37. Blake

CHAPTER 37

Blake

“ G in? I’m home!” I call out again, to a disturbingly quiet house. Where the hell is everyone? Granted it’s late, so the staff are gone, but usually Gin is up and around to greet me when I arrive home from work. So where?—?

I walk into our bedroom, noting the neatly made bed and the envelope sitting in the middle. My chest tightens as I pick it up, dread coiling around my ribcage. Ripping it open, I upend the content onto the duvet. A small, bejeweled flash drive, and a letter. I turn the flash drive over in my fingers as I read the note.

Dear Blake,

I’m pretty sure this is what you’ve been looking for. I took it off Yve’s charm bracelet. I hope this helps you get out from under her thumb.

Since you’ve found this, that means you’re home from work and I’m not there. I’ve decided to spend some time with my cousin Elena in Italy. I don’t know when I’ll be back.

I hope you get everything you want for your brother and for yourself.

Best, Gin

Her letter doesn’t settle well with me, there’s far too much she’s not saying between every single one of her words. Especially that last line. Guilt eats at me for choosing my brother over her. I just wish she understood that I’ve looked out for him for his entire life, it’s part of who I am. I didn’t mean to offend her, or make her feel less than, or anything like that.

But, obviously she does, because from what I can tell, she just left me. Maybe she just needs some time and space to herself. Or am I being dense again?

I weigh the flash drive in my hand. She can’t be that mad at me since she just gave me the best gift ever. If this contains the blackmail material Yve has been holding over me all these years, then having this in my possession changes everything.

Pulling out my phone, I check the tracking app to locate Gin. She’s telling the truth, the tracker places her over the Atlantic. I locate her flight number so I get notifications for when she lands, just to be sure everything went okay.

In my office, I wake up my laptop and insert the drive. There are only two video files on it. I let them play, confirming that this is what I’ve been searching for, for years. Yve really did have this on her every single day.

How did I not bother to look closer at her charm bracelet? It’s so fucking obvious. Too obvious, that’s the problem.

I bring up Niall Bane’s contact and press the call button, putting it on speaker phone. He’s the only decent Bane brother, the black sheep from the rest of that brood, and he owes me a favor.

“What do you want, Baron?” he answers.

I appreciate the way he cuts to the chase. “I’m sending you a couple of files. I need you to hack into Yve’s computer, and her other devices, and find any duplicates of these.”

Niall sighs. “I don’t do that kind of work anymore.”

“You do for me. Get off your good boy soapbox and get your hands dirty. I’ll call us even after this.”

That catches his attention. “Okay. I see the files you sent. I’ll get back to you when it’s done.”

“Good.” I hang up, leaning back in my office chair. My gaze lands on the paint chips hanging on the wall. We’ve narrowed it down to fifteen shades of blue. Progress.

Fuck, I hope Gin’s not gone for too long. I already miss her.

E veryone empties out of the elevator when they see me coming. I push the button for the executive floor and ride up alone. Early this morning Niall called to say that he found two backups of the incriminating evidence against me, and erased them both. Three copies is about the level of duplicates I expected Yve to keep. Now they’re all gone. My trap is prepped and ready to spring.

I had to act quickly, in case Yve caught onto me, so this morning I contacted my acquaintance at the FBI and sent over some choice pieces of evidence of Yve’s illegal doings. People she’s paid to have offed, backroom business deals, the dirt I have on her will take someone years to dig through, so I just handed over the highlights.

The FBI will be at the office to pick Yve up within the hour, but I can’t resist seeing the look on her face when she realizes our game is finally, thoroughly finished.

Exiting the elevator, I head straight for her office, but find it empty. Her secretary informs me she’s in the boardroom with a client. I burst through the door and immediately halt in my tracks.

Yve’s in here, alone with Oz, her client, who happens to have my step-monster on her knees as she sucks him off. That’s a sight I could have lived the rest of my life without. Now it’s seared into my retinas.

I sneer in disgust. Yve lurches to her feet, and Oz lazily tucks his dick away with a smirk. I can’t wait to knock out his teeth. Finding him here is actually a boon. All of this nonsense ends today.

“Oz, it’s time you signed the paperwork. I’m done fucking around with this.”

“Oh, are you? Well,” his gaze darts to Yve, “we have a different idea of how this is going to go down. It’s nice of you to join us. Why don’t you have a seat?”

I remain standing, but my attention shifts to Yve. What the fuck is she up to now?

