3. Victor

Chapter three

Victor

Six Years Later

S lamming the folder down on the desk, I steeple my hands and glare at the man across from me. “Explain.” My voice holds no room for argument. Dean swallows and glances toward the door. “You won’t get far.”

He leans back in his chair, sweat glistening on his skin. I stare and wait until the silence makes him uncomfortable enough to speak.

“I didn’t know, Mr. Valentine.” He glances down at the floor and shifts. I know he’s not telling me everything, so I continue to stare. He shifts in his chair again. “Alright, I had a suspicion, but I didn’t know the details,” he finally admits.

I study him. I’m going to fucking kill Donovan. The fear he has put in people in this town pisses me off. It pisses me off even more that I was blind to it. What else did I not see? He lives in Louisiana, almost two hours away. How the hell did he expand here and why? That’s why he and Olivia always came here for our monthly lunches. It was his way of expanding his territory.

I grit my teeth at the fact he had the nerve to use my shipments to bring in drugs and unregistered guns into this city. Through my restaurant. I’m already putting a plan together to check my other businesses, then find new employees if I find anything.

“If you had suspicions, why didn’t you come to me?” I ask.

Dean runs his hand through his hair, sighing. “People in the past who have voiced their suspicions go missing.”

I sit back in my chair, thinking back over the past six months. “It was Thomas, wasn’t it?”

Dean is silent, but after a few more moments, he finally nods. He shifts in his seat again, sucking in a breath. Thomas was the general manager, but Dean is the bartender and is always present for receiving shipments.

“I came in early for a shift about a month ago and he was receiving a shipment. I thought I had forgotten about it or something, but he said it was last minute to prepare for an event you were hosting. He worked late that night too, which wasn’t normal for him. I figured it was to prepare for the event.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. A month ago. That was the last time I had lunch with Donovan and Olivia. I take a calming breath, my insides boiling. That fucker.

“When you never asked me to help, I started wondering. Then, when Thomas stopped showing up to work when the new sheriff was announced, I figured he did something. I didn’t know what it was until today. I swear.” Dean exhales sharply, clearly frustrated with himself for not being honest with me.

Mulling over his words, I nod slowly. “I would have protected you if you had come to me. I have connections.” My connections aren’t like Donovan’s, but I can protect him. I have security and The Outsiders, my motorcycle club. I stand, walking over to the window that looks into the back parking lot. When Dean came to me after Thomas stopped showing up for work, I had it in my mind to fire him for not saying something sooner.

But now that I’m back to working again and I’m not so preoccupied, I see what Connor is doing. He’s hiring the people that Donovan would use. I’m assuming he’s doing it to keep them out of Donovan’s clutches. Donovan still doesn’t know I know about his illegal dealings or that I know he used my fucking restaurant and I’m going to keep it that way. The longer he thinks I trust him, the better. I wonder how the election of the new sheriff will affect Donovan and the pull he’s had in this town. I clench and unclench my fists a few times before turning my attention back to Dean.

“I want you to take Thomas’ place. You’ll be the new general manager.” Dean’s eyes widen in shock. He probably expected to get fired. “If I find out you are doing anything like what Thomas did, you will be fired and I will make sure no one in this town or this state will hire you. Understand?”

Dean stands, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Of course, Mr. Valentine. Absolutely.” I know Dean isn’t like Thomas. His work ethic alone stood out to me. I should have fired Thomas a long time ago, but life has been a big shit show lately. I mentally shake away those thoughts and take in his clothes.

“No more jeans. This is a nice restaurant. I didn’t mind you wearing jeans behind the bar, but from now on I expect you to dress the part. If you need me to purchase you some clothes, I will.”

“I have money,” Dean mumbles, but I arch an eyebrow at him.

I know he was struggling. He would pick up extra shifts any chance he could. That’s another reason I put him over the inventory shipments. It gave him extra hours, and he’s meticulous. I walk back over to my desk, pull open the drawer and grab the lock box I keep the petty cash in. Counting out a few hundred dollars, I mark it on the register, then hand it to him. His eyes harden.

“I don’t need a handout.”

“This isn’t a handout. It’s part of your salary. I’m requiring you to wear certain clothes, so I’m providing the means for you to purchase them.” He stares at my outstretched hand for a few moments before taking the cash and putting it in his wallet. I lead him out of the office and we walk around the restaurant. I tell him the things that need to change and we go into detail about delivery days. He’s familiar with it, but I need him to know I will be paying close attention going forward.

Dean came forward, so I’m sparing him, but anyone else that’s been hiding it I won’t be able to trust and I’ll make sure they won’t work anywhere else. I wonder if Connor would be willing to team up. I know he doesn’t trust me, but I’m sure I can change his mind once he gets to know me.

“Mr. Valentine?” I turn toward Grace, the main hostess. She shows me the phone. “There’s someone asking for you.” I scan the restaurant as I walk toward her, making sure everything is ready for the lunch crowd.

I greet the person on the other line. “Victor.”

“Have you seen Olivia?” Donovan demands.

