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“But you implied it.”
For a moment, I stare at Ryder with despair because if this man is involved, it’s the beginning of the end, anyway and nothing will change that.”
Ryder shakes his head and the look in his eye should scare the shit out of me but somehow it just settles my heart. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, he can, along with his team of assassins and intelligence operation. Just imagining him not being here makes my blood run cold and he’s right that the person responsible appears to know what they’re doing. Take out the foundation stone and the whole thing comes crashing down, which is why they probably started with him.
This is serious shit and I need a drink so badly right now and then Ryder says darkly, “Start with the girl, we don’t have long either. Find out what she knows and report back. I’ll set up surveillance and make sure you’re covered but remember there’s someone out there who wants us gone, one way or another and we need to know who, and why?”
“Should I be worried for my life right now?”
“I thought that was something you lived with, anyway.”
“True, but this time it’s the unknown. Shit, I could really do without this.”
“Right back at you.”
“So, how long do you think we’ve got?”
“Two weeks is my uneducated guess.”
“Why two weeks?”
“Because in case you’ve forgotten, in two weeks, the five kings will be united in one place for the first time in history and I’m guessing this has all been centered around that. If the person responsible wants their plan to succeed it will make sense that it happens then.”
“The wedding.”
Ryder nods and I lean back and say gruffly, “Fuck.”
He growls, “You have the ball, now it’s up to you to carry it over the line. Keep in touch and do what you do best. Stick your nose in business and sniff out the story, I have every faith in you, Dexter, don’t let us down.”
He stands to leave and I feel like a drowning man being pulled under by an unknown force. Sort this shit out – where do I begin?
He heads toward the door and then turns and I don’t miss the steely glint in his eye as he says darkly, “I don’t need to remind you how important your success is. Whoever is doing this is always one step ahead of us. I have removed Hunter for his own protection but it’s only a matter of time before his whereabouts is compromised. He has protection but until we get to the bottom of this none of us are safe. It’s time to step up, Dexter and do what you are paid extremely well to do.”
“Easy enough for you to say, you can actually trust the men working for you, mine are all in it for their own glorification and I wouldn’t trust any of them as far as I can piss in the sand.”
“Then keep your enemies close and never turn your back, just know I’ll be watching yours while you do what you must to end this shit.”
Ryder stops and picks up a framed photograph from the table just inside my office door and I see a rare smile ghost his lips. “You know, she wouldn’t want you to be this miserable.”
I feel a tightness enter my chest as he reminds me of the last time I failed and I wonder if it’s intentional. I doubt it because he knows how close I came to destruction at my lowest point and I shrug.
“I’ve learned a lot since then, I’m not the same man I was.”
For some reason I think he’s almost concerned as he studies me with a hard unyielding look. Then he says harshly, “Stop blaming yourself for something you had no way of knowing. Just make it count.”
I say nothing and he replaces the frame and leaves, the words hanging in the air as both a threat and a promise. Make it count. Easy enough for him to say because I haven’t stopped trying and I’m tired of it all. Tired of constantly trying to prove myself, prove that I deserve this second chance and that I’m worthy enough to be a member of this club.
My gaze flicks to the frame and my chest tightens at the memory of a time I got things so badly wrong. If anything, it hardens my resolve and my thoughts turn to the journalist responsible for setting up this visit in the first place.
Holly Bryant isn’t going to know what hit her because by the time I finish with her, she’s going to wish she never set foot inside my world.
