Page 15 of Together We Burn
Will cleared his throat, and his chair creaked as he leaned back.
“Well, I didn’t call you here to discuss Stevie’s sex life. But before we move onto the purpose of today’s meeting, any updates on Emilia’s next moves?”
I shook my head. “She has been quiet on that front so far. I don’t think she suspects anything.” Thinking back to how Emilia dropped to her knees, I didn’t believe for a second that she doubted my loyalty to her. I suppressed a shudder at the thought of that bitch putting her lips around my cock. The idea alone was enough to send my dick retreating up into my body.
“She did say the group she’s hired is having trouble locating Christina and Nathan. Doesn’t seem to care that Stefany could have died in that warehouse.” I seethed, glancing down to the knuckles that had slammed into Stefany’s ribs. Rubbing my thumb over them, I looked to find Will watching me. I took a breath and added, “But don’t worry, I’ll keep you informed, boss.”
Emilia wasn’t my biggest priority right now. Reining Stefany in, trying to make her see what I did wasn’t personal, that what we had was genuine, took precedence over everything else.
“You know she’s going to retaliate,” I said, nodding my head toward the bruise starting to form on Will's face, wishing I had made it into the office ten minutes earlier to watch my girl release her wrath.
Next time.
Will chuckled and touched his jaw. “No one can hold a grudge better than Stevie.” I huffed a laugh in agreement, running a finger across my blackened cheekbone. “What about you? Do you need ice for your nose?”
Smiling, I declined, dropping into one of the chairs in front of Will's massive desk and pulling out a USB from my pocket. I handed over the device and waited for Will to pull up the presentation Victor and Alton, two of my best friends and scientists at Weston Pharmaceutical, had pulled together, detailing our plans for my synthetic opioid. Plans that would bring about a new era in my working relationship with William Jones.
We both might be forced together by our fathers, but this was going to be something we forged on our own.
No one but Will, Alton, Victor, and to my dismay, Emilia, knew about this project. Well, no one other than Stefany. She seemed intrigued when I told her about my plans to mitigate the drug addiction epidemic. A plan I’d formulated ever since my brother died of an overdose, despite what was written in the media before my father paid to get it pulled down, an overdose that was not his own doing. I’d make sure his death was not in vain, use what I was given at my disposal to ensure what happened to him wouldn’t happen to anyone else.
Nodding happily, Will handed me back the USB and pushed up from his desk. “For someone so small, Stevie sure has some weight behind her punches.” He touched his jaw again. “Please excuse me. I need to see if Monica has some painkillers.”
My smile was tight as he left his office, thankful he had left me alone. The second Will slid that manila folder across his table to Stefany, I needed to know what was inside.
Quickly glancing over my shoulder, I crouched down by the state-of-the-art fancy as fuck printer on his desk. It was one that saved the print jobs to a memory bank that could be accessed on the device itself.
My pulse rocketed as I pressed one of the buttons, and the thing roared to life with a loud churn. My finger hovered as I checked the door once more. Shoulders sagging in relief, I searched through the history, reprinting the last few jobs.
Several irrelevant documents were deposited in the paper tray until the one with Stefany’s new assignment landed on top, scheduled for tonight.
Name:Benji Martinez
Age:42
Occupation:Owner of Lion’s Den Strip Club est. 2022
Assignment:Execution
Rate:Seven hundred and fifty thousand
I skimmed the document, reading the list of atrocities he had stacked against him with his smug image at the bottom. Now I wish I’d seen the dossier created for me.
I was about to fold the paper when the name caught my eye again. Martinez, Martinez–why did that name sound so familiar?
“Ms. Matthews? Mr. Martinez is here for his one o’clock meeting.”
Fuck.
Snatching all the documents, including those I didn’t need, I rolled them into a scroll, tucked them inside my jacket pocket, returning to my chair just as Will walked back into his office, throwing back a couple of aspirin and chugging from a bottle of water.
“Come to think of it, Emilia did mention something about Stefany taking out one of her business associates when I asked about her interest in Nathan. What was his name… Nissan… Nessie…” I voiced, trying to sound like the thought had just come to me. Will’s footsteps paused, surprise crossing his features as he recapped the bottle.
Schooling his face, he feigned ignorance, tilting his lips downward with a short shake of his head. I narrowed my eyes. Lying bastard.
“Nissaney,” I said, clicking my fingers. “Yes, some organ guy. Emilia said that Stefany has been causing problems for her. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”
Will wrinkled his forehead as he thought about the name.
