Page 75 of Burn the World Down

“We found five others over the last four years,” Bastian said, his tone somber.

“Oh, God.” I dropped back into the chair. Nash shifted and knelt beside me. He grabbed my limp hand in his.

“Georgie—”

“We have to stop him,” I whispered furiously. “We can’t just keep waiting.” Resolve filled me. “Hehasto be stopped.”

Nash nodded. “He does.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath, trying to get a handle on my roiling emotions.

“We’ll all comb through the intel we have,” Bastian said. “We need to find a way to get to Snyder and his men. Somewhere where we can take them down safely, without any collateral damage.”

I swallowed. Nash pushed the laptop toward me.

“I’m also scouring his financials.” Bastian’s smile was scary. “I’m going to start dismantling his businesses.”

I suspected having Bastian as an enemy was not a good thing. I made myself focus on the laptop and pored over the information. When I saw just how much money Snyder made, I felt sick. There were more pictures of him, at parties and events with celebrities and local personalities. Hell, in one he was winning some kind of local award.

He didn’t have a care in the world.

My jaw tightened.

Nash’s hand pressed to the back of my neck and squeezed. “Relax.”

“It’s hard when I see this…evil man living the high life, making all this money, and doing whatever he wants, no matter who he hurts. Do you know that he ran another club out of business?” I stabbed a finger at the information on the screen. “All because they opened up a block away from his club.”

Nash watched me steadily.

“And one family-run supplier tried to sue him for shortchanging their payments, but he forced them into bankruptcy. He’s rotten to the core.”

Nash’s fingers rubbed soothingly. “I told you, we’re going to stop him. Soon, he won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

Bastian called him over. With a nod, Nash moved to the other end of the table. I watched the pair of them. Elegant, stylish Bastian and rough, tough Nash. I focused on him. The blue light from the screens highlighted the dips and planes of his face.

Knowing I had him on my side made everything better.

Don’t get attached, Georgie.

He’d walked away from me once before, and he had a good life here in Vegas.

I sucked in a breath. I knew that life could change in an instant. I knew how it felt to have the people you loved, on whom you depended, wrenched away.

God. I swallowed. I could so, so easily fall for him.

And if he left or was taken away, it would be a loss I wouldn’t survive. My heart was already cracked and held together by delicate threads.

I wasn’t sure I could handle any more heartache and loss.

I focused back on the laptop, but the screen was just a blur. I needed my full attention on Dean Snyder.

Some information caught my gaze. “It says here Snyder is having a special event at his club tonight. Supposedly raisingmoney for charity.” I rolled my eyes. “There’s going to be a special performance by Shandy.” I looked up at them. “We’ve got to go. We’ve got to protect her.”

The men traded a glance.

Nash nodded his head. “We might be able to find out more information. Talk to some of the staff. Find out more about Snyder’s movements.”

Bastian crossed his arms and nodded. “It’s not a bad idea. I’d like to see Snyder up close and personal, myself.”