Her Trust : A Dark Syndicate Romance, page 15
“You’re two months late paying your fees, Bradley.” I look over at the man on the other side of my desk. A relic from my father’s time.
He gives me an annoyingly smug chuckle. An errant thought crosses my brain that when Harvey smiles smugly it annoys me because it causes a surge of unwanted lust in my lower abdomen, but when this arsehole does it, it just makes me want to claw his eyes out. I told Diamond to pull this guy in today because I have residual anger from finding out about the girls’ situation and I had a craving for a fight.
“My apologies, ma’am,” he says with an arrogant smile. “It’s been a little hectic, what with the missus pregnant.” Bradley Trent is in his mid-fifties, maybe he was handsome in his youth but now he carries himself with the confidence of a man far more appealing than he is. His grey hair is slicked back, and his face is heavily lined from decades of smoking.
“I’m sorry, was that missus or mistress?” I tilt my head at him, my face the picture of ice-cold.
His smile fades, his annoyance evident as his dull grey eyes darken. I can feel Harvey’s stance change behind me, his demeanour going from relaxed and casual to tense and threatening. He’s behind my chair providing that presence I require, it’s a sad state of affairs that the idiots I deal with feel more threatened by a man stood behind me than they do of me. I could quite easily stab them in the neck with my letter opener.
“Your personal life is of no interest to me Bradley and it shan’t be used as an excuse for screwing me over.” My voice is calm and bored, a practiced technique.
“Now hang on just a minute—”
“No, I’ve hung on for two months. Now you’ll pay what you owe, plus interest.”
“Your father knew loyal people would pay, even if it took them a little while,” he mumbles, still glaring at me.
“My father is dead. He has been for over ten years now, it’s high time you get used to that.”
“His death was pretty convenient for you, huh?” he sneers.
Harvey steps forward, I think he might be about to say something, but I don’t need a man to fight my battles for me.
“You will speak to me with the respect I deserve, Bradley, or this conversation is over. And if this conversation finishes before I’m fully and completely satisfied that you understand the importance of handing your takings in on time, you and your family won’t be able to set foot in this city again without targets on you backs. Do I make myself utterly clear?”
He clenches his jaw, nostrils flaring, and anger simmering in his eyes. It almost makes me smile. It’s so easy winding up men who hate being under the leadership of a woman. “Yes, ma’am,” he manages to grind out.
“You’ll speak to Diamond on your way out and make arrangements for payment. If I don’t have takings plus thirty-percent interest by the end of the week, you can start packing your bags.”
“Thirty percent?! That’s —”
I cut him off with a cold stare and he actually bares his yellowing teeth but wisely decides not to continue his rant and gives me a firm nod instead.
“Another thing.” I stare at him, watching out for any change in expression. “I’ve received intel about a facility holding children for sale in my territory. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
His eyes widen and his mouth drops in genuine shock. “N-no, of course not.”
“Don’t lie to me Bradley.” I don’t think he’s lying but I’m just giving him a shake.
“I-I swear, ma’am, I have no idea about anything like that. I wouldn’t.” He’s visibly shaking now, and although making this idiot quake is satisfying, finding nothing more about the girls’ captors is aggravating.
I nod. “Fine, get out.”
He scurries away and when the door clicks closed behind him, I let my muscles relax, resting my elbows on the desk and dropping my head to my hands.
“You okay, rainha?” Harvey’s voice washes over me in a wave of calm. A strange feeling really. It hits me momentarily that no one asks me if I’m okay. But Harvey does.
“I’m fine.” I straighten my spine and roll my neck to release some of my tension. He comes to rest his butt on the desk next to me, crossing his impressive biceps over his impressive chest and looking down at me, unconvinced by my answer. I groan. “We’ve been speaking to the men all day and have come up with nothing.”
He looks forward, chewing around some thought and taking a big breath before exhaling it out slowly. “If they were travelling for so long, they could have crossed over territory lines, right?”
“It’s a distinct possibility.”
He looks back at me. “What would that mean exactly? What could we do if this was happening outside of Talon ground?”
I sigh. This has been plaguing me since I first learnt about what the girls have endured. “Nothing. I could do nothing. Like I said, we’re in an alliance with The Daos and I doubt very much that Preston would allow something like this in his territory. Even if it was, The Daos are the largest syndicate in the city and making an enemy of them would be suicide. The Tantos are disbanded, so if it was happening in that sector of the city, there’s more I could do but it means going up against an unknown adversary. And The Kukri, well, I have no friends there.”
“You’re scared of them.” It’s not a question, he saw me the other night at the benefit. He obviously felt my discomfort. My instinct is to snap at him, deny it and threaten him again, but I’m tired of hiding behind a veil of ice and anger and something whispers in the back of my mind to trust Harvey with the truth.
“Yes, I’m scared of him,” I admit, although I can’t look him in the eye when I do.
He crooks his finger and uses it to tilt my chin, forcing me to look at him. “We’ll figure it out, rainha. And when we do, no matter where this has been happening, we’ll do all we can to keep those girls protected and help anyone else who needs it. You’ll trust me to help you and I’ll follow you into the fire. Right?”
