Page 20 of Mile High Baby

Ian turned his head toward me, and in his eyes, I saw he was thinking the same thing. "No matter where he is, George Pitney has tentacles to reach anyone, anywhere. I was told that he's been offered witness protection, him and his daughter, but—”

"He's got a conglomerate to run." I knew Henry well enough to know he wouldn't abandon the family business. But I wondered if maybe Victoria would be open to witness protection. The minute I thought it, I dismissed it. She and her father were clearly close, and it wasn't likely she would want to commit to never speaking to him again by going into hiding.

"Can you send this all to me? I'll go through it more thoroughly. Do we have really good investigators here?"

"We all are—”

"I mean in the field. Like undercover. We need to put Pitney away on something more serious than fraud. We need to make it impossible for him to manage his corrupt empire from prison."

"We have a few here, but you'll need to talk to Elliott."

I nodded. "Thanks, Ian." I stood, giving him a pat on the shoulder. I still didn't like him very much, but he appeared to be solid in his work.

Ian stood and picked up Victoria’s phone. "I'll take this over to the tech guys and see what they can figure out about that text."

"Thanks. I'm going to see Elliott."

Elliott had a private office because he was the manager. I knocked on his door, and when I heard the gruff “Enter,” I opened it. He waved me in, and I sat in the chair in front of his desk.

Technically, since we both managed offices, we were peers, but I was in New York, his territory, so I needed to defer to him. I laid out the situation, adding information about the text and an overview of what Ian had found.

Elliott shook his head. "You know, the safest bet for your friend is to walk away from all this."

"I know. And believe me, I'm going to make a very convincing argument that he does just that. But I know Henry. He’s not going to back down."

"Even if it costs him his life?"

That thought landed in my belly like a lead weight. "Even if." Henry was playing a dangerous game. He wasn’t just risking his life, but Victoria’s as well, which he knew. He was putting his trust in me to keep her safe. So along with trying to keep my hands off her, I had the weight of keeping her alive. I wasn’t sure how I would live with myself if I fucked up either of those things.

8

Victoria

Alex wasn't the first jerk I'd ever been with, but he was definitely the worst. He was the king of assholes. I wished I’d never allowed myself to be lured by him on the airplane. If I’d ignored him, I wouldn't feel like such a monumental fool right now.

Alone in the conference room, I realized I had bigger problems than Alex Sterling. The way the men here at Saint Security were acting about George Pitney made me realize that my father was in some serious trouble. And the text I received today suggested that I was in it now as well.

I wondered if my father was texting or calling me. In some ways, I was glad that Ian had taken my phone so I didn't have to know how upset my father was that I snuck out of the house. Hopefully, he would feel reassured to know that I was at Saint Security with Alex. I scoffed. If my father knew what I’d done with Alex, he wouldn’t feel reassured. How in the heck had my father become friends with such a misogynistic jerk douchewad like Alex Sterling?

The door opened, and Ian walked in carrying a bag. "Sandwiches have arrived." He set the bag on the table and emptied the contents.

I moved from the window I’d been staring mindlessly out of and sat down, taking the sandwich he passed to me.

"Do you mind if I join you for a few minutes?"

"Sure. Go ahead.” Better him than Alex.

He sat across from me, pulling out a bag of chips and sliding it across the table. "I wasn't sure what kind of chips you wanted, so I just got the regular."

"Regular’s fine."

“I got you water too.” He pushed a bottle of water toward me. He opened his chips and began putting them on his sandwich. "I know it's childish, but I love it."

I smiled as I lifted my sandwich to take a bite. "The enjoyment of food is never childish."

He flashed me a grin around a mouthful of chip-laden sandwich. It occurred to me that if I wanted information about Alex, Ian might be a good person to ask.

I took a sip from the bottle of water and then asked, "So, do you think I’ll be safe with Alex as my bodyguard?"