“Everything okay?” he asks.
“Yep.”
From where I’m standing, I have a perfect view of the water, another perk to owning this building.
“You sure? Because you’ve been coming out here a lot.” That makes me pull my gaze away from the boat I’m currently staring at and turn to look at Gideon.
He’s only standing a few feet away, but I can still see the way he stares at me. His brows are knit together, and his mouth forms a straight line. The look he’s giving me translates to I think you’re losing your mind.
“I’m cool. Just needed to think.”
Now his damn eyes are narrowing. Yep, he’s not buying what I’m selling. This is the problem with letting people in. They get to know you and know when you are full of shit.
“About the fact that you scared Skye Matthews to run from the office.”
I move from where I’m standing at the edge of the building, stepping away from the railing and stepping closer to where he is.
“That never happened,” I respond, playing it cool like I have no idea what he’s talking about.
“I have security footage to prove it did.”
Fucker.
This time, it’s me who glares at him. “Shut up.”
“You’re being a douche, you know?”
Pulling out my gun from behind my back, I cock it and point it at him. “Don’t mistake that I won’t kill you due to our friendship.” I smile. The kind of smile that a crazy-ass villain from a comic book would give.
He lets out a chuckle, clearly enjoying this. “You won’t.”
“And how do you know that?”
“You want out too much. You kill me and—”
“I’ll still be out.” I smirk.
“Yes, but you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if kids start dying from ‘hot shots’ of coke.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah, unfortunately, you’re right.”
Gideon’s mouth curves into a large smile. “Don’t you hate that?”
Tipping my head up, I let the sun warm my face. Despite what people might think, I hate being this man. One day, I’ll be out, and then I can repent for all my sins, but until that day, I just have to grin and bear it. “I really do.” We both go quiet for a second, the air heavy with regrets. A cloud passes above me, bright streams of light poking through. I study it for a moment before lowering my gaze back to him.
I hadn’t noticed it before, but he looks beat. Occupational hazard of working for a bastard like me. Sure, there are perks—lots of money, respect, and being able to look at my face every day, but there is also the good chance you could be shot at, a bomb could detonate when you got into your car, or a rival gang could steal your drugs. Which reminds me . . .
“Everything okay with the shipment?”
“All is as it should be,” he responds.
“Good.”
He nods, but it’s the way he furrows his forehead that has me inclining my head. “Gideon.”
“Yeah?”
“Despite what it looks like, if you have a problem . . .” I trail off, letting him fill in the blanks. I hate this sentimental shit.
“Yeah. I know.” He hates it, too.
“Good. What else do we need to do so you can cut ties and kill Felix?”
“We need a plan. Any way you can get Skye to help?” he asks, and I chuckle.
“Seeing as she just stormed out of the building because of something I did, I’m going to say no.”
“Hey, you never know, she might like it rough.” He grins and lifts his brow.
For reasons I don’t want to micromanage at this moment, my hands have formed into fists as I grit out, “Fuck off.”
I shouldn’t want her. Yet . . .
“I see I hit a nerve.” Again with the fucking laugh. This man has a death wish.
“I said fuck off.” I step into him and grab the collar of his shirt. “I can throw you off that roof.”
“I thought we established it’s not a good plan to kill me.”
My hands tighten around his neck before dropping him. “Fine.”
Gideon steps back and then walks toward the railing, looking off into the distance.
“What’s going on with Florida?” he asks, still staring at the water.
“As soon as I get word from Emil that he’s back in town, we’ll fly in to meet him.”
“You going to bring Skye?”
I fold my arms across my chest and then nod. “Yeah. But not to the meeting. I’m not sure if I can trust her yet.”
His head bobs in agreement. “You still think she’s in league with Felix?”
“Why else would she be working with him?”
Unless there is more to her than she lets on?
“Maybe, like you, she blames him for the destruction and death he brings to all those around him.”
That’s one option I’ve been considering, but who the fuck knows with this girl.
“One can hope. But only time will tell.” I shrug.
“And if you find out she is?” He moves away from the edge of the building and starts to walk back toward where I’m standing. Once he’s standing in front of me, I allow my lip to tip up.
“I’ll do what I need to do.” There is nothing nice about the smile I give him. This isn’t a happy smile. This is menacing and evil.
“And that is?” he probes.
“Use her to take him down.”
“And her?”
“What about her? I’m not a fucking animal. No women. No children.”
The motto I have always lived by.
20
Skye
After Tobias’s attitude, I don’t bother to go into the office today. I didn’t go in yesterday, either. Hell, I might just take off the whole week. A large smile spreads across my face at the thought of the way he must be fuming over my absence.
Or maybe he didn’t even notice? I sure as hell hoped he did. Because that man can go fuck himself.
He’s like a goddamn light switch, and I have no clue who turned him off. One minute, he was shining bright, and then bam, darkness.
What did I say to him to set him off? I try to scour my brain, but I’ve got nothing.
So instead of subjecting myself to the abuse again, I opt to say screw it and not go in.
There is no need to deal with his PMS. There are more important things in my life than a moody criminal.
For example, I still haven’t figured out if I’m being overdramatic about the whole Dad thing.
The picture I took of the bill is now printed up and sitting on my desk in front of me. No matter how many times I look at it, I still have no clue what I’m looking at.
A sequence of numbers is all that’s on this paper. At first glance, it looks like a billing sheet for insurance.
Unfortunately, my father isn’t the neatest man because not only was the piece of paper crumpled, but it also had a giant coffee stain on it and a tear down the side, which means my picture sucks.
What do these numbers mean? And as for the text, only a piece of a word on the heading is clear.
St. and then there is another letter, it looks like half the letter J.