I’m parked on an empty street that’s a mix of commercial and residential, but no one is around since it’s four in the morning. The cab of my truck is only illuminated by the dashboard lights and one flickering streetlight.
In the past, I’ve sat in Humvees in the dark, waiting for the next orders for an op. But tonight, I’m not waiting for orders; I’m the one making the plan of attack. Only I’m going rogue on this one; I just need the intel before I execute.
“Digits.” My warning is clear.
He sighs, then relays everything he’s dug up, including what he mentioned earlier. Name is Kathryn Wentzell, and she arrived by private plane from Berlin, Germany.
She has lived in Berlin for a decade. Prior to that, the information on her is a bit sparse and harder to find.
Married to Luthor Wentzell.
My hands nearly rip my steering wheel off as I grip it.Leeva is married?But then I relax marginally when Digits continues to report that the man has died.
Luthor is, orwas, a billionaire and the CEO of Wentzell Global, which explains the private plane that she arrived on.
He has two adult children—Keifer and Ursula—which, I guess, makes Leeva a stepmom. Andadultchildren, because Luthor was much older than her.
But there’s nothing about why she returned to San Francisco, or where she is now.
Or why she was at Hedon.
“Is that it?” I ask gruffly.
“Yeah, Army—”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t lie to you, especially about Leeva, you know th—”
I disconnect the call, acting like the world’s biggest asshole, but not giving a shit. I’m a soldier on a mission, and it’s my sole focus. I call Riveria next.
She answers on the first ring. “Army, I’m not—”
“Belinda needs that design contract, yeah?”
Riveria is silent, but I can feel her seething. “Are we crossing over into threat territory? Because you know I’m—”
“I’m not threatening; I’m sweetening the pot. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”
“We’ve always kept our personal lives out of this, and with how you and I operate.”
“Not true. When your mom needed that surgery that she kept getting bumped for, who do you think made it happen?”
“What?” she asks, shocked. “Why… Why would you do that, Army?”
“Because you’re a damn good,loyalmanager, Riveria. The Havoc Guardians take care of their own.Itake care of my own. And I know Belinda needs that design contract and has been getting squeezed out by a competitor. I’ll call in a favor owed to me by the client.”
Truth is, I was going to do this anyway, without Riveria ever being the wiser, but now that I’m thinking more calmly and clearheaded, I see the strategic play.
“Why?” Her voice is quiet. “Why do you want this woman’s name so badly? She couldn’t have been that amazing of a fuck for you to break all the rules thatyoumade for Hedon.”
My jaw hardens and my fist clenches at Leeva just being reduced to a ‘fuck’. The fact that my pure and innocent little dove was even in a sex club—that I dirtied her with my brand of filth, and that she wasall-in for it—is this century’s greatest mindfuck. And I don’t just want the information; Ineedit.
Because now that I’ve had a taste of my best friend, knowing that she was there to explore this world of kinky, dirty sex, there’s no fucking way she’s doing it with anyone but me.
And I need to know why she returned home.
“I just need the address she included on the application,” I say instead of answering Riveria’s question. I know her name—and itisn’tKathryn Wentzell—and I can find out the rest of the sexual interest information she shared on the application through my own exploration with her.
