Page 49 of Abundance of Obsession

“I’m Zoe, his sister-in-law. Can you tell him I need to talk to him?”

The girl’s eyes are like a mirror image of my own. They’re wide with surprise. “You’re Zoe? Oh my God, it’s so nice to meet you. Ash mentioned you. Listen, I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay. I’m glad it happened. It says a lot about you.”

She just nods. “I’m part of the Ash & Ryker team. We all are, here. Wait a moment, I’ll let security know you’re here.”

The girl steps out from behind the counter and approaches the bouncer. His gaze falls on me, though he nods at the words he hears. Takes his phone out of his pocket to talk. Then the brunette claps her hands and runs over to me.

“Come on, Derek will take you to Ryker. “

“Thank you,” I say and walk over to the security guy.

He doesn’t say a single word to me as he leads us down a dark hallway and then to the elevator. A little while later, he’s already knocking on the oak door upstairs.

Ryker’s voice reaches me. “Come in.”

Derek opens the door and lets me go first. Once I’m inside and the door closes behind me, the first thing I see is Ryker behind an oak desk. He has three monitors in front of him, which seems excessive. I have three monitors too, but I suppose they serve a different purpose.

“Zoe?” Ryker asks. His face gives nothing away. If he’s surprised, he’s not showing it. “Everything’s okay? Did something happen?”

But I’m already looking around his workspace. Dim light falls on his desk and the seats in front of it. He has a huge TV here, a few cabinets, a bar, and extra sofas. One wall is entirely glass, though tinted. Like a moth to a flame, I head in that direction. Standing there, I look down at the stage, the bar, the entire club. From up here, he has a bird’s-eye view of everything happening below.

“Zoe?”

“It’s… impressive,” I say thoughtfully.

“I’m glad you like it.” I hear the scrape of a chair and know Ryker is getting up from his seat. He’s coming over to me. “Is something wrong?”

I turn to face him.

This is it. This is the reason for my presence here. I’ve decided to take action, and now I have to be honest.

“We need to talk,” I say. “I hope I didn’t come at a bad time.”

“No, it’s fine. Want to sit down? Would you like a drink?”

I pick an armchair and sit down. Ryker takes a seat on the sofa opposite me.

“Thanks for the drink. I came with a proposal, though I’m unsure where to start.” Suddenly, heat travels up my neck and rises to my cheeks. He can’t know why I went to the club that night. Nor can I mention Eli. This conversation needs to flow well without revealing too much.

“Take your time. I’m here for you. Does Ash know about this?”

I shake my head. “No, and I don’t think she should learn about it for now.” He hides his reaction behind a mask of indifference again. “It’ll be better this way. Trust me. It’s about that thing we talked about at your apartment two days ago.”

“I’m sorry.” He sighs. “Eli shouldn’t have dragged you into this. I don’t have a clue what he was thinking when he took you to that meeting. These are Pact issues, and I can promise you that you’re in no danger as far as that goes.”

“No, no. I’m not worried about that. You’re looking for someone who can get inside Veirix, and I think I should be the one to do it.”

This time, Ryker’s eyebrows shoot up. After a minute of silence, his voice is so quiet it’s difficult to hear him. “No.”

“Listen to me. I’ll explain everything.” Deep breath. Brace myself. And finally, I speak the truth. “I know… Damien Estrada.”

“You know Damien Estrada…” He echoes my words slowly, and I nod. His gaze is as piercing as a hawk’s. “How do you know we’re talking about the same man? I don’t think there’s just one person with that name walking the streets of this country.”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not sure. Do you have a picture of him?”

Seconds pass in silence, then Ryker reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He taps the screen and scrolls until he finds what he’s looking for. Then he turns the phone.