Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (36 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

Dax

When
I arrived at my office later that morning, I could tell from the moment I set
foot in the club that it would be a long day. Kesha caught my attention and
said she needed to talk with me as soon as possible. I told her to wait while I
dropped my things off and checked the office.

Upstairs, I found
Riza pacing the floor. This was not a good sign.

"What's
up?" I asked as I tried not to let the dread take over.

"Fucking Beck!"
she shouted. "That little bastard is going to fuck us all!"

"Hey, hey,
hey," I said holding up a hand while I walked over and firmly shut the
door. It was unlike Riza to get worked up about anything. In fact, she was the
person I counted on to always maintain her calm, cool demeanor. Seeing her like
this unsettled me. "Chill out and tell me what happened."

"Your little
brother is going to fuck up everything, Dax," she said as she clenched her
fists at her sides. "He took the damn boat out and tried to make a drug
run from Tijuana to the Marina dock. But he's too fucking stupid to pull shit
like that off. He got caught by the Coasties, and now he's in their jail
waiting for a hearing."

"So, he
fucked up, that's small potatoes compared to what he could have done," I
said secretly relieved to learn that Beck wasn't dead.

"You really
don't get it do you?" she asked searching my face for a sign that I
understood what she was talking about. "You don't get that your brother is
knowledgeable enough to sink our entire operation by opening his junkie mouth
and singing to the Feds, do you?"

"He's a
junkie, who's gonna believe him?" I shrugged.

"Jesus, you
are blind as fuck when it comes to that boy," she spat. "I've got an
inside informant over there at the Coast Guard and he said that Beck offered to
give them all the information they wanted on his brother's club if they'd trade
him a fix."

"And they
took the whacked out ramblings of a junkie as gospel truth?" I asked.
"They're stupider than I thought."

"Dax, stop
cutting Beck slack," she said as she put her palms flat on the edge of my
desk and looked straight into my eyes. "He's going to ruin all of our hard
work and our future. He's in bed with the North side guys and they're using him
to try and break you down."

"So, what do
you suggest I do, Riza?" I said as I looked at her. There was fury in my
eyes because I had a feeling that I knew what she was going to say but I wanted
to hear her say it before I said anything.

"You know
what I say," she shrugged. "When there's a weak link, you cut it
loose and save the rest of the chain."

"You're
saying I should off my own brother," I said.

"I'm just
saying that you have to decide what's most important, the organization and its
future or the junkie who is going to bring it all crashing down around our
heads unless he's stopped," she said as she stood up and put her hands on
her hips. "I'm just saying, you're gonna have to make a decision, Dax.
Sooner or later, you're gonna have to choose."

"Fine, when I
get to that bridge, I'll cross it," I said in an irritated voice. I was
tired of discussing this with her and it was obvious that we weren't going to
agree on how to handle the situation. "Riza, for now, we're going to let
Beck sit in jail. I'm going to find him a lawyer to be at his bail hearing and
then we'll figure out what to do next, okay?"

"You're so
fucked," she said as she turned and stormed out of the room.

A few minutes
later, Kesha appeared at the door asking, "Is now a good time to talk,
boss?"

"Yeah, come
on in, K," I said waving her in. "Let's talk about this inventory
situation."

"Boss, it's
getting weirder by the day," she said shaking her head. "Yesterday, I
found more crates that we hadn't ordered down in the storage area, and when I
opened them they were full of product. But it's not our product."

"How do you
know?" I asked. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely
sure," she said. "Come downstairs and I'll show you."

I followed Kesha
to the basement storage area where we kept the liquor. We had a second storage
area where we kept the product, as we called it. Kesha was right, there was
something really off about this product. It definitely wasn't ours. The crates
were poorly constructed and the product was stored in Ziplock bags, some of
which were only half filled. This was a lazy, half-assed job done by hacks, but
how had it wound up in our storage area?

"Kesha, how
did this get here?" I asked.

