“So, give us a time frame that you can close down,” Colt stated.
“You mean close the entire business down? For how long?” Nash asked. “Chastity just mentioned something about three weeks.”
“Well, we could probably get a larger crew in here faster and get it all done. But it will cost you,” Colt stated.
“How much are we talking?” Riker asked, but kept his eyes on Chastity. Her phone began to vibrate again. Colt looked at her.
“I’ll take care of this and set it all up if you need to take that call.”
“I don’t want to. I don’t need to.”
So she didn’t want to talk to whoever was calling her. Interesting. Colt seemed to be aware of the situation, and he looked concerned.
As they went over pricing and some ideas of a time frame, Chastity’s phone was vibrating. She must have thought that turning it to vibrate wouldn’t bother anyone.
“Maybe you should just answer that so we can focus on this?” Nash suggested with attitude. Riker chuckled. It was bothering Nash, too.
“Excuse me a moment.” She pulled the phone off the clipboard and walked a few feet down the hall. There wasn’t much room, and they could hear what she was saying. Riker and his brothers had always had superb hearing. It helped in their line of work as agents. So they listened to her call as they listened to Colt’s ideas.
“You’re drunk and I don’t want to talk to you. No. I’m not at my apartment, and I don’t want to see you. No, don’t drive in your condition. That doesn’t mean that I care. I’m working. Well, I know it’s late, but some of us have to work for a living. We weren’t born with silver spoons in our mouths. I’m hanging up now and turning off my phone.”
Riker could hear the frustration in her voice. He got the gist of it. She didn’t like drunks or men with a lot of money. So, he probably shouldn’t have been downing the shots in front of her, and hell, he was filthy rich, but it was earned not inherited.
He stared at her back, and could see her taking a few breaths before she turned around and walked back toward them.
“Everything okay?” Nash asked. She nodded her head, straightened out her shoulders, and began to ask some questions as she submerged herself into her notes on the clipboard.
They worked out a schedule for renovations. They would all meet in two days to go over some ideas for a new place, a rebirth, as Chastity called it. It seemed that she would be heading the project, which meant more time getting to know who she was, and ultimately, getting her into Riker’s bed.
He smiled. This was the first woman to ever ignore his advances and he looked at her as a challenge.
This is going to be fun.
Chapter 3
“You need to cut this shit out. If you don’t let go of this woman, you could blow everything,” Luke stated as he paced Desi’s penthouse apartment.
“I can’t. I can’t get her out of my head. She’s so beautiful and sweet.”
“You fucked her, you had months with her. If she was so incredible, then why did you cheat on her?” Luke retorted.
Desi ran his hands through his hair. “I fucking lost it. I was drunk out of my mind. You know what the past two years have been like for me. I’m the reason why she’s dead.”
“Fuck that shit! Maggie knew what she was in for. She fell for those two assholes. She was supposed to con some money out of them and move on, disappear. She shouldn’t have been there when the bomb went off. I’m telling you. She was trying to warn those two fuck heads,” Luke stated.
Desi slammed his fist down on the table. “She didn’t love them. She was using them. She needed the information to take down Reynolds. That agent and his team have been trying to catch Ferguson for three years. Working for the government as an agent, he was getting too close to screwing the operation, and that means we would all lose everything. Ferguson is our boss. He’s the one who makes the decisions. Maggie knew she was supposed to manipulate the Riley agents. She did her job. It’s part of the hazards of work like what we do. Plus, she was Ferguson’s cousin. She wasn’t our family, our blood, and seeking revenge is Ferguson’s job.”
“I don’t see it that way. Those two assholes live, they nearly destroy the operation, and I lose Maggie. Then in the process, I meet a fucking angel, and I screw that up. I’ll get my chance at revenge, for myself, for Maggie, and for Ferguson. I know they live here in New York. I’ve been at bars and clubs they’ve been at. They’re going to die eventually.” Desi downed another shot then coughed as it burned his throat.
“Alcohol will destroy even the greatest of men, Desi. But take it for what it is. You’re a crook, a thief, and a gambler. You were running a farce with Chastity. You were pretending to be a different person than who you really are. Focus on the goals here. Another six months, and we can retire and live in a mansion on the beach in some other country. Chastity wouldn’t fit in with that. That’s the difference. She would have left you the moment you told her the truth.”
“The truth?” Desi whispered.
“Yeah, that you kill government agents who interfere with drug smuggling operations for our mob boss, Jose Ferguson. You infiltrate high security areas, investigate individuals to find their weaknesses, and then move in for the kill. It’s our lives. So forget about that fairy-tale ending with Chastity. The moment the woman finds out about who you really are, that you kill people for a living, she’ll hate you, and then you’ll have to kill her.” Luke popped a piece of gum into his mouth as he leaned against the couch.
Desi stared at him in anger and disbelief. Desi wanted Chastity in his bed. He wanted her beside him as he took her to the finest restaurants and catered to her every whim. He’
d fucked up, and his splitting headache was a reminder about drinking too much and about losing everyone and everything that meant something to him.