Page 208 of Dirty Rival

It’s exactly as I expected. Elijah couldn’t turn anyone against me so he used me against myself. “Where are Mick and Tabitha now?”

“Mick seems settled in his hotel room,” Blake says. “There’s no flight booked for him or Tabitha.”

“What else do I need to know?” I ask, again cutting through any chit-chat. I need to move on. I need to take action.

Blake studies me a moment. “It depends on what you’re going to do.”

“I need the audio between us and Tabitha,” I counter, ignoring his intended question.

He reaches in his pocket and hands me a small recorder. “It’s loaded.”

“And the calls between Mick and Tabitha?” I ask.

“Also on there,” he says. “What’s your move?” he presses, swinging back to my avoidance which is more calculation and me processing as we talk.

“What about the proof of those offshore accounts?”

He reaches in his pocket and hands me a drive. I accept it. “Where’s Elijah right now?”

“At his office,” Blake says.

“Then I’m going to his office,” I say, looking at Gabe. “Protect Carrie. She’ll be protecting everyone else, including me.”

“Count on it,” he assures me. “I assume the merger will leak and we’ll deal with it at the press conference.” He doesn’t wait for confirmation. “Carrie and I will handle what needs to be handled. You just make that little prick gone.”

“I’ll ride shotgun and stay close,” Blake says. “But I go back to: What’s your end game? What’s the plan?”

“To end this and do it now, today, before that press conference,” I reply. “And Elijah is going to decide what that means.”

Blake narrows his eyes on me, no doubt looking for things that don’t exist: erratic anger and desperation. I’m focused. I’m driven. I’m done with Elijah and Elijah is about to find that out.

Thirty minutes later, Blake has gotten me past the hell of the press at our apartment and assured me he’ll keep them away from Carrie. Another thirty minutes later, and I’m inside the building that houses Elijah’s corporate offices, where life is calm because he sent the hell to my life, my future wife, my family, and my company.

Leaving Blake in the lobby of the building, I ride to Elijah’s floor and walk into his lobby to stop at the reception desk. “Where’s Elijah?”

“Can I tell him who’s here?” the young blonde behind the desk asks.

“No, you cannot,” I say, cutting right and starting to walk, pausing by a passing woman. “Which way is Elijah’s office? I’m in a rush to get him a stock tip he needs.”

“Of course,” the woman says, pointing down another hallway.

“Sir!” the receptionist calls after me, her voice nearing as she obviously tries to follow me.

I start walking and I keep walking until I’m entering a new lobby that leads to an overstated arched wood door that I assume is the entrance to Elijah’s office. The woman at the desk guarding his door frowns at me. “Can I help you, sir?”

“No,” I say. “But Elijah can.” I close the space between me and her and she stands up, but I pass her by, walk right through his doorway and find him standing at a floor-to-ceiling window. I shut the door and lock it. He turns to face me. “Thanks for the invitation to visit, Elijah, because that’s what that bullshit you pulled with the press was, wasn’t it? An invitation for more of me. Because that’s what you got. More of me. Right here, right now. Let’s do this.”

Elijah smirks. “Yes. Let’s do this.”

Chapter one hundred seven

Reid

Icross the office and stop in front of Elijah’s desk. We stand there, both of us rigid, hands at our sides, staring at each other. “I know you’re behind the bad press this morning.”

His eyes burn into mine and he leans forward, pressing his hands on the desk. “How many times did you fuck my wife?”

I could say about ten things to piss him off right now, but ultimately this isn’t about a woman or he would have come at me years ago. This is about the money and the buy-in that he lost. I know this now. I understand it. He lost money. He blames me. Right now, I have to get him to a place where he knows that’s not the case. I pull the recorder out of my pocket, set it on the desk, and then do what I would never do if I was trying to intimidate him. I sit down in a chair before I punch play.