Page 82 of Wrecked By a Devil

I nod, doing my best to keep my cool while my blood is boiling. Both Malachi and I remain quiet, watching the Russians leave the meeting room. Once we’re alone, I turn to Malachi, everything that I’ve been holding back, coming to the surface.

“What the fuck was that?”

“I know!” Malachi leans back in his chair, starting to lose his cool. Having Malachi lose his temper only shows how much losing this deal with the Volkovs is going to cost us. “I spent half an hour bringing facts and receipts to them, but Dimitri doesn’t want anything to do with us regardless because of how it looks from the outside.”

“I’m so sick of this,” I pour myself a glass of vodka, the premium one that we prepared for our guests and swallow it all in one go. “When I get my hands on that son of a bitch…”

I close my eyes, leaning against the table, as I try to think straight again. I can’t let anger consume me like this. Especially not now when Riley is also involved in all of this because of Mia. And because I gave her a job at the Eden.

“Email me every report we have on the Devlins,” When I speak again, my voice is a lot steadier. “I’m going to double check everything again, no matter how long it takes. Maybe there is a weak point that we overlooked.”

“Okay,” Malachi logs in on his laptop and gets on it immediately. “Will you tell me what happened now? Because when you walked inside the look on your face was as if you had just attended a funeral. In fact, I might have seen you look more cheerful after attending a funeral.”

“It’s about Riley…”

“Did something happen to her?”

“No,” I shake my head and start filling Malachi in on everything that happened.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Riley

A woman walks into the office, carrying a tray with a steaming cup of what smells like coffee and cookies. She appears to be in her early fifties, and everything about her is neat and in place. As she approaches the sofa I’ve been sitting on overthinking the last conversation I’ve had with Mia, the cloud of clean, powdery perfume surrounds me.

“I’m Nora,” she says with a practice smile on her face. “Mr. Kavanagh’s secretary.”

“Hi,” I manage to say. For some reason she doesn’t look anything like I pictured Zeke’s secretary. Nothing about her screams I-work-for-a-mafia-boss, but then again, that probably makes sense. It’s not like the mob goes around advertising what they do.

“Mr. Kavanagh asked me to make sure you’re comfortable while you wait,” she continues placing the tray on the glass coffee table in front of me. Everything in this office is in white tones with glass furniture, the complete opposite of Zeke’s office at the Eden. “I thought you might enjoy a cup of coffee and some cookies. It’s caramel macchiato.”

“That’s actually my favorite, thank you.” Even in the middle of all this chaos, I can’t stop a smile from forming on my lips as I hear the words caramel macchiato. “And I love everything with sugar, thank you.”

“I’m glad I guessed correctly,” she smiles and nods, picking up the empty tray and turning around on her heel to leave. “Enjoy. If you need anything, I’m just outside.”

“Wait,” I call out after her and she stops.

“Yes?”

“Do you know if Zeke will take long?”

“I wouldn’t know that,” she replies. “If that’s all, I’ll be on my way. If you need anything, I’ll be right outside, at my desk.”

“Thank you,” I nod, locking the door behind her.

As I reach for one of the cookies on the small plate in front of me, I realize that I’m starving. I skipped breakfast and the lunch with Mia never happened.

Mia…

Before I can even take a bite, my phone buzzes and my heart skips a beat when I read Mia’s name on the screen. I open the message immediately, almost dropping the phone from my hand.

Hello Riley! I’m really sorry, there was an emergency at work and I never managed to meet my new boss, or answer your calls.

Hello Riley?Why does this sound so weird, it’s like we’re strangers texting. My mind is still processing the information when another message arrives not even a minute later.

I’ll call you as soon as I can.

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