Page 34 of High Reward

“Grace,” I correct.

“They called her Gracie. It was odd. I got the feeling that they knew her. And I was mad at her that day, so I answered the questions. But then they started asking me to… do things. And I didn’t want to. But on our date, they… took some pictures. And threatened to send them to my family.”

I close my eyes. Harper’s family is vicious and conservative.

“So, you’re saying they’ve been in the shop?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispers.

“How long ago?”

She sniffs and looks at the ceiling.

“Damn it, Harper. I don’t have time for your emotions right now. You got yourself into this. Now, if you want out, you’ll answer my questions. How long ago did this person first approach you?”

“It was right after Bellamy left for London. When we thought she was moving.”

Shit. That means Bryce Cameron, Skylar’s brother, could have worked with whoever it was.

I press a button on my earpiece to speak to the other owners. “I need someone to stand guard over Harper while I talk to Owen in his office.”

It takes a minute for Luke to respond. “Zara and I will come and keep her company.”

Matteo’s voice comes over the comms next. “Griffin Price is done with his playtime and wants to have a drink with us.”

I groan. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten about the prick. “I don’t want to do business with him. He’s not a good fit. But we’ll have the drink to keep things smooth. Just give me twenty minutes with Owen.”

Owen’s voice is next in my ear. “I’m already in my office. Bellamy and Tobias are with Grace and Liliana.”

Bless them.

Luke and Zara come strolling into the back room of the sandwich shop looking like they stepped off a red carpet.

“She doesn’t want to name names and fears for her life,” I tell them, looking pointedly at Zara.

She puts a hand on my shoulder and gives me a subtle nod. “Understood.”

Hopefully Zara can put her magical people skills to good use and get something else out of the girl.

I race to Owen’s office and give him a rundown of everything Harper told me.

He’s already at his bank of monitors and keyboards typing away. “Motherfucker,” he swears.

“What is it?” I look over his shoulder as if I’ll be able to understand what he’s looking at.

“Someone tried to delete security footage several times over the last few months.”

“Tried?”

Owen lets out a mirthless laugh. “Bastards didn’t realize I keep triple backups of everything. One on an air-gapped laptop, and two on completely separate servers. I’ll need a few hours to pull everything back in and sort through it. Can you and Matteo handle Price?”

“Definitely. He’s my contact, and Matteo is the face of our organization.”

Owen looks at me as I head for the door. “Just… be diplomatic tonight and turn him down tomorrow. He’s not known for taking no for an answer, and we don’t need a scene here tonight.”

I give him a thumbs-up and head for the bar to meet Matteo. He’s already there with Skylar kneeling next to him. I lift an eyebrow, silently asking why she’s there. We try not to involve wives and girlfriends in this aspect of our business.

“Price responds to power. Having a sub kneeling at my feet gives me more power. Especially since I found other tasks for the women who were playing with him earlier, and miraculously there were no others available to keep him company.”