He opens his mouth, but his phone rings in his pocket. “Hello?” Pause. “What is it, Nigel? Yeah.” His eyes meet mine. “We’ll be right there.” He hangs up. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?”
“Seems Emilee has come to us.”
Fuck!
_______________
We enter Bones’s office to find her sitting in a chair. Nigel had let her in. Her back ramrod straight and staring straight ahead. Bones sits down at the desk, and I lean up against the far wall, not in the mood to sit. No one says anything.
Her watery eyes go from mine to Bones’s. Then she drops her head and looks down at her nails. “He’s not gonna pay you.”
We say nothing.
She lifts her head to look me in the eye. “He wants to give me to you. Like I’m some fucking object that can be traded.” She fists her hands in her lap. “I tried to explain it wouldn’t work. George—”
“Are you sleeping with him?” I interrupt her, unable to wait any longer. I need to know what she is to him and why.
She sniffs and adjusts herself in the seat, looking even more uncomfortable. I look at Bones, then back at her. “Does he rape you?” Maybe what I thought I saw and what they have aren’t the same. He physically abused her, so forcing himself on her isn’t a far stretch. And that thought makes me want to kill him. I may have told her to get on her knees for her phone, but I’d never force myself on her.
She flinches. “You can’t take what is freely given.” She recalls Bones’s words.
“So what? He’s your sugar daddy?” I ask, not liking that idea either.
She shakes her head. “My mother is sick. Dying. I came back after my dad passed to be here with her and help take care of her. But after meeting with my father’s attorney, I was informed that George has access to all of my family’s money. That house is in the company’s name; my father left him the company.” Bones and I exchange another look because that doesn’t seem likely. “He told me if I gave him what he wanted, he would cover my mother’s medical bills. Although she doesn’t have much longer to live, I want her to be comfortable. He said that he would pay for it as long as I …”
“Spread your legs for him,” Bones finishes.
She reaches up and wipes a single tear from her face.
I run a hand down mine. “What’s wrong with your mother?”
“Cancer,” she whispers. “Stage four. Lymphoma. She’s got four months left. Maybe.”
Bones sits back and crosses his arms over his chest. This is news to us. And it makes things even more complicated.
She straightens her back. “I have a proposition of my own for you.”
My brows rise.
“No offense, Emilee, but your pussy isn’t worth five hundred thousand,” he tells her even though he just tried to sell the idea of me taking her.
“The house.” She ignores him.
“What about it?” I ask.
Her watery eyes meet mine. “There’s insurance on it. It’s paid up to date.” I frown. “Burn it to the ground. You can have the insurance money as long as you give me enough for my mom to be taken care of.”
I open my mouth, but she continues. “I have no job back in Chicago anymore. I quit. And I put my apartment up for sale the moment I found out she was sick so I could move back here to be with her. But my father died before I was able to get rid of it. My account has been frozen. Right now, I’m at his mercy,” she growls. “You guys showing up gave me an idea. You take care of my mother, and you can have the rest.”
“Emilee—”
“It’s insured for over two point two million,” she interrupts Bones.
He looks up at me. I shake my head. “Too risky.”
“I’ll set it,” she growls. “No one will ever know about your involvement. I’ll wait. Three weeks. Give it some time, then I’ll do it late at night.”
“What’s in it for you?” Bones asks. “Two point two million is a lot of money, and all you want is for us to take care of your mother. What about you?”
“I can go back to Chicago. Find a new job. Get back to my life.” She takes in a deep breath. “I want him to be there. I want his body to burn.”
So that’s it. She doesn’t care if she gets a dime; she just wants the fucker dead. Can’t say I blame her after what she just told us.
CHAPTER SEVEN
EMILEE
THEY BOTH STARE at me.
Titan frowns. “You said it’s in the company’s name and he owns the company right now. What if he were to die? Then who is next?”
“I am,” I lie. How the fuck should I know? Like George is going to share any of that information with me.