Page 70 of Vicious Seduction
“My pleasure.”
The pleasure would be all mine.
I hung up, powered off my phone, and walked away from Oran Byrne for good.
CHAPTER 36
ORAN
“I regretto inform you that your membership with us at Olympus has been revoked. All payments received will be refunded as the trial period was not successful.” The aloof man on the other end of the phone was almost comical in his attempt to sound cavalier. Someone named Phillips had called out of the blue to tell me I’d been kicked out of Olympus.
“Trial period?” I’d never been told about a trial period. And why the hell was I being evicted? Not that I cared. I’d already achieved what I needed from my time at the club. In fact, the final stage of my plan had been set into motion that very morning. News channels were already starting to report on the container ship wedged in the Panama Canal, shuttingdown half the world’s cargo ships, and the news that the New York district attorney had filed a dozen different criminal charges against Lawrence Wellington. Just wait until tonight when traffickers would be busted on one of his ships while yet another sprang a leak in the Gulf of Mexico. It was going to be a very,verybad day for Larry.
“Yes. That should have been explained to you upon signing the membership agreement. All memberships are subject to a ninety-day probationary period in which member fitness is assessed. It has been determined that Olympus is not the ideal organization for you. Naturally, that means the arranged meeting for this evening at seven with you and the future Mrs. Byrne has been canceled.”
Meeting? I had no fucking clue what was going on, but I didn’t want this dickhead to know that.
“Naturally,” I repeated flatly. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Your cordial acceptance is appreciated. Goodbye.”
I let out a wry huff of laughter when the line went dead. “Asshole.” He probably expected me to put up a fight. Like I gave a fuck.
The only thing I wanted to know was what meeting. And he’d specifically mentioned Lina, which made me think it must have been something she’d set up. Why would she arrange a meeting at the club and not tell me? Was whatever she’d done the reason my membership was revoked?
Fuck. I needed to know what happened.
I got out my phone and discovered I’d missed a call from her. I called her back but was sent immediately to voicemail as if she were on another call … or the phone had been turned off.
I opened my GPS app and verified that Lina’s location wasn’t available. Why would her phone be off?
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew I didn’t like it. Something was wrong. I made it home in record time, calling out Lina’s name as I walked around looking for signs of her. When I got back to my office, I saw that the hidden door had been shut. It had been open when I left that morning. I punched in the code and opened it just to be sure she hadn’t somehow locked herself in. She hadn’t, but she’d definitely been in there. The ring I’d given her sat on top of a photo clipping of me and Caitlin.
Fuck me. What have I done?
My pride had goaded me to test her, but I’d unveiled my own deception in the process. I had completely forgotten about the photo showing me with my wife. It had been mixed in with all the other papers, but Lina had clearly found it and figured out I was still married. And just when she’d started to open up.
I snatched the ring into my fist, then flung everything off the desk in a fit of rage.
What a goddamn hypocrite I’d been throwing a stupid fucking tantrum about her keeping secrets. I’d convinced her to trust me in the most intimate way possible, then shredded that trust in a matter of hours. Why the hell hadn’t I told her the truth?
I had to fix this.Now.
I took out my phone to call Conner as I charged back out of my apartment.
“Yeah?”
“Everything in place to release the pictures taken of the girl from Wellington’s attic?” I hated to use her, but she was already back in Russia getting top-notch services to help her recover physically and mentally. We made sure she was taken care of, and I needed the images to smear the last remnants of Wellington’s reputation.
“Yeah, they’re set to be delivered anonymously to theTimestomorrow. I’ve also managed to get the FBI to revoke his travel credentials.”
“No shit? That came through?”
“Yeah, but you don’t want to know what I had to give them in return.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” I had too much other shit to worry about. That could wait.
“Whispers of a fire sale are already circulating through our SEC channels for AIS Shipping, and Blackthorn stock is plummeting as we speak.”