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At the end of a dark hall, I spot large wooden doors open slightly. As I get closer, I see a sliver of bookshelves, and I step just over the threshold. Aria sits behind a giant wooden desk, and I catch her by surprise.
“What are you doing?”
She startles, then looks up with a smirk. “Snooping, duh.”
“Why?”
“Because,” she sighs and meets my stare head-on. “I have a feeling there’s a lot I don’t know, and I’m sick of being in the dark. You probably know more about my father than I do.”
Something about the vulnerability in her voice gets to me, and instead of giving her shit, I step closer to the desk.
“I like snooping. Want some help?”
Surprise flashes in her brown eyes, but it disappears quickly. She shrugs as if she doesn’t care either way, which is bullshit, but I let it slide.
“Sure. If you want.”
I look around the room and see stacks of folders on the sofa and a wall safe hanging open. “Anything, in particular, you’re looking for?”
“Anything. Everything.”
“Got it.” I sit down on the leather sofa next to a bookcase. Aria has stacked neat piles of folders on the soft kidskin, so I begin there. I sift through each one, page by page. Geoffrey Morgan has been holding out on everyone, it seems, and for a long damn time. The man is even more loaded than we initially thought.
“Your father is a busy man.” Wealthy as fuck, too.
“That’s the one thing I’m already aware of,” she says in her snooty voice. “His business takes him away often and for long periods of time.”
That much I can see for myself, but what’s surprising is that Arturo Rojas isn’t the only cartel leader he’s in bed with. “Do you know Paco Gutierrez?”
Aria frowns and shakes her head. “No. There are only a handful of Hispanic businessmen that I know, and I’d remember someone named Paco. Why do you ask?”
“He’s the head of the Sanguine cartel.”
Her shocked expression confirms that Geoffrey’s done a damn good job of keeping his daughter in the dark about all his dirty dealings.
“Like the guys who cut off body parts and kill cops?”
“Yep.” And the more folders I go through, the more I learn how much Morgan has his hands in, starting with human trafficking, prostitution, and even art smuggling.
I page through another folder, close my eyes in disgust, and mutter, “Shit.”
“What?” Aria gets up and sits beside me on the sofa, her sweet-smelling, expensive perfume distracting as fuck. “What did you find?”
“A lot. Are you sure you want to know?”
Aria is a hard ass on the surface, but it’s easy to see beneath the thin veneer to the hurt little girl in her heart.
“It’s not good or bad, Aria. It just is. But it’s not what you might expect.”
“Just tell me what you found,” she growls, folding her arms so her tits are pushed up high and hard to ignore.
“Your dad is into everything. His import/export business is the black market, Aria.”
She shakes her head. “You’re wrong. He works with Arturo because the money helps keep the lights on, but Morgan International is the company that everyone who’s anyone uses to transport their most valuable goods from one location to the next.”
I laugh. “Old Geoffrey should have you do his commercials. Is that why you’re his marketing expert?”
“Funny,” she growls and snatches the papers from me.