I grit my teeth, but take a deep breath as I force myself to keep my cool. “Not since we all had lunch together last month.” I had to force myself to go to that lunch, because I was in so much pain. But I wouldn’t miss it, no matter how much Malachi was bitching that I needed to rest. Glancing at the calendar next to the phone, I realize they’re supposed to come up here for lunch next week.

“Why would I see her?” I ask. I want him to admit he has her on a tight leash. The girl doesn’t get to do anything. He homeschooled her and even for college, she did all of that online. She would always say it was her decision, but I’m beginning to think it wasn’t. Donovan doesn’t answer my question, so I try asking another one. “Do you think she came up here?”

“I don’t know. I came home last night, and she wasn’t here. All of her things are gone. I’ve been searching for her and can’t find her.” His voice is rough with anger, but there’s an underlying tone of panic that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“You’ve been searching for her? You make it sound like she ran away.” I’m met with silence again. A weight settles on my chest as I think back to the lunch we had together last month. She’s always been quiet, but last month she was unusually quiet. I grimace in shame. I was kind of thankful for it because I was in so much pain.

I’m such an asshole. Did he do something to her, and I missed the signs?

“Why would she have to run away, Donovan?” My tone drops as unease slithers along my nerves.

“Obviously, you haven’t seen her. If you see her, call me.”

Before I can respond, he hangs up. No way in hell will I be calling him if I see Olivia. I run my hand down my jaw, my beard scratching the palm of my hand. Hanging up the phone, I give Grace a tight smile as I walk back to my office.

I sit in my chair and run my hands through my hair. My shoulders sag as I think of where Olivia can be and why Donovan is upset he can’t find her. And why would she leave without telling him? If she trusted him, she’d tell him. I don’t even know if Olivia has a cell phone, so there’s no way of finding her or reaching her. What a shitty godfather I’ve been. I broke every promise I made to Margaret. It’s time to change that.

Running my finger along my almost finished tattoo, I try to dissect everything that happened last month during our lunch. I was in such a fog. I barely ate. Angry at myself and worried about Olivia, I slam my fist down on my desk. That man is a cancer that kills everything he touches.

I need to talk to Connor. That is, if he’ll talk to me, and with how suspicious he is of me, I doubt it. He seems to know everyone in this town. Maybe he can help me find Olivia. Or maybe I need to give her the space and freedom she’s been denied the majority of her life.

Present Day

“You’re telling me you haven’t seen or heard from Olivia in four years?”

I want to pull Donovan’s smug ass over his desk and beat him until he’s no longer breathing. What he doesn’t know is that I have been looking for her. Leo, my head of security that trains bouncers at my nightclubs and oversees the security at all my construction sites, has been quietly searching for her. I didn’t want Donovan to become suspicious, though, so I told him he had to be as discreet as possible. I should have tried harder.

Donovan leans back in his chair and arches an eyebrow at me like he’s wondering why I care. I’m her godfather. Even if I was a shitty one, at one point I was a good one. I need to talk to Leo. Maybe Malachi, the Outsiders’ president, too; he’s good at finding people that don’t want to be found. She probably changed her legal name. I’m pretty sure she left Louisiana.

“She left. I let her. I thought it was some sort of rebellion, but considering how long she’s been gone, I’m assuming it was a life change for her.”

I study him. He sounds too nonchalant. Donovan is obsessive. It’s hard to believe he hasn’t been to every town in this state and the surrounding states to find her. He has the resources. My eyes narrow. Unless he does know, but he doesn’t want me to know that he knows.

“Why are you here? I know it’s not a social visit. You don’t make those anymore.”

“I came here to see Olivia.”

It’s a lie. I knew he didn’t know where she was, but I am using this as an excuse to see if he knows anything. I still don’t know if he does. “Since you still don’t know where she is, I'm going to rent Margaret’s house. I had planned on letting Olivia decide what she wanted to do with the house and land. I wanted to let you know since your land borders it. Once Olivia shows up, I’ll let her decide at that time.”

His eyebrows cave in at this news. I know me owning that house and land is a thorn in his side and I love it. He leans forward, resting his forearms on his desk.

“Why don’t you sell it to me? Since Olivia has disappeared.” I feel my blood pressure rise at his lack of regard for Olivia. “You do know it was quite the surprise when the will was read and I was informed Margaret left you the land and house.” He stands and walks over to his liquor cabinet. He takes out a tumbler and pours himself two fingers of bourbon, then takes a sip before turning back to me.

I was just as surprised as he was, but I think Margaret realized what a slimeball Donovan was and she wasn’t going to make the mistake of leaving the house and land to him. Not when it had been in her family for decades.

I eye him. It’s strange that his land borders hers. Was I so fucking blinded by Josie that I didn’t see any of this before? I hold in my sigh and remember the promise I made to Margaret and Henry, her first husband. That I would protect Olivia. Clearly I’ve done a shit job of that with the hell my life has been the past decade. I’m determined to find her. I need to find her.

“That’s not happening, Donovan. It was a simple courtesy letting you know.” I stand from my chair and walk to his door. With my hand on the doorknob, I turn and glare at Donovan. “I’m learning things about you, Donovan. If I ever learn you hurt Olivia, the last thing you will see are my eyes as I kill you.” He doesn’t respond. I didn’t expect him to. Coward.