Page 77 of Red Retaliation

“Brilliant! Confirm it with the hotel.” I flick through the desk diary. “It’s short notice, granted, but that’s fine. The sooner Slater’s dealt with, the better.”And it’s just the tonic I need to concentrate my frustration on.

As Oscar leaves the office to call the hotel, Liam eyes me suspiciously. “Where have you been? Del said ‘wifey’ was giving you grief, but you look like you just got up!”

I self-consciously smooth my hair.Shit. I should invest in a mirror. Why did Del mention anything? I know he has concerns about Arianna, but those concerns are irrelevant. My head is straight on that front now, so Liam having digs won’t work. “Arianna has a problem with how I dealt with her father, and she also doesn’t like that our ‘friend’, Harry Taylor, was dispatched. However, I’ve put her straight on both those scores.”

“You told her?” Liam frowns. “About Taylor?”

“Of course not!” I snap. “She read the newspaper and drew her own conclusions. I admitted nothing, and neither will I. Now, onto Friday’s event...”

Oscar returns to the office. “Hotel’s booked and confirmed. I’ve sent Del and Keith to inform the second-tier staff, but...” Sitting down, he pushes an envelope across the desk. “You need to see this. It was hand-delivered today.”

“What is it?” I take the envelope, seeing just one word on the front:

Bateman? Which one? If it was for me, that’s fairly irrelevant, being as my brothers have clearly already read it. With a crawling sensation creeping up my spine, I pull the notepaper from the envelope.

Anger spikes. I look at my brothers, my jaw clenching.

“No guesses who that’s from, eh?” Liam growls.

I turn back to the note and frown. “You said this was hand delivered? Who by? Edoardo Bristoni sent a ‘goon’ of his own before, being as the Muppet killed Steve instead of one of us, so further retaliation is expected, but this isn’t the way I thought he’d play it.”

“It was left at the casino reception,” Oscar shrugs.

“Surely Viv noticed who walked in and handed over a fucking letter?”

“She’d nipped to the bog,” Liam explains. “No one can expect the woman to sit there all day without taking a piss!”

“If there’s no one to cover, Idoexpect that!” I bark. “Has anyone had the foresight to check the CCTV? It’ll be simple to see exactly who delivered this bullshit.”

Oscar looks down guiltily. “The tape ran out. It didn’t record.”

My hands clench and unclench under the desk. “For fuck’s sake!”

“Are you saying you don’t think Bristoni’s behind this?” Liam raises an eyebrow. “Who else can it be?”

“It doesn’t fit with what I’d expect from him, but that doesn’t mean it’s not him.”

“I can’t see who else it could be.” Oscar frowns. “What happened to Steve isn’t public knowledge.”

“No, it’s not,” I agree, my mind ticking over. “The only people who know are within the firm or...”

“Steve’s fucking brothers!” Liam roars.

“It’s not them.” I know Joe Farrow is mightily pissed off with me and lays the blame for Steve’s death at my door, but I don’t believe he’s pulledsomething like this.

However, that’s preferable to the other embryonic theory growing inside me. And that’s one I need to immediately ignore. This shit is making me paranoid.

CHAPTER

55

Arianna

IPRAY I GET OUT OF THIS corridor before anyone sees me. I must get outside, even if it’s just for a minute. My lips remain swollen from the savagery of Red’s kiss; a kiss that made me lose my reason. My hair looks like a bird’s nest, and my cheeks are still colored with both humiliation and the raging lust which provoked me to act like a madwoman, so if anyone sees me like this, they’ll know.

I continue down the corridor. There must be a way out of here. Perhaps that fire door to the car park? I’m desperate for fresh air. I need to breathe something other than the scent of Red Bateman.

I skitter along the corridor, my senses on full alert for any staff, or worse - Red’s brothers. If they oranyonesees me, it will be obvious to everyone with eyes and a brain that we haven’t stuck to the agreement. Or rather, muddied it...