Page 33

CHAPTER 32

J essica

There was nothing wrong with being wicked. Was there?

“Hey, Stephanie. How tight are you with that detective you said you once dated?”

She laughed. “Oh, girl. Tighter than ever. He came to my house with flowers. Can you believe that? Some men are romantics at heart.”

I laughed softly, the evil side of me smiling from the inside out. “That’s so good to hear because I need a favor.”

“O-kay. What are you plotting?”

“Oh, just some revenge. Are you up for it?”

“Against Xander?” She seemed surprised.

“No. I’m trying to help him. I think only you can do that. Are you willing?”

She purred. “You know I am. What would you like me to do?”

As I told her my plan, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Maybe I was playing a little dangerous game of my own, but what the hell. No risk, no reward. Isn’t that what a man known as Sinner had told me?

I was no good girl.

I’d come to that conclusion and was fine with it. I had more of my father in me than I’d wanted to admit before. At least I’d stopped moping, determined to get everything I wanted.

Vindication was first on my mind.

The job of my dreams was the second.

And the man? Well, the jury was out on that. A slight tremor shifted through me as I stepped onto the pavement. Thoughts of Xander were never far from my mind.

The truth will set you free.

I continued to think about the phrase as I stared down at my iPhone and the GPS application. The truth might free some people of the heavy burdens they carried, but for me, using a few little lies had been necessary and had proven fruitful.

In my naughty act of sleuthing, I’d discovered where Dorn Franklin preferred writing his scathing articles. What I had to say to the asshole couldn’t be said in the office he shared with about four dozen other hacks working on articles for one or ten different magazines. I never knew co-ops existed for writers who couldn’t afford an office of their own, but they did.

Cool idea, but I wasn’t about to walk into the coffee shop to praise him for his choices.

My visit on the slimy day was exactly the opposite.

Rain had started falling before light had crested over the horizon. I’d remained awake most of the night, finally concentrating on the pitter-patter of drops against my window. I used to enjoy the sound. For some reason, the pings had given me chills. My thoughts had drifted far too often to what my father had admitted about Xander, the ache in my heart more painful than almost anything I’d felt in my life.

Almost.

The moment I glanced over my shoulder, a smile crossed my face seeing another vehicle driving in. I could only pray my plan wouldn’t backfire on me.

I hurried to the glass entrance door, prepared to launch into the fucker. Not that anything I had to say would matter. I wasn’t expecting some reversal or an apology. I was going to demand it. Fuck him. I’d done a little sleuthing on the man prior to conning the poor assistant who I’d learned in the conversation handled ten of the pricks all by herself into telling me where Dorn liked to write.

I’d also managed to weasel enough out of her to formulate a dirty plan that might put a fire under him. Of course, that had been after I’d put some pieces together about the man. After all, I was a whiz with a computer. With Stephanie’s help and with the assistance of her detective boyfriend, I had a feeling Dorn’s world would soon be rocked.

What a shame for the poor guy.

And Dorn wasn’t good at hiding his indiscretions. No matter the kind of friends he had, it was all about perception. He’d soon learn he’d fucked with the wrong people.

Plus, it was amazing what Photoshop could do in a pinch. Perhaps I had more of a bad girl inside of me than I’d originally believed.

I certainly wasn’t stupid enough to go to his house, even though the thought had crossed my mind. However, if I’d gone there, I might have replaced my mace with something inflammatory and a lighter, lighting him up like a firecracker.

Or perhaps I’d use Xander’s method with a knife.

No, I wasn’t that kind of person, but thinking the evil thoughts had given me the courage to have a short conversation with the prick.

I strolled into the shop, inhaling the wonderful scent of freshly ground coffee. The location was larger than it appeared outside with various seating arrangements. I found Dorn in the back lounging in a leather chair and taking up too much space for just one person. He truly thought he was something special.

