Once it hit me, I just knew. I knew I was done running. Even if I didn’t quite know what I wanted to happen between me and Christian, I knew I owed it to myself to go right up to his office and speak my mind. Whether he doubled down and said he stood by what he did or if he got on his knees and begged for me to get back with him, I was going to go back to Colorado. It was my life to live there, and I wasn’t going to let what Christian did make me feel like I had to run again.
I took a particularly savage bite of the pizza and noticed everyone was staring at me. “What?” I asked around a mouth full of food.
Max smirked. “You look like you’re either really enjoying that pizza, or you just had a really exciting idea come to you.”
“Both,” I said, taking another big bite.
45
CHRISTIAN
Today was the day. Perry’s people had discreetly met me on the 12th floor in a random men’s restroom to wire me up with audio and a few hidden button-cameras. Adrian Bellamo was scheduled to meet with me in my office, and I was supposed to coax as much incriminating evidence from him as I could.
Meanwhile, Perry and his team would be in Manhattan preparing to move on Luco with what information they had. It wouldn’t be enough to prosecute him yet, but they could at least get him booked and temporarily in the system to keep him from coming after me for what was happening today.
If the stars aligned, we’d wind up getting enough here at the tower to put both Adrian and his father behind bars for a long time.
I waited at my desk, fingers drumming on the wood. I wasn’t the type to get nervous, but I felt the pit in my stomach and the threat of cold sweats. I wasn’t scared for my own safety, though. I was scared this wouldn’t work. And if this didn’t work, I’d always have to worry my mess would wind up reaching Max or Lola and hurting them.
The best thing for the girls would be if I made this work. The next best thing would be if I managed to convince both of them to stay as far away from me as humanly possible.
I sighed. I’d never felt so empty.
Adrian let himself in my office. He wore a deep black suit and a black tie. With his dark hair slicked back, he looked like Lucifer himself.
“Christian,” he said, taking the chair across from my desk. “I’ve had people keeping an eye on you. As far as we can tell, you’re not doing what you were told to do.”
I stared back. Everything hinged on this conversation. I needed him to verbally incriminate himself. Ideally, I needed him to verbally incriminate as many people as possible, especially his father. That meant I needed to be subtle. I couldn’t make it obvious I was leading him toward saying something.
“It takes time,” I said.
“You’ve been back four days,” Adrian said.
“And? It’s a lot of money to clean. I need to make sure I have a good plan before I start making moves.”
“We’ve had double that amount cleaned in half as much time. Did we come to the wrong person?”
“In case you forgot, I didn’t ask for this,” I grated. My heart was pounding. He’d already spoken freely enough that I could be certain he didn’t suspect I was wired.
Adrian ran his thumb across his lower lip, laughing humorlessly. “Do I need to remind you what happens if you fail to deliver, Christian? This isn’t a fucking job interview. You either get this done, or we’ll get rid of you and find someone who can.”
“Get rid of me?” I asked, feigning stupidity. “You don’t have enough sway on the board to remove me on your own. Trisha will–”
“I’m not talking about taking your job. I’m talking about taking your life. And if you make me go back to my father to report that I was wrong about you being able to pull this off, I’ll make sure your death is as slow and painful as I can make it.”
“So if I fuck this up, your old man will be pissed at you? Now you’re making me want to watch this crash and burn.”
Adrian smiled easily, crossing his arms. “I think you just need a little motivational push. From the sounds of it, the exact thing I need is on its way here right now.”
I tensed. What the hell was he talking about?
Adrian grinned. “Is that fear, Christian? Are you actually afraid?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“Oh, but I think you do. You tried pretty hard to throw us off the trail, but I’m not buying it. I think you still care about that hot little number. What was her name? Lola?” Adrian got up and smoothly walked to lean against the back wall of my office, just beside the door. He gave me a knowing grin, checked his watch, then looked to the side.