Shit, I want to kiss him. I want him to kiss me. My body is battling my mind, my heart waking after a lengthy slumber and I don’t understand it. My head is swimming and before I can get my head around a response, there’s a tap at the door. Harvey releases me and steps back to his place behind me.
“Enter.”
Diamond opens the door with a smile and leans on the door frame with her arms crossed. She’s wearing a skirt far shorter than most women her age would dare today, with a matching jacket in royal blue, a white shirt showing off her impressive boob job. “I’ve called the next lot, they’re on their way here.”
“Good.” I nod.
“You going to tell me what’s going on?” she asks.
“What do you mean?” I feign innocence.
Her dark brow arches. “You’ve told me to get all of your generals to come in today, not to accept any excuses, not to give them any information—not that I had any to give them— and they’ve all run out of here looking scared shitless. So, what’s going on?”
I sigh. I trust Diamond as much as Stuart or Lee, and she’s been with me from the beginning. When she had a brief affair with my father between husbands twenty years ago, she was always very nice to me. She was always the one who looked after me when my father brought me to the club as a child, and she’s been the closest thing I had to a mother since I last saw my own. Because of that, Diamond is probably the one person I should be talking to about this. “Come in, have a seat.”
Sensing something, Harvey steps up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. The contact makes me flinch; a reassuring touch so foreign to me. “I’ll give you guys a minute,” he says before walking out and from the smirk Diamond gives him, I imagine he’s winked at her as he passes. My eyes roll.
Over the next ten minutes, I explain all about the girls, how we found them, what they told us, how they’ve been staying with me. Diamond’s colour drains and tears fill her eyes as I speak.
“Oh, Anni,” she sobs. “How awful.”
I nod. “That’s why I’m getting the men in, I need to know if this has been happening under my nose.”
“There are a couple dipshits in your ranks, but I can’t imagine any of them doing this, can you?”
My lips quirk up. “Dipshits?”
“Well, that Bradley Trent for one. You know he made a pass at me on his way in, like I didn’t know that he has a pregnant wife and a twenty-something-year-old on the side.”
I grimace. “Yes, well, I can’t disagree with you there.” I rub at my temples, feeling a headache building. “I’d like to think that my judgement was sound enough not to have the kind of people working for me who would run such an operation. Or who would know about something like that running in my territory and not report it to me. But with no real leads, I don’t know what to think.” A ball of emotion rises in my throat and makes me swallow a couple of time before I succumb to tears. I do not cry.
“Honey,” Diamond says gently, placing a hand on top of mine on the desk. “You’ll figure this out. I have every faith in you, you’re an extraordinary woman, and I haven’t seen you fail in anything. This will be no different.”
I look at where our hands touch. I usually discourage any physical contact from anyone but her warm palm against my knuckles is comforting, if not a little strange. I take the small amount of comfort it offers and use it to fuel myself to share more. “I’m sacred for those girls, Diamond.” She looks at me with kindness and concern, waiting patiently for me to explain. “They’ve come from unspeakable trauma and have only ever known disappointment and cruelty. They need nurturing and love, kindness and gentleness. That’s not me.” Unbidden and unexpected, a tear rolls down my cheek at the realisation that I am in fact alone and unable to provide basic human companionship. I bat the offending wetness away and sniff rather inelegantly. “I will find them somewhere else to go but I don’t know how long it’ll be until I find somewhere suitable. And until then, I don’t know how to give them what they need.”
“Sweet girl.” She smiles and I huff out a laugh.
“No one has ever called me sweet.”
“Oh, but you are. You’re absolutely right, Anni. What those girls have been through is terrible and unimaginable and they need extra consideration, patience, and understanding right now. Just the fact that you’re so worried about providing that for them tells me that you’re exactly the right person to be responsible for them right now.” She pats my hand offering me a bright smile. “You’ve got this, honey.”
Diamond leaves shortly after that to give me a moment to compose myself before I head out to find Harvey. I see him in the hall speaking to Den the barman, the two of them smiling easily and conversing as friends. Harvey is holding a large leather duffle bag and a plastic box. I approach them, frowning at the box resting on Harvey’s upturned palm.
“Miss Wolfe.” Den gives me a polite smile.
I nod in acknowledgement and then jerk my chin at the box. “What is this?”
“Oh,” Den says, his cheeks flushing and his hand going to the back of his neck nervously. “I uh, I owed Harv for a…favour.”
I frown because that obviously didn’t answer my question at all.
“Got ourselves some homemade chocolate cake for dessert tonight, rainha.” Harvey smirks at me.
I blink at him, digesting that information while he turns back to my bartender.
“Thanks for this man.” He shakes the duffle in his other hand. “I appreciate it.”
“No worries. Thank you.” Den looks at him with exaggerated sincerity and Harvey just laughs as he walks away.
“What’s with the bag?” I ask when we’re alone.
He looks down at it. “Well, if I’m going to keep staying with you, I need some spare clothes.”
“I beg your pardon. Who says you’re staying with me?”
“I do.” He shrugs and starts walking.
