Page 92 of Brutal Prince

At 10.16am yesterday, someone dressed head to toe in black, entered my apartment carrying a bag. They disappeared out of my vision range, returning four minutes later and left my apartment.

Four minutes.

Their promptness indicated that they knew the location of the safe and the code to unlock it. But how the hell did they get into my apartment. Only Vic and Art had keys…and the building security. Did they somehow convince security to open my door for them dressed as burglar?

That didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense.

I roughed up my hair with my hand, delaying the inevitable. Taking a deep breath, I rang Vanderbilt.

As soon as he answered I said, “We’ve got a problem.”

FORTY

Gretta

As soon as Darryn entered the room, I gave him a big hug. Being Ollie’s roommate had taken toll on him. He was watching him twenty four seven, without actually seeming obvious. On top of that he had to pretend to be the one that shot Mathias in the shoulder. That was fake. It was all fake.

Mathias wasn’t shot at all. They set it up for Ollie to believe she was. We made Darryn look like the bad guy, so it seemed like he was distancing himself from the case, when in fact he was watching Ollie more closely. It also put Ollie on edge making him more susceptible to making mistakes. It worked.

We were all getting exhausted, but we could see an end in sight.

“We still haven’t got a confession,” Delaney stated when Darryn took a seat in the abandoned office that was gutted by fire a year ago and had yet to be restored. It’s on the third floor of a commercial building down the block from Jonathon Wheeler’s apartment. “But we could squeeze it out of him and his brother when we arrest them.”

“He wants to see me again,” I told her and I think I should go.

“No,” Darryn said, shaking his auburn head. “I’m putting my foot down.”

I snorted. “You’re putting your foot down?”

He sighed, folding his arms across his broad chest. “This hasn’t been easy for me, Gretta. Watching you ping ponged between two men while I stood on the sideline pretending to be the watcher. I couldn’t go near you. I couldn’t contact you. Do you know how hard that was for me?”

“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching for his hand.

“He’s right,” Delaney stated. “You’re done with them.”

“Both?”

“Yes.” She exchanged glances with one of her agents, Mike, who was leaning against the desk set up with computers continuously playing surveillance footage. “For this next phase, we’ll be sending you, Darryn, and your Mom away for a while.”

“My mom can’t go anywhere.”

“Agents are in your apartment as we speak helping your mom move. This is it, Gretta. We’re done. You’ll be flying out to Florida tonight-”

“Mom can’t fly because the seats-”

“We’ve booked a private plane and have made arrangements with the seating. Don’t worry, we’ve got everything covered.”

I wanted to see Jonathon one more time, but I doubted it was possible with Delaney and the feds breathing down my neck. It was strange how empty and dissatisfied I felt inside. I’d never admit to anyone, especially Darryn that I was head over heels in love with Jonathon Wheeler.

The man who called himself Dom. The man who shot my father because he was forbidden to see me. The man who allegedly bludgeoned several women, dissected their bodies, and collected a curl of their hair for a keepsake. The man who ran the creepy, highly illegal After Dark Club with the cockiness that if he was caught no one would dare arrest him. Why? Because he’s got a ton of dirt on hundreds of very important people. That little delusion of confidence was about to fall.

Delaney was worried that I might become his next victim, but I knew deep down inside that he wouldn’t do that to me.

Or maybe I was kidding myself.

Maybe he was an actor in the play, just like we all were. And maybe I was lucky to get out unscathed.

FORTY ONE

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