Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Diana nodded.
“Why MII? Pardon me for stating the obvious, but you have access to House Baylor through your brother.”
Cornelius worked with the Baylors as a private investigator. The two families connected after the Baylors helped him discover who murdered his wife.
“The Baylors specialize in outside-the-box investigations,” Augustine continued. “Considering how close your families are, they would give your problem first priority.”
“The Baylors can’t be involved in this matter,” she said.
Curiouser and curiouser.
His own relationship with House Baylor was complicated. At one point, before the Baylors became a House and had just been a small PI agency, he owned the mortgage on their business. Prior to his death, his father had made a habit of offering financing to small PI firms who needed an influx of cash, a practice Augustine had since ended. The Baylors had been one of those mortgaged subcontractors, and he paid them no attention until a difficult client forced him to reach for a creative solution. In retrospect, it had been a negligent decision at best and morally bankrupt one at worst, and it temporarily put his House and the Baylor family into adversarial positions.
Later, House Montgomery and House Baylor came to regard each other as allies, especially once Connor Rogan, the closest person he had to a friend, married Nevada Baylor. The Baylors and he signed an alliance pact, an agreement that obligated them to respond if either House was threatened. So far, they had kept their word, and as long as he kept his, their loyalty and support were assured.
He always thought that the Harrisons and Baylors had an even deeper connection. The Baylors thought of Cornelius and his daughter, Matilda, as their family, but now Diana was implying that they couldn’t be trusted.
Either way, he had to draw the line now. As much as he valued the Harrisons, his House’s relationship with the Rogans and the Baylors mattered more. It wasn’t an alliance he was willing to endanger.
“Are the Baylors suspects?”
“No. They had nothing to do with this.”
“And they don’t know anything about it?”
Diana shook her head.
He saw it now. She baited the hook, offering him just enough information to ignite his curiosity, and waited for him to bite. Diana Harrison, a patient and careful fisherwoman.
In strict terms, their friendship pact was a non-aggression alliance, meaning that both Houses agreed to refrain from acting against each other. Mutual favors were not included but were customary in such arrangements. The disparity in their wealth, connections, and resources was significant, and yet House Harrison had asked for his help only once, when they needed him to pick up Matilda and secure her safety until Diana came to retrieve her.
Very well. Why not? He could play a knight in shining armor, if the compensation was significant enough and Diana offered payment in the right kind of currency. Most investigative work was profitable and boring. This promised to be interesting. He liked knowing secrets, and any secret hidden from the Baylors was worth knowing.
“Shall we discuss the details in my office?” he asked.
She offered him a beautiful smile.
Augustine’s office lay on the seventeenth floor. He’d chosen that location precisely because it satisfied his requirements for being high up but lacked the ostentatious statement of a top-floor office. During his tenure as the CEO of MII, his father had occupied the penthouse business suite. When Augustine officially took the reins of MII, he resolved to never enter it again, and he hadn’t set foot there in years.
The elevator doors whispered open, and he invited Diana forward with a sweep of his hand. They walked across the spotless dark blue floor through his kingdom of tall white walls and cobalt-tinted light streaming through the sheath of blue windows that wrapped around the building.
He watched Diana’s expression covertly. Her face was relaxed and pleasant, her eyes calm. Prime Harrison moved with smooth grace, almost gliding across the floor, and the Doberman at her side matched her stride. The dog’s natural ears were down, her mouth half-open in a canine smile. He had seen enough Dobermans in his line of work. They were cautious dogs, alert and restrained in a new environment. This one was doing a fine impression of a golden retriever. There was an odd synergy between the woman and the dog—both sleek, assured, and pretending to be harmless.
They reached his office, where Lina sat at a pristine desk, presenting the last line of defense to the visitors. The desk was crafted from polished metal, with a single white orchid growing from a simple pot. His secretary chose to match the orchid today. A white dress hugged her body, perfectly tailored and form-fitting, yet elegant. Her deep emerald hair, wrapped in a trendy twist, shimmered with peridot highlights. Her eyebrows were black and shaped with laser precision, and she had selected green and black eye shadow to accent her eyes and mauve to tint her lips. As always, the effect was stunning.