Billionaire's Tragedy (Standalone Book) (Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (4 page)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CHAPTER
FIVE

Linc

 

Thoughts of the redhead
at the coffee shop distracted me the entire drive to the office. There was
something about her sassy stubbornness that intrigued me – well, that and her
emerald green eyes and her soft, curvy figure. I thought about how I might be
able to track her down and then dismissed the idea, knowing that a woman like
that would be anything but appreciative if she thought I was stalking her. I
swore under my breath as I realized that I was caught between a rock and hard
place. I liked strong women, but I often screwed things up by pushing too far,
too fast with them. My best friend Brant Marshall continuously tried to school
me, but I was a hopeless student, and as a result, I'd been single for over a
year.

"I want to know who
she is," I muttered as Mick pulled into the garage and parked the car.

"You want me to go
back to the coffee shop and ask around, boss?" I got out of the car.

"Nah, let it go,
Mick," I said. "I have a feeling she'd be pretty pissed if she knew
I'd sent out spies."

"Gotcha," Mick
nodded with a smile. "Women are tricky, and with your
record...well..."

"Don't remind me,
man," I laughed as I closed the car door and headed for the elevator. I
punched the button, and as I waited for the car to take me to the top floor, I
thought about the redhead. I knew I'd have to find a way to run into her, but
in a city this size, it wasn't going to be easy. I sighed as I realized that
I'd have to make Bean Bros a regular stop until I saw her again, but I was
nothing if not patient.

"Hey, Linc,"
Brant said as I exited the elevator. "We've got a situation. We need to
talk."

"What's up?" I
asked as I stopped at the front desk and said good morning to Katy, the weekend
receptionist. I didn't like leaving the office unattended on the weekends, so
I'd hired enough staff to keep things moving and make it functional no matter
when I came in.

"Good morning, Mr.
Redding," Katy smiled. "Your mail and messages are on your desk and
you've got two confirmed appointments this afternoon. The first one is
waiting," she said, looking at Brant.

"Thank you,
Katy," I said as I headed down the hall with Brant following. We entered
my office and when Brant shut the door, I asked, "What's going on? Tell me."

"Our suppliers in
China are threatening to back out of the deal if we don't secure the votes
needed to pass the legislation before we sign," he said. "It's not a
crisis, yet. But where do we stand on those votes, Linc?"

"I'm short six votes
right now, but I've got a meeting with two senators this afternoon and a poker
game scheduled for Tuesday night," I said as I picked up the stack of
papers from my in-box and began scanning them. "Did they say what inspired
this sudden shift in perspective?"

"They did not, but
I'm guessing that our buddy Russo had a hand in it, whatever it was," he
said. "You know going on that morning show was not a good thing, don't
you?"

"What's wrong with
stating my opinion and speaking openly about the issues?" I asked.
"Last I checked, it's still a free country."

"That's not the
point and you know it, Linc," he gently scolded me. Brant knew how
stubborn I could be and his job was to smooth out my rough edges when my
stubbornness threatened the business. I usually pushed back, but only as far as
he let me. "We can't afford to derail this deal when we're so close to
signing the contracts. You know that, and I know you know that. Just tone it
down until we get what we need, and then you can roast Russo in public, for all
I care. Until then, you need to avoid being the instigator because he'll find a
way to make you look like the problem."

"He is such a sneaky,
little weasel," I fumed as I gripped the papers in my hand tightly enough
to crumple them. "I'm sick of his sleazy grin and his sanctimonious
preaching! Why does he get to say everything he wants and I have to rein it in
and hold back? He's an ass!"

"Easy, buddy,"
Brant said as he sat down on one of the armchairs that flanked my desk. "I
know he's an ass. Pretty much everyone knows he's an ass. The problem is that
the ass has a lot of power and he's willing to use it to ruin you if you get in
his way. Just ease up and avoid him until the bill passes, and then you can
gloat as loudly as you want, anywhere you choose."

"I know you're
right, but that guy just gets under my skin and pisses me off," I grumbled
as I sat down. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, I've got the
contracts ready and waiting, so I guess all I need you to do is ensure that we
have enough votes to push the bill through," he replied. "After that,
it's smooth sailing."

"Right," I
nodded as thoughts of the stubborn redhead floated through my brain. I shook my
head to rid myself of them. Brant regarded me with concern.

"What's going
on?" he asked.

"I'm tired of all of
this," I told him. "I'm tired of constantly fighting and I'm tired of
having to relive things I'd rather let go. I'm just tired."

"Hey, look, we've
talked about this before," he said cautiously. "We get the votes,
sign the contract, pass the bill, and then get the wheels in motion for the
grips to be manufactured so you can do whatever you like. We'll hire a CEO to
run the company and you can step back, but for now, you have to do this, Linc.
We need you to lead."

"I know," I
nodded as I listened to his words. "I'm tired of a life that revolves
around guns twenty-four seven. I want more than this; don't you?"

I looked up to find Brant
grinning at me. "You met a woman, didn't you?" he asked.

"What the…no!"
I pulled out a drawer and began searching for something – anything. "Why
the hell does every conversation with you end in a discussion about whether or
not I met a woman? I did not. Why do you say that?"

"Oh please,
Linc," he rolled his eyes. "I've known you over half your life, I
know when a woman has you turned upside down. Who is she?"

"Dammit,
Brant!" I shouted. "There's no woman! I'm stressing out about the
bill and about Russo and you're talking about my insignificant social life?
Drop it!"

"Mmm hmm," he
grinned as he stood up and walked to the door. "I thought so. Well, when
you're ready to discuss her, you know where to find me. Meanwhile, get the
votes."

