We spent the next half hour hashing out details of any public appearances and meetings in the upcoming weeks. Pierre didn’t deal on the darker sides of the business, so he always needed to verify an instance where our boss wouldn’t be available with me.
“That should do it. Thanks for making time for me.” The relief in his voice was clear as day.
I hummed. “It was no issue. I needed the distraction.”
Fuck.
It wasn’t like me to be so loose lipped. I knew not to give Pierre any type of gossip. The man loved to latch onto things until he had the answers.
Surprisingly, he didn’t push for more details. Instead, he thanked me again and hung up.
I eased my phone onto the receiver. Staring at it, I wondered what type of alternate world I’d landed in today. First I’d caughtmyself thinking about Pip more than usual. Then there’s Pierre’s casual dismissal.
What would be next?
I spentthe rest of my office time working through the emails and paperwork I’d neglected. My call with Pierre managed to get me back into focus mode.
When my alarm went off to let me know I needed to go check on things at the warehouse, I’d cleared over half of the most tedious things from my lists.
The rest would have to wait.
Locking my office for the night, I took the elevator down to the main floor. I requested one of the personal drivers we kept on hand to come pick me up at the back entrance since I didn’t feel like driving.
It only took a couple of minutes for a town car with blacked-out windows to appear. The driver went to open my door, but I waved him off.
“The warehouse,” I demanded before raising the partition between us.
Used to my closed off personality, the man didn’t push for more. The car took off as I pulled out my phone. It was then I saw a missed message.
E:Ricardo’s flight landed. He’s headed to you.
I cursed under my breath. It was unlike me to forget something. My life was meticulous and orderly. Pharrell needed a warning that he had company on the way. It was my job to make sure of it.
Yet I’d failed at this.
Calling him now would do no good. Besides, I didn’t have the answers to the questions he was bound to ask.
Why is he coming?
How long is he staying?
What does this mean?
I hated not knowing the answers. It left me feeling unprepared, which was a dangerous position. Being prepared had saved my ass on more than one occasion. Pharrell’s too.
Ricardo was surely coming for Dante’s peace of mind. That had to be it. No other reason truly made sense. Since my boss and Ricardo’s were allies, it was good for him to keep tabs.
Or so I told myself.
I replied to my contact to thank him for the intel. He’d done good by letting me know. It wasn’t his fault I wasn’t at my best.
We pulled up to the warehouse shortly thereafter. I hadn’t gotten another message, though that was to be expected. E usually only sent what was most important. They didn’t care for casual conversation all that much.
Inside, the men were already hard at work checking inventory and cleaning weapons. It was a routine night as nothing pressing was on the horizon.
After Pip’s recent impromptu firing squad moment, the men had taken to keeping quiet about their frustrations. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or not.
Quiet men were usually focused and hard at work. But they could also be frustrated and plotting.