She purses her over-stuffed lips and leans against the conference table, victory shining in her eyes. “Ozzie here told me all about your little scene at his office.” She tsks . “The deal is off. You failed. Which means Liam won’t be coming to work for Titan Enterprises. In fact, I’m making Ozzie the new CEO.” A vicious grin appears on her face. “Oh, and you’re fired .”

My jaw clenches as I reel from this devastating turn of events. Then the reality of the situation dawns on me. Ozzie. A nickname.

“You two were in this together, weren’t you?”

Yve laughs, the sound grating on my ears. “You finally figured it out. I have to say it was hilarious making you bend over backward to woo Ozzie, all those dinners and having to pretend as if you liked him. This was one of my best games yet. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It sure was fun.” Oz snakes his arm around her waist, then glances at me. “You should have known you were never going to win this one. I mean how many times did I have to delay signing that contract for you to get the hint? You’re not as smart as you think you are, Baron. You never even bothered to look for a connection between me and Yve. We’ve known each other for years.”

“True. I’m good friends with Ozzie’s mother.” She entwines her fingers with his. “I’ve known him since he was a child, and had the honor of being his first when he turned sixteen.”

Christ . I’d rather be buried alive with vipers than listen to this creepy shit. Step-monster, gold-digger, child molester, Yve continues to disgust me with her layers of depravity.

“Honestly, you two are boring me. So let’s change the subject, shall we?” I fish the tiny, bejeweled flash drive out of my pocket and hold it up for them to see. “Cue panic.”

Yve stares at it, then fumbles with her charm bracelet, her face pale. She laughs, relieved. “Mine is right here. But that was a cute joke, you had me for a second.”

“It’s not a joke. You bought this online, how easy do you think it was to order another one and swap it for the original? I found two video files on here, and once I knew what I was looking for, it was easy enough to have someone track down and erase all three copies. The shit you had on me… poof, gone.”

Her features contort in rage as her skin becomes increasingly flushed. “How—?” Realization dawns. “That little bitch !”

I cluck my tongue. “Be careful how you talk about my wife.”

“What’s going on?” Oz asks, his gaze flicks back and forth between us. “What does this mean?”

“Nothing, it means absolutely nothing.” Yve removes the drive from her bracelet and plugs it into the laptop sitting on the conference table. She clicks a few buttons, then a couple more, before straightening her spine and gazing across at me. “Well played, Mr. Baron. Well played.”

We both know she’s done. The game has been seen through to its completion. I’ve won.

“Babe, what just happened?” Oz is really getting on my nerves.

“We’re finished. Blake’s won.”

“The fuck we are!” Oz spears his fingers through his dark hair.

Yve trains her gaze on me. “What do you want? What’s your price to let us go free?”

Cool satisfaction runs in my veins as I take in her defeat. “You think you can buy me?”

“Everyone has a price. Even you.”

“All right. Him. He’s my price.” I nod toward Oz. “I’m going to kill him slowly, painfully.”

“Fine.” Yve shoves Oz in front of her. “Take him. He’s all yours.”

“You bitch!” He turns, backhanding her so hard she crumples to the floor.

The door bursts open and several FBI agents enter the room, taking in the scene before them. They spot Yve and, hauling her to her feet, arrest her.

My gaze bores into Oz’s. Now that Yve’s taken into custody, there’s no one here to hide behind. He’s all mine.

As if reading my mind, his eyes widen and he blurts out, “You can’t touch me.”

I lift a brow, for once interested in what he has to say.

“You can’t touch me because I know what happened to your father. I know how he died, and it wasn’t an accident. Yve and I did it together.”

Silence fills the room for a split second before Yve cries out, “You fucking idiot! Keep your goddamn mouth closed.”

Oz snarls at her. “Fuck you, you back stabbing bitch. How does it feel?”

“I’m going to murder you, you little shit!” She charges at him, but the agents capture her again, cuffing her this time.

Oz holds out his hands, wrists together. “I’m confessing to murder. Arrest me.” As the FBI agents do just that, he tosses a smirk my way. Slippery fucker. We both know now that he’s in the system, I can’t touch him, at least not easily.

Gin’s vengeance will have to wait—again. Goddamn it . I can’t fail my wife any more if I try. Worse, I now need to stay here and make sure neither of these two are granted bail. I have to keep a close eye on them until this is truly well and done. If they get out, Gin won’t be safe.

Thank fuck she’s all the way in Italy, out of harm's way.