His arm was in a cast, and he’d somehow convinced a young girl to help him, including lifting his coffee cup so he could continue to dictate whatever new and damning article he was working on. What a true pig. While the din of the shop was loud given the number of people enjoying the atmosphere, his deep voice that held a tone of clear arrogance was louder than most.

I plopped down in the seat in front of him, offering a sweet and very plastic smile.

“Hi, there. Do you remember me?” I turned my head toward the girl, giving her a hard look. She seemed surprised. “You need to leave. Mr. Franklin isn’t an invalid no matter what he wants you to think. Plus, if you hang around him long enough, he’ll try and rape you. Save yourself the heartache.”

He jerked up his head, immediately narrowing his eyes.

“Really?” she asked, obviously completely appalled.

“Really,” I told her. A few customers had already turned their heads in our direction.

The girl grabbed her things and scampered away, sputtering as she did so.

“What the fuck do you want?” he hissed. “What are you trying to do?”

“What do I want? Well, a retraction and not just in a gaming magazine that only a percentage of the population reads. A big, splashy display, say in the Chicago Tribune . What I’d like to do and plan on doing is ruining you and your career as you attempted to do to mine.” I leaned over, keeping my sweet smile even as revulsion rolled through me. “And to two highly respected companies. You have been a very bad boy.”

He had no clue what to say, but utter venom flashed in his eyes. At least I sensed he knew I was serious.

“Little girl. You don’t want to fuck with me.”

“You’re right. I’m certain your dick is the size of a peanut. At least from what I could tell the night in the garage when you assaulted me.” I allowed my voice to increase just enough he didn’t like it very much.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re deranged.”

“Yes, I believe I am. Now, that might work to your benefit or exactly the opposite. It’s entirely up to you.” I removed a single photograph from the folder I’d brought in with me.

He barely glanced down, but I could tell I’d made him uncomfortable as hell.

Good.

“What the fuck is this?” he demanded.

“Call it an incentive to write that retraction I mentioned.”

He laughed. “The photograph is doctored.”

“What if it is? I think it depicts exactly what you did to me including the brutal punch you threw. Don’t you? There are many more where this came from.” I leaned in so only he could hear. “When you work with computers all day long, designing games and writing code, you learn a thing or two about Photoshop. Plus, when you obtain surveillance footage of the garage, well… Priceless goodies to use.”

He thought he had me, also leaning in until I gathered a whiff of his stale coffee breath. “Then the footage captured what your boyfriend did to me. I think I’ll have him arrested.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. Just a good man you pushed. See, he doesn’t like men who abuse women. He tends to become… a bit deranged. There’s no telling what he’ll do. Now, I can save you the anguish if you’ll agree to write the article. No harm, no foul.”

Dorn acted as if he was considering my recommendation, repulsing me by leaning so close it was almost as if the man was going to kiss me. “Not a chance in hell, sweetheart. You’re nothing and your little threats mean zero to me.”

I didn’t budge for twenty seconds until I sighed and glanced over my shoulder. The handsome man Stephanie was currently dating came forward. I was impressed. The guy was dressed just like a detective in the police dramas on television. Perfect.

“I also learned some very scandalous things about you, Mr. Franklin, including your affairs with some pretty interesting women, including the wife of the police chief. Isn’t he a good buddy of yours? Now, you may think because of who and what you are that you can hide behind a cloak of protection, but there are still some good people on this earth who will take on a monster like you.”

The detective was suddenly standing right beside us. “Mr. Dorn Franklin, my name is Detective Morgan. I think we have a few things to discuss.”

“Oops,” I breathed, enjoying the horrified look on Dorn’s face. “I think that’s my cue to leave. I’m certain you’ll choose to do the right thing.” I took my time gathering the folder, handing it off to the detective before sauntering from the coffee shop without looking back.

Only when I was outside did I breathe a sigh of relief.

Whatever happened now was completely out of my hands.

Xander

“Have you seen the morning paper?” Zach asked as soon as he bounded into my office.

