Twenty-nine

Devlin

This is the very last place I want to be right now, but I can’t handle being in the penthouse or anywhere near the hotel. It’s hard to be there when I know that Charli might walk away from me—permanently. I’d grown accustomed to her the past few days, and now it’s difficult to walk into the penthouse and not expect her to be there. Granted, she’s at the library working her shift, but still.

So here I am, holed up in my office at the security firm. I have plenty of people to run the place, and my vice president has been handling the bulk of the company for the past few years. I have plenty of privacy to focus on the biggest problem wreaking havoc with my life—the person who’d planted that bomb.

I lean back in my chair, sipping the scotch I’d poured myself as I gaze out the window. The city is bustling thirty stories below, and I watch as people hustle along the sidewalks as I try to sort out who could be after Charli.

At first, I was leaning towards the Serrato’s, but why go after an innocent woman instead of just coming right at me? This is a cutthroat business, and Charli is just a minor player in the grand scheme of things. Getting rid of her would do nothing more than incite my temper, and that would make it even more challenging for them to get their hands on my territory. Instead, the Serrato organization has been careful to try to organize meetings. If they’d felt they could simply take the territory from me, they would have already. They don’t have the manpower to take out my organization, hence the meetings and partnership they’re trying to maneuver me into. Going after Charli would ruin everything they’re trying to accomplish, and it would cause a war that they clearly can’t win.

So, if it’s not Serrato and his organization, that leaves someone on my end—and that pisses me off. My hand tightens on the glass as I stare grimly out the window, my eyes unfocused as I’m lost in my thoughts.

No one knew about Charli but those closest to me. I was certain to make sure her account couldn’t be tracked back to me, same with the apartment lease. If anyone outside my inner circle were to find out about her, it’d be because they were surveilling me twenty-four/seven. My men are well-equipped to pick up on any kind of surveillance, so I am crossing that off my mental list.

That leaves Carter, Tobias, Aiden, Jonah, and Elias. Jonah, one of my bodyguards, I don’t think is even aware of Charli. Tobias is a cold fucker, but he would have no reason to want Charli out of the way. It wouldn’t benefit him in the end, and I know he’s content with where he’s positioned on the totem pole within the organization. The messy jobs are his, something he enjoys. The man’s a cold-blooded killer, and with me as his employer, he gets to have his fun without consequence.

Aiden only kills when he has to, and he was brought into the organization when I saved his ass years ago before my father died. He would never betray me.

Carter’s loyal to a fault, and I know he wouldn’t touch Charli.

That leaves Elias.

I rub my chin thoughtfully, eyes going cold. In a way, it makes sense. The bomb was planted in the apartment above so that it would look like Charli was just a casualty. Nobody was ever to catch on who the real target was. If there hadn’t been any fragments found of the bomb, I would have never known for certain that Charli had become a target—not yet at least.

My lip curls into a grim smile. Elias wouldn’t be able to hire the kind of professional that guarantees no trace of evidence left behind, because word would get back to me since I’m well-known in those circles. He’d had no choice but to hire someone who claimed they could do the job correctly.

He must have personal ties to Serrato’s organization. I can’t think of any other reason for him to go after Charli. I speculate he has a personal stake in the partnership and is working under the table with Serrato himself, or someone under him. A lot must be riding on this merger, and he was frustrated that I was distracted with Charli. I think back to all the times I brushed off his phone calls because I was busy with her.

Bingo.

Elias probably thought with Charli out of the picture, I’d be more focused on the merger and maybe cave to his pressure—or outside pressure from other forces.

I turn in my chair and face my desk, setting the glass down. Elias is old as dirt with the ‘old ways’ in mind when it comes to eliminating the problem. He’s a fool, because these days, it’s more difficult to get away with shit. Too much surveillance and whatnot. And a lot more technology for solving crime.

Though I’m almost certain Elias has turned on me, I still need proof. I pull out my cellphone and text Carter that he’s to come to the office immediately.

Carter’s going to do some surveillance for me. I need to know who Elias has been dealing with from the Serrato organization. Once that’s known, I can begin to plan how to get rid of Elias and how to end this shit with the Serrato’s.