Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Was he part of some shady underground dealings? Maybe running with the morally depraved rich and their sick little islands? Deiderich certainly had the money and influence, but he didn’t seem like the type.
He didn’t seem skeevy enough for underage girls and blow.
Maybe he ran his own outfit, using his legitimate businesses to traffic weapons or drugs.
That didn’t fit either.
I couldn’t see him interacting with the lower classes to sell such merchandise, but it was still a possibility. It wasn’t like true drug kingpins dealt with the sellers and buyers of illicit goods.
God knows I never did.
But that still didn’t feel right.
He was too white-collar for something like that, but that didn’t make sense either. Most white-collar crimes that would bring in that kind of money would end with his death. He wouldn’t still be making that kind of money with insider trading, corporate espionage, or stock manipulation.
He was dirty.
Looking at these numbers, there was no other explanation.
I just couldn’t figure out how.
Luc would have been able to figure it out, but if it was something below board, I didn’t want him to know.
Not until I figured out if it was something I could do instead.
Luc had already severed our ties with the Irish mob like it was nothing. His ties with the fucking Astrid DA were an extreme inconvenience.
It was such a shame, as Harrison could have been used to our benefit. Instead he seemed to be using Luc to his.
If I could take Deiderich’s place in whatever shady business he had going on, I needed to do it without Luc’s knowledge or involvement.
I raised my children to be strong. It had gone well until they bit the hand that fed them. I would not make that mistake again.
My exploration of the spreadsheets stopped when the doors of my office banged open with another unwanted interruption from a spoiled intruder.
She was not going to get off as easily as my daughters had.
Stella stood in my office in front of my desk with her fists on her hips.
She was dressed in another skirt that hit her mid-thigh, but now those sexy legs were covered in thick black stockings.
I wondered if that was to cover the marks I had left on her ass and thighs. My mouth watered just thinking about how wet she got when I spanked her sweet little ass.
“How dare you!” she screamed at me, drawing my attention from her shapely legs back to her tear-stained face.
“I’m afraid I’m going to need you to be more specific.” I closed the laptop, not wanting her to see what I was looking at.
I wondered for a moment if Stella would have known what her father was into.
She might have the answers I was looking for.
I dismissed the thought just as quickly.
The last thing I needed was for her to figure out that I was digging into her family’s finances and the estate that would have been hers had I not interceded.
Thankfully, the loose papers that were spread out when Olivia and Charlotte were there had been neatly gathered and moved into a locked drawer.
“You know what you did.” She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to be defiant, but all she managed to do was to push her perky breasts up, giving me a particularly enjoyable view in her deep V-neck sweater.
I wasn’t sure if I approved of her wearing something so revealing for anyone’s eyes but mine.
Maybe next time I got her alone, I would have to mark up those pretty breasts along with her pretty little ass to make sure they were for my eyes only.
“I do a lot of things, though it seems like I am being far less productive as of late. The women in my life just don’t seem to want to let me work.”
“What gives you the right to cancel my accommodations? I’m homeless now because of you. I demand that you call the hotel back immediately and fix whatever it is that you broke.”
Her voice didn’t waver like it had at the courthouse. It didn’t shake. She didn’t look at her feet or above my head. She stood firm, her shoulders pushed back, her jaw clenched, and her eyes full of fire and hatred staring straight into mine.
Had she been a man approaching me like this, I might actually have been impressed with the direct and almost forceful way she spoke to me.
“Calm down,” I warned. “I did not leave you homeless. You will be staying here with me.”
“You had no right!” she screamed.
Just like that, all of the respect I almost had for her melted away.
“I have every right,” I yelled back, getting to my feet and placing my hands flat on my desk.
I gave her the same menacing expression, the same wordless warning that I’d given every other asshole who dared enter into my office and make demands.