been married six times?”
Wizard nodded. “Younger men. No prenup.”
“She was already filthy rich when she started this shit?” Kevlar blurted, tossing his folder on the table with a disgusted huff.
“Yup.”
“She does it for the thrill, then,” Shadow surmised.
“Fair assumption,” King agreed, his gaze locked on Shadow. “You think it would work?”
“Would what work?” Ink asked, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.
“Maybe,” I grunted, catching on to their train of thought once I digested Shadow’s words. “Only if there is a compelling reason for her to get back in the game.”
“The fuck are you three not talking about?” snapped Blaze.
Shadow scratched his chin, then set down his folder and tapped his finger on it. “If we want to take down the entire organization, we have to get Jean. Not just the underlings because she’ll just hire new ones.”
“We need to catch her in a con,” I added.
“Exactly.”
King folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against his chair. “How do we get her back in the game?”
“Bait,” Cross tossed out. “A fish so big and illusive that she can’t help herself.”
I sat back and propped an ankle on the opposite knee. “Appeal to her ego and her love of the thrill,” I mused.
Ace rapped his knuckles on the table twice, then snatched Wizard’s laptop.
“What the hell?!” Wizard bellowed, his face a mask of outrage.
The rest of us stared at Ace, absolutely dumbfounded. Taking Wizard’s computer was the fastest way to change your address to the nearest cemetery.
“Chill the fuck out, man,” Ace said distractedly as he quickly typed. “Not like I stole your kidney or something.”
Wizard’s face turned purple as he seethed, glaring daggers at Ace while curling his hands into fists so tight his knuckles cracked.
I shot a look at King, wondering if he’d step in, but he was watching the two of them with amusement, something we rarely saw from the prez unless he was with his old lady or son.
“You gonna save his ass?” I asked Blaze quietly, who was sitting next to me.
“Nah. Fifty says Ace ends up in the hospital tonight.”
There were several murmured agreements, making King chuckle.
“You have a death wish, Ace?” Cross murmured, watching Wizard warily from the treasurer’s left side.
He grunted and tapped hard on one key, then slid the laptop back over in front of Wizard.
Taking a deep breath, Wizard tore his eyes from his prey to scan the computer screen. “This is good,” he admitted grudgingly. “Not gonna save you from being stabbed in your sleep when you’re least expecting it, though.”
Ace rolled his eyes. “It will if you want my help with the financial shit.”
Wizard ground his teeth, but he didn’t say anything else.
“You two done?” King grunted, his face back in its usual scowl.
Ace gestured to the computer and explained, “Wizard and I have the beginnings of several aliases set up for cases when we need to get someone gone fast. One of them is for a high roller. Someone who wants to disappear with their fortune and can afford to pay us to do it since it takes a fuck ton of work.”
Wizard nodded. “Won’t take much work to get this up and running. The back end is as solid as they get. Breaking this identity would take years for the best of the best. Once it’s live, we filter word of the new man through the grapevine, and as long as we’re reading her right, she’ll bite.”