“Harvey—” I start following him.
“I would feel a lot more comfortable being close to you and the girls right now. Making sure you’re all safe until we know more about the situation. Don’t fight me on this, rainha.”
But I want to. His proximity does stupid things to my brain and my body, living with him would be maddening. But then there’s that warm feeling spreading out from my chest to my limbs at the thought of having Harvey around more. That stops me from telling him no and makes me follow him when he continues toward the exit.
18
ANNIKA
"Back to the house?” Harvey asks as he slides into the driver’s side of my Bugatti at the end of the day. I don’t actually care for fast cars, but there’s something about the sleek lines and gentle rumbling of a powerful engine beneath me that makes me feel good. Also, when the misogynistic, loud-mouthed pricks that I sometimes deal with see me arriving in a high-performance speed machine, they get the message that my dick is bigger than theirs.
I think for a second about the girls waiting in my home and make a decision. “No. Take me to Brunel’s.”
I can see his brows raise, he doesn’t say anything, but I can feel judgement pouring off him and staining my Chanel suit. He isn’t happy that I’m keeping two children in my house who he believes should be handed over to the government, and now he thinks I’m avoiding them to go shopping. I don’t care what he thinks of me. I should let the silence fester and show him how little I worry over his loudly unspoken opinions.
“The girls have no clothes but the rags they wore and ill-fitting borrowed t-shirts. They will be more comfortable in something new, clean and unburdened with holes.” I stretch my neck out, uncomfortable with the feeling of needing to justify myself and look out the window so as not to witness any further facial expressions of the man beside me, but I catch his slight frown before I turn away.
We travel for a little over ten minutes before we enter the high-end retail sector of the city, located dead in the centre. It’s a grey area for the four crime leaders to be in this area of town. We all operate in our own quarter of the capital and although the boundary lines do reach all the way to the centre, our own businesses don’t usually reach this far in. And the business that’s here doesn’t show loyalty to any of the four organisations.
Brunel’s department store is the height of luxury and opulence and it’s where I buy most of my wardrobe because it’s easy and has everything. I tell Harvey to park just outside the front entrance, which is clearly marked as a no parking zone. When my Jimmy Choos hit the pavement, the doorman rushes over.
“Miss Wolfe, how wonderful to see you again.” He holds a black umbrella over my head, but it’s barely spitting and after giving him a polite nod, I make my way to the large gold framed doors. Harvey reluctantly passes the keys to the second doorman, who will move my car somewhere appropriate and bring it back round when the staff are ready to bring my purchases out for me.
When I can hear Harvey’s heavy footsteps behind me, I push through the door into the main foyer, which is bracketed by rows of luxury makeup and perfume stands. The smell is overwhelming. Sweet and musky. Everything is bright and well lit, shiny and sparkling. It’s busy. I don’t usually have to deal with crowds, any other time I would have called in advanced and paid a substantial surcharge to have the store kept open after hours so I can go through and point out to my personal shopper which items I want, and she has my size delivered to my car. I’m usually in and out within an hour.
Paying no mind to Harvey behind me, I stride to the elevator and push the button. I’m grateful there are already people inside when the doors open and they don’t get out, so I don’t have to be alone with Harvey in a windowless, confined space. We stand at the front, the existing passengers behind us and Harvey moves so he’s slightly further back, putting himself between me and anyone else. But because of the size of this tiny elevator in this old building, he is pressed close, his body plastered to the back of mine. A strange feeling erupts on my skin. Goosebumps.
“What floor?” Harvey’s voice is even closer than I anticipated, and it causes a tight clench in my belly.
“What?” I turn my head and come nose to nose with him, his hot breath on my cheek and those pesky bumps spread all the way down my arms.
“Which floor are we travelling to, rainha?” He jerks his chin toward the panel on the wall and I realise I haven’t pressed the button. The fourth-floor button is lit up, which I’m guessing is for the other people in this stifling little box.
I stab the button for the sixth floor where the personal shopping service is and try to expel the butterflies that have taken flight in my belly. When the others alight, Harvey leans on the side wall, with his hands in his pockets, putting much needed space between us. I keep my gaze on the closed elevator doors, but I can feel his eyes on me, burning the side of my face. When the doors part on our desired floor, I let out a deep breath I was definitely aware I’d been holding and let my muscles unbunch. Walking straight to the desk of Leslie, my usual personal shopper, I’m pleased to see that she doesn’t have a client with her. She looks up as I approach, and the shock is evident on her face.
“Miss Wolfe! I wasn’t expecting you.” She stands and panickily searches the diary open in front of her for an appointment she may have missed.
I extend my hand and offer her a neutral expression, not stretching to a smile. “Leslie, I apologise for the intrusion.” I shake her hand as her smile relaxes. “Something unexpected has come up and I need you to help me with something. Do you have time?”
“Of course. Do you need an event outfit again?”
“No, I actually need two new wardrobes.” I gently clasp my hands in front of me, demonstrating a level of calm that I hope doesn’t raise questions about this situation.
“Two?” Leslie’s head quirks back in her surprise.
