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As the business had expanded, they’d added extra installers, bodyguards, and electricians, but she’d never said a word about needing new techs to keep up with the load on her end. Knowing Larissa and her workaholic tendencies—plus her general distrustful nature—she preferred to do it herself or let Nina handle it. But perhaps it was time to add more people to the cyber security team.

“Once this is all over, let’s talk to the others about hiring some techs.”

As expected, irritation pinched the corners of her eyes. Momma bear was protective of her territory. “Nina and I can handle it.”

“I know you can. But wouldn’t it make sense to hire a few people to take care of the easy shit like background checks and simple installs so you and Nina can focus on the important stuff?”

“I suppose.” But she sure as hell didn’t sound happy about it.

“Good. I’ll bring it up at the next meeting.” After typing a quick note into his phone, he turned his attention back to the monitor. “So these transactions are with one of Aranza’s bank accounts?”

She nodded. “Aranza’s bank made a series of deposits to a numbered account in Singapore from February to July. Same day of the week, same time of the day, same amount.”

“How much?” Dorcas asked.

“Each transaction is for a quarter million.”

Nate let out a low whistle. Unfortunately, the ledgers only showed numbers, which meant there was no way to determine what the payments were for. Considering they came from Aranza, they most likely were associated with the drug trade. “Who owns the Singapore account?”

“Beats me, but I plan to find out. And no, I don’t have a timetable.” She set the flash drive on the desk. “I disabled the password so you can access the files. I also loaded a copy onto the cloud. Maybe Rita can take a look and see if she can make sense of the other spreadsheets.”

“Thanks.” He tucked the drive in his pocket and then turned to Dorcas and Rita. “Could y’all give us a moment? There’s something we need to discuss and it’s...you know...”

“I understand.” Dorcas released her grip of his hand as she stood, and he immediately missed the connection. Rita stood as well and walked to the open door. “If you need us, we’ll be in Nina’s office.”

Nate didn’t budge from his seat until he heard Nina’s voice say, “Hey! I didn’t know you were here.” Then he got up, closed the door, and sank back into his chair. “Rita got herself into some really deep shit.”

“It looks that way.”

“Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand along the back of his neck. He didn’t mind talking about this in front of Dorcas, but Rita was an unknown to him, and he didn’t feel comfortable bringing her into sensitive family business. “Does Wade know about the Aranza connection?”

“Not yet. I didn’t want to say anything until I had more information.” Stress lined her forehead and the edges of her eyes as she tucked a loose strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “If we tell him, he’ll go after him.”

“I know.” The thought of Wade going after Aranza made Nate’s blood run cold. He understood his brother’s need for vengeance. And he knew his brother had skills. But Christ, considering what the bastard had done to Wade last time, he wasn’t sure Wade would be able to take the guy down. “We’ll tell him tomorrow. Until then, keep digging, and let me know what you find.”

Chapter 19