Page 49 of The Queen's Vow (Ruthless Games 2)

TWENTY-NINE

GIANCARLO

Whoever won the contractto kill Becca would have splashed the news all over the place if he had found her and killed her. Assuming it was a he.

No news was good news.

Even though not knowing anything sucked too.

I’d talked to Sebastien and Anthony every night while I was in Ireland and we compared notes about anything suspicious in our fathers’ companies. The most glaring evidence? My father sent me out of the country for a week.

So many fingers pointed to Anthony Sr. In one breath, his son shouted down the allegation and the next he choked up with guilt. I understood the guilt because deep in my bones, I suspected my father had ordered the hit.

I shuddered to think I’d have to turn my own father in to protect the woman I loved. Shaking that away, I returned to the Warwick after a week of wet, damp weather and shitty food. Within an hour, Sebastien and Anthony showed up.

Sebastien swayed into my penthouse wearing a blue suit that made him look ten feet tall. But, he wore a frown looking haggard and furious.

Anthony arrived shortly after wearing a charcoal suit that matched his eyes. His usual scowl, laced with wicked humor, didn’t fail to show up.

Despite whatever the hell these two had been doing while I was away, the simmering hostility between them felt as strong as ever.

“Hey,” I said, holding a bottle of scotch.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Messina asked me, looking me up and down.

“What?” I followed his gaze.

“You look pale and thin,” Sebastien answered coolly, snatching a glass from my wet bar.

“I was gonna say gaunt.” Messina smiled. “And yes, I want a drink.”

It forced me to look at myself. “Jesus.” I shook my head and then trekked to the balcony to feel some sunshine on my face.

“Please don’t tell me the week just went to waste,” Sebastien said, sipping his drink.

“On one hand yes.” I threw back the drink, the burn warming me up more. “But, glass half full, it was a cooling off period and without me breathing down anyone’s neck, maybe...”

“Julian...” Anthony sneered.

“Maybe he got complacent.” I exhaled. “As a fed, his personal information is behind a serious wall.”

“There was no way he went this whole week without using a credit card or an ATM. He’s Fed, sure, but I haven’t heard of a station chief giving an agent unlimited cash to spend,” Messina said.

“I agree.” As soon as I got back to my high-powered computers, I’d checked that FBI username to see if it routed to any other evidence. Nothing, and now I worried it was a decoy.

“A woman like Becca won’t sit by in filth,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “She’s going to demand basics. Shampoo. Lotion. Have you seen all that crap in her bathroom?”

Our Rebecca shined with beauty and grace. Her warmth and generosity echoed all over our world. But she was still an heiress to a billion-dollar fortune. A woman like that had expensive tastes and habits.

Anthony looked down at his glass. “Good point. If she were with a hardened criminal, she wouldn’t press. She’s too smart for that. But someone like Julian, who she’s known for a while?”

“Right,” Sebastien agreed. “She’ll push him to purchase whatever she fucking needs. And the second he does, your program will capture his credit card and flag their location.”

“His personal credit cards anyway since I’ll never get access to his Fed accounts.”

“You need his social security number?” Messina asked.

“Yes.” I paced. “Any suggestions?”

Bastien raised his glass then stopped. “Fuck.”

“What?” I asked.

“St. Mary’s,” he said, and took that swig. But then fixed his suit jacket and headed for the apartment door. “Our old school has that information.”

“Where are you going?” I asked him, stepping in his path.

“To tear that place apart.”

“Right,” Messina said. “Out of our way.”

“Have you two idiots just met me?” I pushed past them and rushed to my command center. “Come with me. I’m sure it’s buried in the school’s online records.”

“Unless the Fed had that masked too.” Sebastien followed me inside, this time holding the bottle.

“A high school?” I pulled my chair up and got to work. Within two minutes, I was inside their servers. “Fuck.”

“What?” Sebastien asked. “They wiped his stuff away?”

“Not his. Everyone’s. Or...” I kept digging. “Students’ information that far back was never entered.”

“Or they were purged.” Sebastien ran a hand through his hair.

“Great.” I exhaled. “Looks like we have to go tear the place apart after all.”

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