"Hand to God,
I have no idea," she said and I believed her. Kesha ran the tightest
product ship I'd ever seen. She was equally picky about the liquor and never
once had failed to come up with an accurate count. I trusted her more than
anyone except Riza, and she had no reason to lie to me.

"We have to
figure out how the hell this happened," I said. "Let's get the
security footage and see who was down here."

"Way ahead of
you, boss," she said. "That's the insane thing, there is no footage
showing these crates arriving in the storage area. Someone went in and erased
the time between the last delivery and the discovery of the crates. It's like
they're setting us up or something."

"Can you
think of anyone who'd want to set us up?" I asked. "I mean, besides
the obvious."

"Not a single
person, boss," Kesha said. "Who the hell would do this?"

"I don't
know, but you can bet your sweet ass I'm gonna find out," I said as I
turned and headed upstairs. First Lydia, then Beck, and now the shipment. It
felt like someone was out to destroy me, but I had no idea who that might be.

CHAPTER
THIRTY

Brooke

I
spent the day figuring
out how to stretch the money we had in our accounts to cover another month, and
then I made calls to all the clients on my books and encouraged them to pay
their past due balances. Then, I worked up a plan for Roger and Jordie to
execute at the jail starting tomorrow.

I'd just finished
typing up my notes when I looked at the clock and realized I had to be at
Dooley's in half an hour. I stood up and looked at myself in the full-length
mirror I had installed on the back of my office door after the courtroom
wardrobe disaster when I'd tucked the hem of my skirt into the waist band and
showed up with my ass hanging out. Fortunately, the court reporter had noticed
before I headed in to see the judge. She asked me why I hadn't checked myself
in a mirror before I headed to the courtroom and since the only answer I had
was that I didn't have one, I'd felt it was a worthwhile business expense to
have this one installed.

I looked pretty
good. I'd worn a steel grey, form-fitting blouse with a black pencil skirt and black
stilettos. It was professional, but sexy. I was glad I had chosen this since I
wouldn't have time to go home and change before I met Dax. I swiped a layer of
mascara on my lashes and glossed my lips. I'd been at the office all day, but I
looked pretty good all things considered. I ran a hand through my hair and
messed it up a little before deciding it was ridiculous and more than a little
desperate to try and use sex appeal to lure Dax into hiring me as his lawyer.

He was interested,
that I already knew. Now I just had to find a way to walk the line between
personal and professional. It wasn't going to be easy, but I knew I had to do
it. The rest of the firm was counting on me.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE

Dax

It
had taken me all
afternoon to balance the various sets of books, and in doing so, I calmed down
and thought about Beck and the situation he'd put us in. I knew he didn't know
what he was doing. It was the junk talking. I also understood Riza's concern
and anger. There was a lot riding on what Beck would or wouldn't say and on how
seriously the police would take him. We knew he was a messed up junkie, but
they didn't understand the extent to which his manufactured stories were
illusions of his drug-addled brain, or at least that's what we wanted them to
believe.

When I looked up
at the clock again, I realized I had exactly fifteen minutes before I was
scheduled to meet Brooke. There was no time to run home and change, so I took a
quick shower in the bathroom I'd built off of my office when I'd renovated the
club. At the time, it had been a huge luxury to design and build this room. I'd
decided that it would most likely be invaluable in the future, so I'd listened
to my gut and gone ahead with the construction, despite the fact that everyone
had told me it was insane to pay for a flame-proof, bullet-proof, impenetrable
bathroom when I barely had the money to buy the liquor needed to stock the bar.

I looked at myself
in the mirror as I toweled my hair and decided that shaving was a luxury of
time that I couldn't afford. She'd have to like me with my five o'clock shadow.
I pulled on a clean set of clothes, a black t-shirt and jeans, and ran a hand
through my still damp hair. Not great, but at least I was clean.

I hopped in the
car with five minutes to spare and quickly navigated the streets between the
club and Dooley's. I parked around back and walked through the door at
precisely six o'clock.

"Hey,
Dax!" Billy called. "Good to see you, man!"

"Billy, good
to see you," I smiled as I walked toward the bar.

