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“Zeno,” she enunciated with a saccharine smile. “What a pleasant surprise.”
I tsked and lowered myself into a chair. Showing her I could be submissive, while giving her the upper-hand for two point five seconds before I yanked out the expensive, Persian rug from under her feet. “Not a surprise, Diane. Considering I called you beforehand.”
“Semantics.” She waved and sat down. “Can I offer you a drink?”
The whiskey sitting in the decanter probably contained poison. “I don’t drink on the job, Diane.”
“Funny.” She gave me a sneer. “You seem like a man who indulges quite often.”
I flashed her a wolfish smirk. “Andyouseem like a woman who hasn’t indulged in quite some decades, if I’m being honest. Or perhaps you’ve indulged quite often in the past…and are now paying the price with your self-imposed celibacy.”
Diane’s composure failed and her eyes bulged out of their sockets. She bristled, a complete one-eighty from the crowd-pleasing woman who delivered city hall speeches like a TV evangelist trying to bring the Holy Spirit inside of you.
“Excuse me?” she snapped.
An hourglass sitting on the edge of the table beckoned me. It was ironic. She was running out of time and she didn’t even know it. I flipped it over and we both watched sand trickling through the tiny gap.
Time was of the essence.
“Let’s cut to the chase.” I reclined in my seat, crossing my right ankle over my left knee. Diane’s attention finally drew to the folder in my lap. “You know why I’m here.”
“Armel.”
I smirked and pointed a finger at her. “I needyouto tell your little officers to close the case and I wantyouto back the fuck up. These accusations are outlandish and frankly, horrible for my business.”
I couldn’t afford to have my name slain through Canadian tabloids when my life was at such a pivoting point.
“Who the hell do you think you are coming into my home and telling me what to do? Are you denying these accusations—”
“I’m innocent,” I shot back calmly.
“Until proven guilty!” Decorum flew out the window as she stood up and banged her fist against her desk. Her chest rose up and down with defiance. “It wouldn’t be the first time you De la Croixes were involved in shady business. You just never get caught.”
This woman had balls, I’d give her that much.
Diane Hill did not work for us—she wasn’t in our pockets—which was why she had the audacity to talk to me the way she did.
But that would change very soon.
With forty seconds remaining, I cracked my knuckles, threw the folder onto her desk, and stood up to my full height. Mimicking her posture and getting in her face the way I did with traitors before I began my round of torture.
She cowered under my intimidation.
I grinned menacingly and, without looking away from her, flipped the beige folder open. “Looks like your bloodline isn’t any better than mine, Mayor Hill.”
Diane’s blue gaze fell to the first page. “What is this?”
She was going to gag once she saw the kind of confidential information I got my hands on.
“Read.” Her eyes swung back to my face. “And once you’re done, I’m going to give you an ultimatum. Refuse me and you will regret it until the day you die, Mayor Hill.”
My threat hung in the air.
Diane pooled in her seat, grabbed the folder with shaky hands, and read it.
I watched with satisfaction as her face transformed.
Anger. Shock. Fear. Despair.
