Page 31 of Dirty Little Secrets
XAIDEN
T he next day, the city’s skyline cuts through the window like blades of glass, sharp and uncaring. Back in my office, everything feels too quiet. Too still.
I stand with my back to the view, swirling a glass of scotch in my hand, letting the ice melt against my palm.
The essence of blood still lingers in the back of my throat.
Górski’s cousin bled out fast, but not before I saw fear in his eyes.
It wasn’t the kill that stayed with me. It was her and the way she didn’t look away.
The door opens behind me without a knock. Mike closes it with a quiet click and tosses a manila folder onto my desk. “Flight manifest. Warehouse records. Shipments in and out for the last thirty days. I triple-checked it.”
“And?” I ask, turning.
He shrugs, but it’s tight. Controlled. “Polish shipment was cleared. Manifest was clean. But the driver was switched two hours before pickup. Someone swapped him out on Tomasz’s payroll but no one knows who.”
I nod once. “So it wasn’t a random hit.”
“No.” Mike steps forward and leans against the edge of the desk. “It was a message.”
“This isn’t going to be the first.”
“Yup.”
I don’t respond right away. I drain the rest of the scotch and place the glass on the bar cart with a soft clink. Mike watches me like he’s been waiting for something maybe not the Polish angle. Maybe something else.
“You think it was the Bratva?” he asks.
“Too subtle. Bratva likes bodies in trunks and letters carved into skin.”
“Then who?” he presses.
I pace once, twice. Then I stop, staring at the framed blueprint of Drazen Enterprises on the wall. My name’s on the top of that building. And someone’s trying to make sure I bleed for it.
“It’s someone who knows I’m expanding,” I say. “Who knows what I’m building under.”
“And who knew where that shipment was routed through.”
“Which means we’ve got a leak,” I finish.
He nods slowly. “You think it’s someone inside?”
My jaw ticks.
It has to be.
And I’ve got my suspicions but they don’t come with proof yet.
And Landon? That bastard’s name itches like gunpowder under my skin.
But I can’t act until I’m sure. He’s the only one that was with me the first meeting and some others.
He doesn’t have the balls to kill but he does have the balls to steal and betray.
Mike’s quiet for a beat, then glances at the hallway—toward the outer office.
“You brought her with you,” he says casually, but his voice is loaded.
“She was with me in Chicago, yes.”
“You took Nori to the penthouse to meet with the Polish Mod,” he grits. “Are you crazy?”
I meet his eyes, unmoving. “It wasn’t a vacation.”
“She saw you put a bullet through a man’s skull.”
“She handled it.”
He gives a low whistle. “She isn’t running to the cops so that’s a good sign . ”
“Obviously.”
He studies me. “But do you though?”
I exhale through my nose and sit at my desk, every muscle tight. “Drop it.”
But he doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t.
“Xaiden, I’ve seen you with a hundred women. Most of them forgettable. But I’ve never seen you throw a man into a wall for touching one’s arm, let alone a bullet through their head.”
I don’t reply. I’m sure Bash filled him in.
He leans forward, eyes sharp. “You’re not thinking straight. That’s not good. Not with this many eyes on you.”
“I’m thinking clearly.”
“Are you?” he presses. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’d burn cities for her, and you don’t even know why.”
My hands curl into fists against the wood.
“You want her,” he presses. “Admit it.”
I stare at the desk. Smooth. Cold.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“She’s my fucking secretary, Mike.”
“She’s not just anything to you.”
Silence stretches. Then he straightens, running a hand through his hair. “You want my advice?”
“No.”
“You’re getting it anyway.” He smirks, but there’s no heat behind it. “Either push her away and mean it or protect her like she’s already yours. Because if these people find your weakness?” He looks toward the door again. “They’ll use her to bleed you out. And it won’t end well.”