"She's in
back," he said nodding toward the private room Dooley's kept available for
business deals and clandestine meetings. "You want a drink?"

"Yeah, give
me a bourbon, neat," I said.

"I'll bring
it back in a minute," he called as I walked through the doorway into the
poolroom and crossed over to the door that led to the private meeting space. I
pulled it open and smiled as I walked in and saw Brooke sitting at a table in
the back corner.

"Mr.
Malone," she smiled. "Good of you to join me."

"Ms.
Raines," I grinned. "So kind of you to invite me."

"It's the
least I could do," she said as she gestured to the chairs around the
table. "Would you care to have a seat?"

"Don't mind
if I do," I said as I picked the chair closest to her and sat down.
Sitting next to Brooke was an instant aphrodisiac, and I could feel myself
getting hard as I looked into her blue eyes. Never before had a woman had such
a powerful effect on me. Part of me wanted to get up and walk away knowing that
if this went much further I'd be in over my head. But my gut told me to stay,
and I always listened to my gut.

"Well, shall
we get down to business?" she asked.

"Business?"
I echoed. "I thought I was here to listen to your explanation as to why
you ditched me at Beso after a perfectly nice dinner last night."

"Well...I...I...oh
hell," she said as she blushed crimson and looked down at her hands in her
lap. "I can't really explain what happened other than to admit that I got
scared."

"Scared? Of
what?" I asked genuinely confused. "Did I do something that scared
you? Because in all honesty I thought I was the perfect gentleman last
night."

"Oh, you
were," she nodded. "It had nothing to do with anything you
did..."

"Then was it
something I said?" I prompted. "Because, again, I thought I was a
pretty good conversationalist. I kept up with your intellectual sparring and
was as open and honest as one can be on a first date."

"You
were...great," she said as she swallowed hard and looked away.

"I've got
your drinks here, folks!" Billy called as he pushed the door open with his
foot and walked across the room. "You want any food?"

I looked at Brooke
who shook her head, and then said, "Nah, man, we're good, but
thanks."

"No problem,
just holler if you need anything else," he said then looked at me and
added, "I'm gonna lock this door behind me so that you're not disturbed
while you're doing business."

"Appreciate
that, man," I said in the most professional manner possible. I knew what
he was thinking and, even if it was true, I didn't want Brooke to feel
uncomfortable.

Once he was gone,
I turned back to Brooke and said with a playful grin, "Before we were
interrupted, you were saying how great I was."

"This is
true," she laughed as she sipped her drink. "You were great last
night. It’s just that it was all so...so..."

"So
what?"

"So,
overwhelming, I guess," she reluctantly admitted. "All of this seems
too good to be true, and there are a host of mitigating factors at work
here."

"What are you
talking about?" I asked. I could tell she was holding something back, but
I had no idea what the hell it was. "Let go of the legalese and put it in
plain language, please."

Brooke opened her
mouth to say something just as my phone started ringing in my pocket.

"Shit,
sorry," I said as I pulled it out, looked at the screen, saw that it was
Kesha again, and tapped dismiss. "Please, go on."

"Dax, I like
you," Brooke said as she carefully weighed her words. Then, looking
straight into my eyes she said quietly, "I don't think I've ever been more
attracted to a man than I am to you. And last night, that scared me."

"What's to be
scared of?" I asked as I tried to maintain an air of absolute coolness.
"You like me, I like you, we like each other. Big deal."

"You don't
know me, yet," she said shaking her head. "And I'm not sure I know
you well enough to take a chance like that with someone I don't know very well.
Even if I am wildly attracted to him."

My phone vibrated
in my pocket again and when I pulled it out and saw that it was another message
from Kesha, I swore under my breath. "Sorry, that won't happen
again," I said as I shut the phone off. "Please continue."

Brooke looked at
me for a long time, then reached out and put her hand over mine and said,
"If we're going to actually get to know each other, then we're going to
have to commit to being honest. Are you up for it?"

My heart sank as I
realized what she was asking.