There’s a shout from Flynn as a van careens toward me, its bumper missing me by inches as the side door is opened and two masked men jump out.
A sharp cry falls from my lips as burly arms encircle me, pulling me back, impossibly strong as I kick out, smacking my head back into the face of the one behind me as he yells in pain.
But there are three of them, and they drag me into the back of the van, the door closing behind them as I hear the click of a gun against my temple. I go still, and then I hear the driver’s voice.
“We’ll return her when you pay up. Every day you delay, we take one of her fingers.”
Then the gun is taken away. I barely have time to breathe a sigh of relief before a sharp pain slices through my temple, and everything goes black.
Chapter 40
Gray
It’s 08:30, and Jax is still not here.
It’s odd to sit at my desk without her just outside my door, or standing in the doorway, berating me for being rude to one of my staff.
I stare at my phone, forcing myself not to call her. It’s only thirty minutes. There’s no reason to panic. But our last exchange on the terrace hangs over me like a shroud.
Why did I ask her about Monroe? Why didn’t I just keep my goddamn mouth shut?
By 9 a.m. I cave by messaging her to ask her to buy me a latte on the way to work. That never fails to piss her off, and my lips twitch as I recall the time she brought me my coffee, drank itin front of me,and then ordered me to go down on her all before 9:30.
I groan, leaning back in my chair. I’ve gotten nothing done this morning, and my inbox is exploding with emails that I should be answering. But I can’t concentrate on anything but the empty desk outside my office door.
Jax specifically told me that what she was dealing with in her private life wasn’t my concern. I should have left it at that. But no, I had to go and blurt out to her brother that he neededtotalkto her. I couldn’t have made it clearer that I thought something might be going on. Maybe she’s so pissed at me that she’s decided to quit.
The thought of that is so unpleasant it almost has me rising from my chair to go and find her.
The phone on my desk lights up as the shrill ringtone splits the air, and I grab it so fast I almost knock the whole thing off the surface.
“Jones,” I bark out.
“Uh, Mr. Jones? There’s a Flynn Jenson here to see you, but he doesn’t have an appointment. He’s making quite a scene downstairs.”
I can hear a loud voice in the background shouting to be allowed into the elevators. My fingers clench into a fist.
What the fuck is Jax’s brother doing here? Again.
“Send him up,” I say, replacing the handset and waiting for him to appear.
I only have to wait two or three minutes before I hear footsteps striding toward my office, and Flynn walks in, closing the door behind him. He looks so much like his sister in that moment that I can’t help staring at him.
Without a word, he comes to stand opposite my desk and glowers down at me as if I’ve personally insulted him.
“Good morning, Flynn,” I say evenly. “Can I help you with something?”
“I know what you used to do for a living,” he says softly, his eyes dark and menacing. Every muscle in my body tenses as I force myself not to react.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve followed your career. Both the one in the papers and the one before. I know you started in casinos, and not always the good kind. Your businesses may be legit now, but you didn’t start out that way. Right?”
He’s vibrating with manic energy, his eyes moving to the huge sculpture of the dice beside my desk and back again.
“What are you implying?” I ask carefully.
“I’mimplyingthat you’ve worked your way up from the bottom, just like me. I’ve done things I’m not proud of to get to where I am now. I’m hoping you did the same.”
