Page 38 of Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires 3)
Anthony looks at me sideways. “I don’t know if I like this smile, boss.”
“Do we know who owns the buildings they’re in?”
He shakes his head. “Should be easy enough to look into.”
Hm. I’ll have Ryder do it. Make sure it’s not some shell company.
Anthony knows that when I go quiet, I’m trying to keep him out of the less-than-legal avenues. But he is a smart guy.
“You thinking about getting into real estate?” The beginnings of a smile hook up the left side of his mouth.
“Might be.” I scratch the underside of my chin.
I’ll have Ryder dig into their finances.
Today was fun, but I’ve never been much for the short game.
It’s much cleaner to start by taking the property out from under the Byrne brothers, jacking up their rent while I have Charlie come in and work with the people they’ve been silently trafficking.
Before the brothers know it, they’ll be bleeding money left, right, and center. Once their finances are screaming, I’ll send in Hopper’s favorite RICO agent.
“You’re thinking about using Agent Hughes,” Anthony muses, right on target, as usual. “You’ve never cooperated with the government before.”
“They opened that particular door. I’m just walking through it.”
“These families, you’d think they’d learn. They never see the knife coming.”
I appreciate the compliment, especially from Anthony, but there’s a bigger truth to be dealt with.
“It was a mistake to let the brothers take over the drugs. That’s a little trickier to fix, but I’m a quick study. And this? This I know how to handle.”
Anthony’s expression is thoughtful as he nods.
“Ryder still looking into our favorite agent’s history?”
“Yeah, found some documents that need to be unencrypted or some such,” I sigh, rubbing my eyes.
There was something else about the Byrnes that Hughes said in my office that I’m trying to remember…fuck, it’s at the tip of my tongue.
Anthony lifts his chin. “Brother, you okay?”
“Yeah, just…” I gesture to my head as if that is sufficient to explain the lack of focus. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
Doesn’t matter if I’m awake or asleep, the kiss I shared with Ford distracts me even now. I didn’t expect him to be so passionate, so responsive.
The things I want to do to him…
The sounds I need to draw out of him…
“Ford on your mind?”
I blink. Fuck, there I go again.
I nod, unable to hide a damn thing from my oldest friend. Anthony rubs his large hand over his mouth, poorly concealing an amused grin.
“You enjoying these different charity events with him?”
“Depends. I mostly enjoy myself because of Ford’s good company, and there are a few people worth talking to. But most people are just there to be seen. Sure, I’m trying to rehab my image, but I’m surprised at the limited number of people who actually want to do good.”
