Conceited (Crimson Elite 3)

I look back up to him. “And when did you say you met him? What night exactly?”

He smiles then stands. “That can be saved for our next night out.”

“This is important, Tom.” He shrugs on his jacket and hits me with a smile that I’m sure melts many panties, except mine. It makes me dry up like a prune and want to die.

“If it’s that important, come to mine in two nights. I’ll have a driver pick you up at your work.” He walks off leaving me sitting there. I run through what this man could possibly look like in my head, and I can’t put a face to it. The way he described him, it was as if he was transfixed by him. What other man, who isn’t as famous as him, could do that? Considering how up himself Tom is to begin with.

We all want what we can’t have, I guess.

And Tom didn’t get what he wanted. Something stopped him and now he’s out for revenge. I look back to the email again and press forward. If my boss still thinks I should be working on this case after these emails, I may just quit.

Probably not, but the thought is nice.11Falcon“Is she still pursuing him, Falcon?” Darby asks as we all sit at Creed’s while the women hover around the baby.

“You said I could handle it.”

He shakes his head. “This has not been handled. I’ve just taken control of one matter in regards to this. Shall I take control of this one, too?”

Both Creed and Echo stay silent as they wait for us to finish talking. It’s not that we are afraid of D, we aren’t. It’s that he doesn’t just have connections everywhere you could possibly think of. He’s also smart, smarter than most of us. Where Echo beats him in technology, D outsmarts him in almost everything else. So, you have to watch what you say around him because he takes and thrives on it, making it his own. Each and every word he remembers, almost like he has a photographic memory.

“You won’t, I forbid you.”

Creed sits up higher as D’s eyes don’t move from me. “You forbid me? To what? Handle a situation you’ve clearly fucked up?”

“She doesn’t know anything. All she knows is hearsay.”

“And Creed, how do we deal with hearsay?”

I look to Creed who’s watching us both intently, ready to break anything up that may happen.

“We get rid of the problem.”

Darby nods his head as he looks back to me. “You see, you know the rules. You want to destroy it all?”

“That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Are you sure, Falcon? It seems you don’t care if we’re exposed, and our business ruined. What about Creed who’s just had a baby? Do you plan to provide for him once you fuck up our business?” I look over at Creed but he doesn’t say anything, he hardly ever does. He just waits and watches and will intervene if he must.

Echo, on the other hand, stands up shaking his head. “Too fucking far. Falcon wouldn’t do that. He loves that place second to you.”

“He’s right.” I do. The other two don’t love what we do as much as Darby and me. We live and breathe our work. Echo takes long ass holidays, Creed always looks like he wants to be anywhere else but there.

“Well, start proving it, and fix your mess.”

“I am.”

He leans forward on his knees. “Are you, though? Or are you still in fantasy land?”

“I’m fixing it, and only I shall do the fixing as well.”

“Let’s hope that to be true then.”

Just as he finishes talking, Storm walks out holding the baby in her arms. She walks straight over to Echo and sits next to him.

“Don’t go getting any ideas, woman.”

Storm laughs at him and kisses the top of baby Annabelle’s head. “But isn’t she just so damn cute.”

Echo leans over and pulls the blanket from the baby’s face.

“She is, considering she’s related to Creed,” Echo jokes, making Creed shake his head. Echo thought he could keep his relationship with Storm to strictly sex. It didn’t really play out that way for him because his feelings grew, and he understood that his love before her wasn’t really love, she was merely an in-between. Now, I couldn’t imagine them not together. They fit so perfectly, even considering she’s ten times too hot for him. I mean, all that spectacular red hair.

Elicea walks out holding a few bottles of beer, handing each of us one before Creed pulls her down to him, and kisses her cheek making her blush. She pulls her shirt down, covering her belly, and walks off again before returning with a bottle for the baby and taking her from Storm.

“What were you talking about?” Storm asks looking around the room. Echo slides his hand on her leg as we wait for someone to answer. No one does. So, I do.