Bad Boy Saint (Bad Boy 1)

The doctor reapplied the bandage to cover the wound. "I have no idea. Is it a deadline for something? Did he owe any money to someone?"

"He's an investment banker. He doesn't get into fights."

Tears sprung to my eyes as I examined Graham. What on Earth happened to him? Who would do this to him?

"Someone sent him a message," Doctor Malone said. "He's out of immediate danger. Now, we'll watch to see if he regains consciousness. We're going to take him for another CT later to make sure he's okay."

I thanked him and stood at Graham's side for a while, watching him breathe.

After about ten minutes, Graham's friend and business partner Mark showed up with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Celia," he said and glanced at Graham. "Thank God you're here."

"You have to tell me what happened," I said and grabbed his arm. I didn't want Mark to tell me in front of Graham so I pulled him down the hallway to the small alcove with chairs and a kitchen for family. We sat on the chairs beside each other.

"Tell me," I said, my throat choking from emotion. "What the hell happened to Graham?"

Mark leaned back and took a sip of his coffee. "Honest to God, I thought they killed him."

"Who are they? Why would anyone what to kill him?"

Mark made a face of discomfort, like he didn't want to have to tell me.

"Tell me!"

He sighed. "Some thugs who looked like they came out of Eastern Promises showed up at the office. A guy named Stepan went into his office and I heard some shouting. Graham went outside with him and got into a van on the street. The van drove away and I thought nothing of it, because Graham seemed so calm. I guess they beat the shit out of him and dumped him behind the building in the back alley. I went out back for a smoke and when I found him, I called 9-1-1 right away. They were there in three minutes but who knows how long he was lying there in the back alley? He was gone for half an hour at least."

"And the thugs?"

He shook his head. "I talked to the cops and gave them a description of the men and the van. The detective said it sounded like the Russian mob."

"The Russian mob? What the hell…"

We sat in silence for a moment while I tried to figure it out. I had this sense he knew more than he was telling me.

I turned to him. "What was Graham doing talking to the Russian mob? You guys weren't laundering money for them or anything, were you?"

Mark shrugged, but didn't meet my eyes. "He lost your money."

I frowned, adrenaline flowing through me. "He what?"

Finally, Mark turned to me, his face red. "He invested your money and lost it all. He was swindled, Celia. He was so upset, because he knew you relied on that money for school."

"What did he do?"

"He went to a loan shark to get it back because he knows you need the money for your dorm. He couldn't afford to pay the interest. To put them off, he gave them the money back, and was supposed to pay the interest back this week. He didn't have it."

I covered my eyes and took in a ragged breath. Graham…

"Why didn’t he tell me?" I asked, my eyes filling with tears.

"Why do you think?" Mark said, turning to me

. "You trusted him to manage your inheritance. He lost his money and yours in this pharmaceutical startup that was supposed to give a big return due to some great new genetic tech advance, but the company went bankrupt and he lost both your funds."

"Oh, God, why did he do that? My trust fund was supposed to be put in a safe investment."

He raised his hands. "He thought he had this sure thing and wanted to double your money so you could start your own firm when you graduated if you wanted. He borrowed and was going to use it to leverage some extra money, but he failed. His investments lost money. All he could do was pay back the loan shark the principal. No interest. The beating was to make sure he remembered to pay the interest."