Page 125 of Beguiled

“He’s been led to believe professionally, he’s about to destroy you. He’ll want to see that through. The looks on your faces orthe moment when you’re arrested. That will be a memory he can hold forever. Then he’ll try and kill you.”

“You need to keep this girl very close,” Kirill added.

“I definitely will.” The woman was amazing. “That doesn’t mean you’re leaving my sight. You’re already aware of the lengths he’ll go to, including murder.”

She lifted her gaze, nodding only once. Seeing the hurt in her eyes made me want to kick myself. “She was coming to warn me that her father had made a deal with Mikhail.”

“Tawny?” I asked.

Her lower lip was quivering. “She sent an email and said there was something I needed to know. She figured out we were close. She… She was afraid. She was followed after leaving the club. She also talked to Patrick about getting the night off because her father had insisted on the date. My guess is Patrick knew all about it, which was why he convinced her using me as a replacement would be okay.”

“Fucking bastard,” I hissed and moved behind the couch, reading over her shoulder. Whatever the reason, Patrick had either been ordered to kill her or had gotten her killed. “She said you were in danger. Tawny was a brave girl, Saige. She wanted to protect you to the end.”

“Yes, she did. If she was being followed, she wouldn’t come to my apartment. If she didn’t have her phone, she’d go home. The time stamp on the email. Almost one in the morning. And she didn’t sign off but hit send.”

“When someone broke into her apartment,” I finished.

“I don’t think Patrick killed her. She used to tell me he looked out for her. He used to walk her to the subway to make certain she got on safely.”

Interesting.

“We have a hit,” Jeremiah called from where he was sitting with the computer system he’d brought with him. “It took a little while, but I tracked Ms. Gaines through her employment records, including her emergency contact. In addition, the yachtLady Isabellais owned by a Russian shell corporation. That took a long time to discover. Someone wanted to ensure the company remained in the shadows.”

“Who is Tawny’s father?”

“Anton Pushkin.”

Kirill choked. “Russian oligarch. He owns about a third of Manhattan. He’s a diamond mogul. He’s had trouble getting them through the ports because of what else he’s bringing in with them. Cocaine.”

The room grew quiet. If Mikhail had formed an alliance through Anton with the Armenians, they could easily control New York.

“I can tell you have a plan,” Kirill said after the information sank in.

“One is forming. We simply need to tick off the pieces one at a time. Starting with Patrick. But the rest could take time.” I glanced from Kirill to Dimitri.

“Patience is a virtue, gentlemen,” Saige said. “While you’re handling the dirty work, I’ll prepare some documentation to share with your new investors. And don’t worry. They will be deals they can’t ignore or walk away from.”

The woman could drive me crazy, but every time she opened her mouth and spouted off about business, she was snagging me with her hook.

Pretty soon it would be hook, line, and sinker.

* * *

Sean had been noticeably calm when we’d walked in, sharing news of what we suspected about Patrick. This wasn’t meant to be a fight with our ally. In fact, we were prepared to allow him to handle Patrick as he saw fit. After all, the man had worked with the McCarthy family for two decades.

But as they said, every man had a price. I honestly didn’t give a shit what Patrick’s was.

“You’d better be certain about this,” Sean said. “Patrick is a good man.”

“Who betrayed you,” I said quietly as I peered over the table.

“You have no solid proof. The girl could be lying.”

I twirled the necklace on the conference room table in front of me. “Alright. To what end?”

Sean hissed. “Do you know what this means? Patrick knew everything about my company.”

“It means you’ll need to reorganize how you handle business,” Kirill offered.