Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 66697 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66697 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“You’re not in court.” My voice remained even. “You’re in the house of Seth Miles. And in this house, we make the laws.” I tapped the edge of the closest document. “These are decidedly not inside our laws.”
Marlin leaned forward, his voice dropping to a cajoling whine. “Look, I understand you have a business to protect. I can help with that. I have connections, favors I can call in. The district attorney’s office owes me --”
I lifted my hand to silence him. “You already gave my father what he needed,” I said. “This conversation is about what you owe the women in these ledgers.”
Marlin went quiet, his eyes darting between me and Seth’s impassive back. For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the tick of the antique grandfather clock my father liked in here. Since no electronic equipment was allowed -- other than what Seth and I kept on our persons -- he thought the rather loud ticking of the majestic piece of furniture was intimidating in certain situations. Judging by the way Marlin kept glancing nervously at the thing, I thought my father had been right.
Seth turned from the window just long enough to look at Marlin. Not a word passed between them, but something in the older man’s gaze made Marlin shrink back in his chair. Then Seth turned away again, his attention returning to the view beyond the glass.
I closed the briefcase with a soft click. “The district attorney will be receiving an anonymous tip about your extracurricular activities tomorrow morning. Along with copies of these documents.” I stood, adjusting the cuff of my sleeve. “I’d recommend leaving the country before then. I understand extradition treaties can be quite… complicated for men in your position.” I turned to glance at my father. Without a word, Seth pulled a key from his pocket and handed it to me.
Marlin’s face had gone ashen. “You can’t just --”
“I can,” I said simply. “And I have.” I nodded to the door. “My father’s driver will take you wherever you need to go. I’d suggest packing light.” I shrugged. “Or you could turn yourself in.”
“You know as well as I do I’m dead the second I see the inside of a holding cell.”
I nodded. “True. Some of the people we’ve identified would be… decidedly unhappy to be caught up in this kind of scandal.”
Marlin remained seated, his hands flat on the table as if anchoring himself to the spot. “What about Iron? He’s the one who --”
“Iron,” I said, “is for me to worry about. Not you.” I moved to the door, unlocking it with the key my father had just handed to me. “The car leaves in ten minutes. With or without you.”
For a moment, Marlin didn’t move. Then he pushed back from the table and stood. His steps were measured as he crossed to the door, pausing at the threshold to look back at Seth’s unmoving form. “I have a family,” he said, the words barely audible.
Seth didn’t turn. “So did they.”
Marlin left without another word, his footsteps fading down the hallway. I closed the door behind him, then turned to my father. “It’s done.”
Seth nodded once, still gazing out the window. “Make sure he’s on the plane.”
“Yes, sir.” I moved to stand beside my father, both of us looking out at the grounds beyond the glass. “The network?”
“Yours to dismantle,” Seth said. “But carefully. We don’t want collateral damage.”
“Knuckles has the compound secured. The women are safe.”
“Good.” Seth’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, a brief pressure. “Then we’re done here.”
The trafficking network that had operated under Iron’s protection was finished. By morning, every player would know exactly what happened to men who crossed the Miles family. Then the hunt would begin. Neither I nor my father would allow our city to be used in such a way. I didn’t care who the offenders were. If they had any part in this network, their lives as they knew it were now over.
Deeper in Nashville, a young woman named Tessa Garrison would sleep safely behind the walls of Haven, her sister at her side, her personal nightmare finally over, but her journey to recovery only beginning. I’d watch over her. Make sure she got the care she needed. She would want for nothing for the rest of her life… and then, I’d put her completely out of my mind.
Chapter One
Tessa
I awoke gasping, trying to get my breath. The sheets were twisted around my legs. My heart pounded and sweat dampened my skin and my pillow. I couldn’t remember the dream, but I thought there’d been some kind of explosion…
Then the sound came again. This time, I was decidedly awake. The building shuddered hard enough to jostle me as I lay in bed. Another heavy thud sounded like something slamming into the lower level of Haven with significant force. My apartment was on the third floor and sat directly over the front entrance to Haven. I’d requested the room when I’d found it because I wanted to see shit coming at me before it got me.