Page 57 of Kyle

“Yeah, I got shit to say. We’re at war with Omni. They’ve proven to be one step ahead of us, around every turn. And here we are in the presence of a woman who has ties to Harry Landry and we’re getting ready to discuss business. Who the fuck is this woman anyway? She shows up out of the blue, Kyle takes one fuckin’ look at her, loses his goddamn mind, and now what? She’s just here?”

“I don’t have ties to Harry Landry,” I told Max.

“Sure you do. You admitted to knowing him.”

“Meeting someone at a donor gala one time and having ties with them are two different things.”

“Not in my book. Not when Landry’s proving to be pretty high up in the Omni food chain. We’re all just supposed to believe it’s a coincidence you know the man we’re after?”

My blood was boiling.

“You…you…” I was struggling to find my words I was so frustrated. “You think I’d work with some asshole who you say traffics women? Are you out of your goddamn mind?” I shouted. “No. Don’t answer that, because you are if you think that. I was taken and sold when I was a teenager. Paraded around in front of a room full of sleezy men and auctioned off. I was bought, you asshole, and put in a cage. Picture that, a man bought me like I was a fucking animal and caged me. So, I don’t care what you fucking believe. But I am not now, nor would I ever, work for or with anyone like Harry Landry.”

“Anaya—” Max started.

“Anyone else have any questions?” I ignored Max. “Wanna talk more about the dickhead who slapped me around while I was chained up on the boat? Want a play-by-play of my life? Anything? Wanna talk about how I freak the hell out if someone tries to touch me? I’m an open book and have nothing to hide.”

“Anaya,” Kyle growled from his seat next to me.

“Don’t start, Kyle. They all need to know, I may be completely fucked-up from what happened to me but I’m not a bad person and I have never and would never be associated with a dick like Harry Landry. And—”

“Enough, Anaya,” Declan gently cut me off before he turned his angry eyes to Max. “You done?”

Max nodded and looked away from the table, but I could feel everyone else’s gaze burning my skin. I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm my temper.

“Sorry—”

“Nothing to apologize for,” Zane interrupted. “Swear to all things holy, when the last two of you lose your shit over a woman, I’m sending you away. Far, far away from the rest of us so you can figure shit out on your own.”

“What’d Violet find?” Declan asked.

“A woman named Monica Chandler,” Zane announced. “Violet’s not sure if she’s an accomplice or a victim but we had her picked up. Emerson, have you ever heard of the woman?”

“No. When I was with him, he was careful to hide his women from me. But he did visit a massage parlor four, sometimes five times a week. I never gained access to the building.”

“No secretary, women who worked for him?”

“No. Out of all the men, Harry was the most careful. He kept everything locked up in a safe. He was extra careful on the phone.”

Wait? What? Emerson, Thad’s wife, knew Harry Landry?

“What about you, Anaya? The night of the gala, was Harry there alone?” Zane asked, but I couldn’t pull my attention from Emerson.

“It’s not what you think,” Emerson said when she caught me staring at her.

“So you don’t know Harry?” I asked her.

“No, I do know him. I was pretending to be his girlfriend—”

“What?”

Emerson’s face twisted in disgust. “It’s a long story. One I’d very much like to talk to you about after Zane’s done with us.”

“Anaya? The gala?” Zane’s tone was impatient.

“I don’t know. I think he was there alone.” I shrugged. “But I wasn’t paying attention. My boss was walking me around the room introducing me to so many people I couldn’t keep track of who was with who. I only remember Harry because he asked me to dance. It was one song, and he talked about how happy he was his company could contribute. You know what creeps me out the most? He was so normal.”

“I know what you mean,” Emerson commiserated. “Like you’d never guess he was a dirtbag if you saw him walking down the street.”