I glanced up from my computer screen, noticing he had a printed newspaper in his hands and a fucking huge grin on his face. I’d been at the office since before dawn, trying to put a dike in the dam. We were still losing sales fueled by the article Dorn had written. Stocks had dropped to a level we hadn’t seen in almost four years.

Meanwhile, the article had somehow boosted Sindom’s sales instead of hurting them. I’d checked with various contacts, even hassling Christopher in the middle of the night. He’d learned from his sources Sindom was about to make the announcement of the buyout as well as news about the game they were releasing in the upcoming days. The game Merrick had been working on was now in Sindom’s possession.

There were hints Sindom was updating their lineup as well. We had some decent competition for a change.

What disturbed me even more was being unable to discover just how alike Dark Nights would be to their new reality game. It had kept me in a state of rage.

And the need to put a bullet in Dorn’s head. I had a one-track mind when my feathers were ruffled.

“I’ve been a little busy,” I told him.

He smirked as he took long strides toward my desk, flopping the paper down. Whatever he wanted me to see was on the third page of the Chicago Tribune . I glanced down, annoyed by the interruption. Just seeing Dorn Franklin’s byline was enough to boost my fury.

“What the fuck?” I hissed without reading the article.

Zach flopped down in my chair and suddenly, Wilder was standing in my doorway.

“Read the damn thing.”

I lifted my gaze to Wilder and shook my head. “We don’t have time for games.”

“Ha, ha,” Wilder chortled. “No pun intended, of course. Read it. I don’t who got to Dorn, but it would seem the asshole realized the error of his ways.”

“Fine.” I read the article. By the time I finished, I was laughing. “Are you kidding me? He retracted the entire story, even apologizing saying he’d been provided with bad information?” It was rare when any reporter ever retracted an article. The way he’d written it would banish him to being a hack writer, but who knew, he might be able to keep his job.

“I wonder how this happened,” Zach said as he grinned.

“Does it matter?” I asked, although every muscle in my body was tense. Another game of sorts was being played. The question was why?

And by whom?

I had a difficult time keeping an evil grin off my face.

“Perhaps Sam Carter challenged Dorn,” Wilder suggested.

“I doubt it. Sam’s a nice guy and likely scrambling to make this new release and the acquisition work.” Several other discoveries had been made regarding an investigation into Joel’s past. Why the FBI was bothering wasn’t my concern. At least we hadn’t been placed in any crosshairs.

“Then what and whom?” Zach asked.

My grin remained, my thoughts drifting to Christopher all over again. Maybe he was doing the heavy lifting with whoever he was working with. I’d find out on my own. “Let’s just celebrate our good fortune and pay close attention to Sindom and how our stock is doing.” I closed the lid on my laptop and stood, gathering my keys and shoving my phone into my jacket pocket.

“I recommend we shift the final contest at least a week,” Wilder stated.

I thought about what he was saying. “I think we’re all on the same page. We do need to find the leak. I just don’t want it shut down permanently.”

“Of course not. A company leak. How is that going?” Zach wore a scowl much like I’d had the last few days.

“Christopher is working hard to find it.” Wilder seemed so certain.

“Are you so sure about that?” The conversation I’d had with Christopher had been lackluster at best. I glanced from one brother to the other. “I suggest you dig deep on the man.”

“Wow. You’re suspecting one of our own.” Zach finally stood, giving me a hard look.

“Yes, I am.” I adjusted my jacket before taking a couple of steps toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Wilder asked, although he wore an expression that stated he knew exactly what I was thinking. “We still have countermeasures we need to continue working on.”

“Perhaps I’ll pay a visit to Dorn and see what he has to say.”

“I don’t think ruffling any additional feathers right now is good for us.” Zach eyed me as I walked by.

“Stop worrying, Zach. I do know what I’m doing. Don’t worry. No bloodshed.”

“That means no fun,” Wilder teased, forced to move out of the way when I headed to the door.

“It’s obvious you don’t know me very well. I can create a world of magic and splendor anywhere and at any time.”

With that I walked out.