"Right, right,"
I growled as I waved him away. "Nosy bastard."

#

An
hour later, as I was preparing for the arrival of Senators Norton and Gibbs,
Brant came rushing into my office yelling, "Turn on the news! Turn on the
news!" I quickly flicked the remote and tuned into a station where a
reporter was standing at the far end of the Mall with the Capitol over her
shoulder. I turned up the volume and Brant and I watched in horror as she detailed
the shooting.

"James, I'm told
that the shooter was a middle-aged, white male wielding an unidentified gun. No
one is quite sure how he made it as far as he did without being noticed, but
what we do know is that he had very specific targets and that he succeeded in
hitting them. He was shot by police officers responding to reports of a gunman
and was rushed to Washington General a little while ago. We don't know his
identity.

“Police are telling us
that as soon as they have contacted the families of the victims, they will
release their identities to the media. There is some speculation that he was
targeting the members of the Committee on Gun Safety, as they were scheduled to
meet at the Capitol this morning to go over the bill they were preparing to put
before Congress this week. That's all we know right now, but I'll be here at
the Capitol and will bring you live updates as more details become available.
This is Mandy Banks, live at the Capitol for Action News."

"Jesus Fucking
Christ," I swore. "What the hell just happened?"

"It looks like some
lunatic shot up the Capitol," Brant replied.

"Yeah, thanks, Captain
Obvious," I scoffed. "What is going on in this country? It's like we
have a new nut job on the loose every few days!"

"It's the battle
over Second Amendment rights, my friend," he shrugged. "There's bound
to be a few wackos out there who think the solution is to take matters into
their own hands and eliminate the problem."

"You know they're
not thinking that up on their own," I said, giving him a pointed look.
"They're being encouraged by the people who hold power and who have more
to lose than their precious second amendment rights."

"Let's not be hasty
here, Linc," Brant warned. "I hate Russo as much as the next guy, but
before we jump to conclusions and start hammering on the guy, let's find out
what happened."

"You know as well as
I do that Russo is behind this," I said angrily. "If not directly,
then definitely indirectly. You've seen the rhetoric the AWN spews –
it's
bullshit! They're whipping their followers into a
frenzy and then turning them loose to pull the trigger!"

"Easy, easy, big
guy," Brant cautioned. "Like I said, let's get the facts and then
figure out what to do."

Just then, Katy buzzed
and told me I had a call. "Put them through, Katy," I said as I
picked up the receiver. "Yeah, Redding here." I listened intently for
a minute, then thanked the caller and slammed the phone down into the cradle so
hard that it skidded off the desk and went crashing to the floor.

"GODDAMNIT!" I
yelled as I slammed my fists against the desk. "That son of a bitch! I
swear I'm going to kill him, Brant. I'm going to find Russo and rip his lungs
out of his body with my bare hands!"

"What the hell is
going on, Linc?"

"The shooter killed
Norton and Gibbs," I said as I exhaled and sunk down into my chair.
"And, he seriously wounded three other members of the committee. Two are
in surgery right now, and one is in serious condition, but out of danger. This
is all that son-of-a-bitch Russo's fault."

"Chill out,
man," Brant said as he paced the room. I could tell he was formulating a
plan. For as long as I'd known him, the only way he could focus under stress
was to pace back and forth, thus earning him the nickname Pace. "Not to be
cold, but we need to think about the next step now that we've lost two votes –
possibly five. How are we going to recoup the loss and make sure we have enough
support to push the bill through?"

"Hell if I know,
man," I said as I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled in frustration.
It seemed like every step we took forward, Russo shoved us back three. I was
tired of fighting the guy; I just wanted to win and prove that I was right. I
stopped and thought about the loss of the senators and how their families would
be feeling about now as a wave of nausea passed through me. I closed my eyes
and tried not to think about the kids that this would effect.

"You okay,
Linc?" Brant asked as he stopped pacing. He held up a hand as if a light
had gone off. "When's your next poker night?"

"Yeah, fine. It's
Tuesday, why?" I asked as I opened my eyes and offered a weak smile. He
knew me well enough to know what was racing through my brain at the moment, and
he also knew me well enough not to push the issue.

"Who's coming?"
Brant probed.

"The usual: Walker,
Mason, Bangor, and Graham," I listed the senators who regularly showed up
at my hide-away once a month for poker and other activities. "And then,
whoever they bring with them."

"What about
Thompson?" Brant asked.

"What about
him?"

"Why isn't he
coming?"

"Give me a break,
Pace," I laughed. "Thompson is the straightest arrow in Congress. Why
would he come hang out with the bad boys? He probably has Bible class or a
volunteer group meeting."

"Now, don't go
stereotyping," Brant warned as a smile spread across his face. "We
all know that even the straightest guys have some kind of deep, dark, secret
wish."

"Yeah, and his is
probably dark chocolate chips in his cookies instead of milk chocolate," I
said rolling my eyes. "Fuck off, Pace. The guy is clean as a whistle, and
I'm not going to waste time trying to court him."

"All right, but
don't put it on the impossible list quite yet," he said. "I've got
some ideas about how to turn this around."

"Nothing illegal or
immoral," I warned him. "Well, illegal, anyway."

"No, we'll do it on
the up and up as much as possible," he said as he resumed pacing.
"I'm not a fan of compromising myself for the sake of winning, but then
again, as high as the stakes are this time, I'm willing to bend the rules a
little."

"Brant, do not tell
me anything more," I warned. "Whatever it is you come up with in that
brilliant mind of yours, keep it to yourself if it's going to incriminate
anyone. I really do want to do this on the up and up. It matters, Pace. To
me."

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