Page 62 of Unexpected Complication

“I want you here on these grounds.”

“I’ll stay here, but I need some private time. And Carlo is free to come and go. He needs to look after my business for me. If I have something to handle, I handle it, no questions asked.”

“I’ll give you a car.”

“Fine.”

“All your equipment will be provided.”

I knew what he was doing—he wanted to monitor my movements. Follow me. Little did he know, it would never work.

“Whatever. I can use any machine.”

“I want your loyalty.”

That I grimaced at. “The only thing I’m loyal to is money.”

He sighed and started typing on the keyboard, his annoyance showing in the way he pounded the keys. In a show of boredom, I sat down, sticking my hand in my pocket. Cautiously, I felt along the lining until my fingers found the minuscule piece of equipment Sean had given me, sliding it onto the tip of my finger. Thanks to Sean’s insistence on practicing the move, it was done quickly before any movement was even noticed by Orson.

“I need your information.”

I stood, moving behind him. “I need to be sitting.”

He stood and moved to the side. I sat down smoothly, making a show of pulling the laptop toward me. The tiny chip easily affixed itself to the bottom of the laptop, forming itself to the hard plastic instantly—just as Sean said it would. Then I held up a memory stick. “I need to use this,” I stated.

“What is it?”

“It interfaces with the new banking system I use. It only verifies my identity. You can watch.”

His eyes never left the screen as I plugged in the device. Exactly as I said, banking information filled the screen, hiding the memory stick’s true function. As I pulled out a piece of paper and entered the account number I had jotted down, then repeated the pattern with the number I had memorized for the other five million, it silently planted the software Sean would need to bring down Orson and his empire. I made as many errors as possible, muttering the whole time about how Carlo usually handled this shit, making sure the device was complete with its hidden function. Satisfied it was finished, I pulled out the drive. “Done.”

Orson shouted for Rex, and I stood and moved back to the chair, watching as he came back in. “Get Donald and check it,” Orson snapped.

A thin, nervous-looking Donald came in and sat down, not saying a word. His fingers flew over the keys, first typing in a set of test parameters, then passing a piece of equipment over the laptop. I picked up a bottle of water, breaking the seal and taking a drink, hiding my grin as Donald nodded at Orson.

“All clear.”

Of course it was. Neither the software nor the chip was activated, and both were undetectable and would remain so, even when Sean started them. They would begin working when I informed Sean they were in place. Once their jobs were done, they would once again be deactivated and undetectable. The chip would dissolve in forty-eight hours, and Sean would erase the program.

Orson sat back down. “Now, we begin.”

I set down the bottle of water.

“We begin.”

Chapter 14

Cian

Skylar was snuggled into my side, her head leaning on my shoulder. I nuzzled her hair, and breathing in her scent, I relaxed. She smelled so good to me—soft, light, and so right. The air in the sprawling, dreary compound I was forced to stay in was stale, permeated with cigarette smoke, alcohol, and the stink of mistrust and too many dark, evil thoughts. I hadn’t slept well or taken a proper breath in the days I’d been gone. Before I could even touch Skylar, I’d stood under a hot shower, letting the steam and soap wash away the surface grit and rancid smell. The filth under my skin would never be eradicated until Orson drew in his last breath and I rid the world of as much of his poison as I could.

When Sean had arrived at Orson’s lair, he’d discreetly let me know the entire place was bugged. As I’d suspected, the phone and car Orson insisted I accept were also wired, and he could follow my every move. It took Sean a full day to figure out a way to circumvent the devices without alerting suspicion. The “gift” of the expensive watch earlier today had been a problem until I’d announced loudly I needed to blow off steam at my favorite strip club. The watch and the tracker on the car both showed me there, and the lackey who followed me at a safe distance would tell Orson he had seen me step out for a breath of fresh air several times—a different woman with me every time. I was sure “twin me” was enjoying his evening.

In the meantime, I was safe back at the farmhouse with Skylar and Sean.

“Did you plant the idea the way we discussed?” Sean asked.

I nodded, scrubbing a hand over my face roughly. “Yes. I told him Harry was behaving strangely.”