Dalton
It’s been a busy couple of days for me. After an interesting conversation with Luther Green, I know exactly who the ringleaders are. It’s hard not to admire a man who is so rich he feels no alliance to anyone. Paul Winslow took the lead on the campaign to drive Penny out. He’s the one who produced her lease. He’s also the one who called Cannington.
I’ve never been the blackmail type, but with the help of Ben, I have compiled enough shit against Paul I can shut him down.
I haven’t seen Penny, but I’m okay with that. She needs time with her sister, and I need time to wake up a few of my neighbors. This was not Penny’s fault, and when I go to her I want to give her news that it has been resolved.
I see Randy on the other side of the gym, and he looks more like a punching bag to me than the three I just passed. I could pick up a dumbbell and do some real damage to his face, but I’m not looking for life in prison. I’m loaded with emotions I don’t want to deal with, though, and shoving him around seems like a good outlet right now.
“I didn’t touch her,” Randy says, preemptively trying to thwart my rage. It’s not enough.
My hand is clenching around the collar of his gym shirt as I yank him up from the weight bench. “Don’t ever fucking go near her again.”
“Whatever,” he chokes out, his hands up so I can’t misconstrue any motion for a provocation. “I don’t get why you’re so angry. You’re the one who figured out how to get her out.”
“She’s not going anywhere.” I loosen my grip on his neck as a crowd starts to gather.
“I don’t get you,” Randy says.
“She’s not worth it, Dalton,” Paul says as he crosses the gym to where we are. “Are you really willing to risk everything for her?”
“Are you?” I growl. Losing Cannington will hurt. He’s the bridge to where I want to take my company. He could also be a wall between me and anyone in his circle.
“Just be a team player,” Paul says, looking like he may slap a hand to my back but suddenly thinks better of it. Good call. “You call her and the sister; you tell her you want to talk. Then you give them this.” He hands me an envelope and winks.
“What the hell is this?” I ask, shoving it back in his direction.
“I wouldn’t give it back if I were you. It’s the golden ticket out of this situation.” His devious smile gets a little bigger as he steps away. The room clears quickly, and I can tell everyone else must already know what I’m holding. “I get the lure of fresh pussy, but you need to wake up now and do the right thing.”
Curiosity isn’t enough to get me to open it, but worry for Penny is. I stride out of the gym. No way will I open it with an audience.
My mind runs through a hundred possibilities. Blackmail. They’ve found something so devious on Kylie or Penny that it will compel them to give up. Or they’ve found exactly what they wanted in the lease, and they’re moving forward.
Two separate documents slide from the large envelope into my hand. One is a manifesto with a snap shot of Ziggy paper-clipped to the front. There is a laundry list of accusations against him, including tax fraud and evasion, misrepresentation of financial condition, illicit transactions designed to evade regulatory oversight. Apparently someone has dug into Ziggy’s unconventional business practices and put together enough anomalies to launch an investigation. With one call he could be pulled in, questioned, and charged with a litany of crimes.
My blood boils as I consider the lengths these bastards have gone to. I assume the other sheet is more strong-arming blackmail. But I’m wrong. It’s a contract from the company Kylie works for. She’s already the CFO but this document is an offer. A legally binding document that says if she is willing to take up full and permanent residence in the penthouse suite of a building across town, a highly coveted location, they would make her an equal stockholder to the CEO, along with a few other key promises anyone would be crazy to turn down. The note attached says: sign this and the other goes away.
If Kylie moves out and takes all the significant perks being offered, Ziggy will be in the clear. They’ll bury this information and move on. It should be a no-brainer. What woman wouldn’t want to improve her own career and protect her father at the same time? Yet something tells me it won’t be quite so cut and dried in her mind.
I head for the lobby, the envelope clutched tight in my hand. Pulling my cell phone out, I dial Penny’s number and expect voicemail. There’s no chance in hell she’ll want to talk to me.
There’s no time to find out as I come face-to-face with Penny and a woman I can only assume is Kylie. We collide and the envelope and documents tumble to the floor, landing by Penny’s sneaker. I watch her forehead crease with confusion and then morph just as suddenly into anger.
“You just can’t stay out of this, can you?” Penny asks as she scoops up the documents and shoves them hard into my chest. “I don’t want you involved.”
“Too late,” I growl. “I know how to take Paul Winslow down.”
“You do?” Kylie looks up from reading over the contract that details her potential raise and career improvements.
“I do. And I’m all in on this. They won’t drive you out, Kylie. I’ll make damn sure of that.”
Kylie looks from me to her sister and back. “Penny, we should at least hear him out.”