Page 97 of An Eye For Illusion

His smirk grows into a full-blown smile as the recording comes to an end. The term “loose lips sink ships” comes to mind, and this ship’s going down.

“I can’t believe you managed to get all of this. Here I thought you were too far up Jade’s ass to be working,” he jokes.

I lean back against the sofa, bending my elbows and lacing my fingers behind my head. I extend my legs in front of me and cross them at the ankles. “What can I say? I’m the fucking best at what I do.” My broad smile mirrors Donovan’s. That’ll teach him to doubt me.

“I’ll give you that. You’re damn good at what you do. These assholes are going away for a long time just with this. Can Jade get the documents where Elliott tried to pitch the fake trucking company to Foster Global?”

“I’m sure she can. I’d like to keep her out of the middle of it as much as possible. Hopefully this mountain of evidence and the location of the warehouse will be enough.” My immediate need to shield and protect her comes to the forefront of my decision-making process.

“No involving Jade. Noted.” He grins as he mocks me though his eyes never leave the screen of the laptop as he types quickly.

“All three of us should get together later this week and make sure we’re all on the same page. This needs to go smoothly.” My tone is serious, but the truth is Donovan is one of my closest friends, and I want him and Jade to get to know each other.

Donovan nods. “That’s a solid plan. Besides, I’d like to get a look at the woman who has Colin Brooks willing to settle down.” His smirk makes me chuckle. He’s right though. There’s never been another woman I’ve wanted the way I want Jade.

Several moments of silence pass as I ponder my feelings for Jade and Donovan types the email to the local PD.

“Alright, I’m sending it anonymously to the police department now.” He holds his index finger up dramatically over the enter button, eyeing me as it descends.

“Send it, dammit!” I order with a laugh.

He taps the enter button and watches the screen impatiently. “Alright, it’s done.” He closes the laptop and pulls the zip drive from the port. “I’m seeing Liam later. Do you want me to have him add this to the case file?”

“Yeah, that works.” I stand from the sofa and make my way over to where Donovan is sitting. “I have to go get a suit.”

He stands. “A suit?” he asks, again with genuine surprise.

“Yeah. We’ve got a wedding to crash.” I clap my hand on his shoulder. “T minus five days until I get my girl, and Elliott Moore is out of her life for good.”

“A lot can happen in five days. Don’t let your guard down,” he says. The serious Donovan I’m accustomed to is back.

“I hear you, man. I’ll be vigilant,” I assure him before I head toward the front door.

“Mighty fine suit you picked out there, Jax. Going anywhere special?” The familiar voice stops me short on the sidewalk. There are only a handful of people who would call me Jax, and unfortunately, I’d recognize his voice from anywhere.

Elliott Moore. As I turn to face him, my fist tightens with the need to punch him straight in his smug face. After seeing what he did to Jade, I’ve fought every instinct I have to not track him down and beat him to within an inch of his life.

“Elliott, how’s it going?” I relax my stance and make my tone confident because I don’t need him picking up any clues that I’m not who I say I am. Jax has nothing to hide. There’s nothing fishy about picking up a suit, and it sure as hell isn’t any of Moore’s business that said suit is for his wedding.

His eyes narrow slightly as he takes me in. His sharp gaze takes in my casual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt before zeroing in on my face once again.

“I was surprised to see you around here. I didn’t think you could hang with the big fish, and I certainly didn’t think you had such expensive taste.” He chuckles, but it’s humorless.

He’s pissed at me, but I can’t figure out why.

I play off his rudeness. “I like the finer things in life sometimes.” I leave it at that. I don’t know why he’s out here because it sure as shit wasn’t on his schedule for the day. I planned to catch him at his first official appointment of the day, but it seems he found me first.

I won’t stop tailing him just because we’ve compiled enough evidence. Quite the contrary. We don’t need anything happening that could compromise the case we’ve built against him and Vinny.

The job doesn’t stop until the client has what they asked for. In this case, the wedding is still on, so that means my job isn’t done. My job won’t be done until this fucker in front of me is behind bars, and Jade is mine forever.

“Hmmm, that’s interesting. I would have pegged you as more of a sloppy seconds kind of guy,” he says as he steps closer to me on the sidewalk.

What in actual fuck does that mean?

I chuckle; this one is also void of any humor. “Sorry. I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

My eyes narrow as my breathing slows. I want nothing more than to deck this man here and now, and it takes all I have not to lay him out flat on the concrete. However, I won’t risk messing up our plan to take him out for good and to end this whole ordeal for Jade. My number one priority is to make sure she’s safe, and I can’t do that if Elliott and Vinny are still walking free.

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