Illusion (Billionaire in Disguise 2)

But instead of disabling his company cards, I put them under review.

If that bastard made a move monetarily, I wanted to know about it. If he tried to swipe the company card for anything, I wanted that information sent right to Sam. I wanted to catch this son of a bitch and make him pay for what he had done to me. To us. To her.

Oh, I wanted to drown that man for what he had done to Sam.

I got notifications about everything. Paychecks that were paid and accounts ordering materials necessary for the projects that still trusted us to go forward. Investors contributing funds and receiving funds from projects who were now backing out of the loop. But there were no transactions that seemed weird or funny.

And there was no activity on his company card.

“Perimeter’s secure.”

Sam’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as I turned her way.

“I’ve got men posted at equidistant intervals all around your property,” she said. “I’ve also got them identifying and flagging everyone who wants access to your compound. Even if it’s a family member of some sort.”

“‘Equidistant.’ How grown up,” I said. “You think Jacob will come after me? Or you?”

“Now that he has nothing to lose, it’s what I’m afraid of, yes. It’s a good possibility, especially given the financial restraints you’ve put on him. Since your stock is plummeting, it’s eaten up about half of his 401(k). The rest he can’t touch because he can’t cash it in. All his personal and professional accounts have been frozen. He’ll get desperate in a hurry.”

“Good thing I left his company card open, then,” I said.

“We’ve got it constantly tracked, yes. But even with all this in play, I’m not worried. My team can handle someone like him. We’ve handled much worse and come out on top.”

“I can only imagine,” I said as I took the last sip of my drink.

“Bourbon tasting good today?” she asked.

“Especially good today. But it doesn’t erase my shock at all this.”

“Wouldn’t expect it to.”

“How the hell did I not see this? How did I not see that Jacob felt this way? We were around one another all the time. Or at least as much as two friends and colleagues were. Fuck, Sam. None of this makes any sense.”

“You’re not the only one thinking it,” she said as she stepped in front of me. “Trust me.”

“I mean, if he felt that way, then why go through all this? Why not just go to another damn company he could take over or whatever? Or create his own? Jacob’s a smart man. Very smart. He could’ve easily done it.”

“I’ve seen a lot of strange and hateful things in my line of work.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Without breaking any of my confidential agreements with prior clients, one prime example comes to mind. A woman hired me to protect her and her children from someone she felt was taunting her. Mysterious phone calls. Tapping into her children’s baby monitors and whispering to them at night. Really shitty stuff.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Things escalated. One of the children got taken hostage by the man. It was one of the men she’d had an affair with. He was convinced one of her children was really his and not her husband’s.”

“What happened to the child?”

“John saved her. I took the man out with a long-range sniper rifle. The husband filed for divorce immediately after that and tossed both her and her kids out into the cold. Her infidelity compromised the prenuptial agreement she had signed. That entire ordeal convinced him that none of those kids were his when every single one of them was his. Him dwelling on it turned him into a man who kicked his own kids to the street.”

“What a piece of shit,” I said. “Even if she did cheat. What a piece of shit.”

“It’s why I’m telling you not to dwell on this. Dwelling on it is only going to make things worse for you. I can protect you from outside forces, but I can’t protect you from yourself. You can’t let this get to you. You’ve got to find a way to rise above it.”

“And how do you ‘rise above it’?” I asked.

“Some days I work out. Can’t do that right now with my arm, so reading helps. I find anything I can. Anything that helps to relieve the stress. It would’ve killed me a long time ago had I not found a way to deal with it.”