I lookthrough the information that Erika’s pack has sent over regarding business dealings between the Diamonds and the Hearts.Now we’ve finally established a connection between our two organisations, largely thanks to Vera, it’s been easier to find out how all the sides of the Suits Syndicate work together.
It’s been especially useful to identify the third parties the Hearts and the Diamonds, and to a lesser extent the Clubs and Spades, use to hide their movements.
In the last weeks, we’ve found multiple connections between them that we weren’t aware of before.The information has not led to anything yet, but I’m sure it’ll be useful for jobs in the future.
Luckily, I’ve not found any connections to any of my clients in the data from the Hearts or the Diamonds I’ve looked through.I’ve always purposefully tried to stay away from companies that work with the Hearts, and it seems that has worked out pretty well.
I did lose some of my clients when they learned I’d joined Mathew’s pack —the guy is not really looked at with kindness in many circles— but most of them didn’t seem to have any issues.They’d been aware we were friends for years, so if they’d had any real issues, they would never have worked with me in the first place.
What has become clear in everything, is how influential the Hearts are in this region and how many ‘normal’ —though not entirely legal— companies are influenced by how and where the Hearts are spending their money.
Just like when Mathew and Riley went to the biotechnological research complex.The client, Allen, had no connection to the Hearts —and we did double and triple check once we got back, to be sure— but the research complex itself was connected to a sub-division of a sub-division of the Hearts.Probably funded by one or two people high up in the organisation, their own little pet project.
Connections like that are now easier to spot, now I’ve got more data points.
I’ve still got some ethics.I’m not sharing the data from my clients with Mathew’s organisation, but when there are interesting patterns that connect Mathew’s work to my own work, I flag them and then check with Timothy if it seems worth it to investigate deeper.
Being able to help out with the organisation in my own way has felt really good, and it seems that Timothy has also been quite thankful to have someone with a lot of experience with ‘creative’ finances to work together with.It’s one thing to train someone from the ground up, no matter their aptitude for the work, but it’s another thing to work together with someone who’s in the same field you work in but has had different training and might see things that you didn’t notice before.
It’s the same for me.Working with Timothy has taught me a few new ‘creative’ ways of helping people with their finances that my clients are going to be happy with.
The door to our office opens and Mathew steps inside, wearing a charcoal dress shirt, a new pair of dark red suit pants, and he’s closing one of his cuffs on the shirt.“I’ve got a meeting with a client.Do you want to come with me?”He manages to close his cuff, before he looks at me, his dark eyes soft, and his whole look makes me hard instantly.Fuck, he looks so good.
“What?”I blink, my mind now split between the work I was just doing and the sight in front of me.I didn’t really hear what he said, too occupied.
He comes closer, his amused smile taking on a tinge of danger, of the sexual kind.He turns my chair, so I’m fully facing him, and then leans onto the armrests, so his face is really close.“I asked if you wanted to join me.I’m meeting a client.I think this client would interest you.”
“Me?”I lick my lips, not able to look away from his pierced lips, tantalisingly close.
“Yes.You.”He laughs and stands up straight.“Derrick and a few guys from his team are coming too, for security, but I want you there as my pack mate and my new ‘finance guy’.”He reaches out to me and I let myself be pulled up, before I wrap my arm around his waist, pulling him against me and I feel how hard he is.
“Are you sure?”It seems that my state hasn’t left him unaffected either.
“Yes, I’m sure.”He leans in for a kiss, and when his lips meet mine, he holds onto me tighter and deepens it instantly, his piercings a sexy contrast to his soft lips.Then he pulls back.“You’ll have to wait until after the meeting for sex.We don’t have enough time for it before we have to leave.”
I give him a quick kiss.“I’ll come with you.Do I need to dress up?”
“No dressing up needed, but something that looks a bit more ‘professional’ and a little less ‘dad’s day off’ would be good.”Mathew’s hot gaze as he looks me up and down lets me know that he definitely appreciates the ‘dad’s day off’ look.
But I think that my faded jeans —from wear, not bought like this— and the t-shirt with a few more holes than when I bought it, are probably not the best client-facing look.Especially not if Mathew is going to introduce me not just as his pack mate, but also have me potentially working with this client in a professional setting.
“Okay.I’ll be right back.”I close the documents I was working on.I don’t want to accidentally lose anything in case the program or the computer decides to fuck around.
“No rush.But you also don’t have hours.”Mathew follows me out of the office to the stairs and takes the dark red buttoned jacket from the railing, before going to his office.
I take a deep breath as I look after him, my heart racing as my brain finally catches up with what Mathew just asked.
Fuck.
This is the first time he’s going to introduce me as his ‘finance guy’ and his pack mate at the same time.He’s introduced me to plenty of clients in the past, but that was always as ‘a freelancer he knows and trusts’.We were close friends, we refer clients to each other when it makes sense, but this is more.
Now we’re a pack, we work together as a pack, and this will be the first time that work and pack will officially be combined.
It’s exciting, but also a little scary.It means that from now on, the separation between my work and Mathew’s organisation is going to break down more and more.And I’ll probably have to deal with clients who are a lot more dangerous when my ‘creative’ finances aren’t ‘creative’ enough.
Though, with how protective everyone in the pack is, a client’s displeasure is probably a lot more dangerous to them than it is to me…
I let out a deep sigh as a knot in my stomach tightens, like it does every time I remember that my pack —at least some of them— will happily kill anyone who even looks at me wrong, let alone anyone who tries to threaten me.
