Chapter 28

Adam

I lean back in my chair and sigh, a smile spreading across my face as my mind wanders and thoughts of her fill my head.

The past little while with her—and the guys, too, let’s be real—has been unreal, like something out of a dream. I can’t get her and all of the things we did together out of my head—that and how much fucking fun she is.

I’ve basically felt like I was floating on cloud nine since I met her—the cloud nine that involves loads of sex, debauchery, and lingerie, mind you— and she seems to be just as happy as I am with things.

I reach into my jacket pocket, and I’m confused when I feel a slip of paper, unsure of what it is. I pull it out and smile as soon as I realize, chuckling to myself.

It’s the receipt from one of the stores I took her to when we went shopping.

Well, shopping loosely describes that day, I guess. It was more like teasing the shit out of each other and fucking in dressing rooms and buying the occasional clothing item, but, hey, same thing, right?

Nonetheless, still a really good date. Fantastic date, actually.

I sigh to myself, tossing the receipt into the waste bin to my left and smiling as my mind once again replays the events that have taken place over the last while.

How on earth did I ever get so lucky to meet a girl like Lacey? She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s a fucking bombshell, and she’s down for whatever the hell I suggest. How many other girls have I met that would take all three of us at once and that isn’t a psychotic bitch?

Exactly. I rest my case.

It’s just too bad that she works for such a sleazy scumbag. He certainly complicates things. Not to mention, he makes Lacey uncomfortable and doesn’t have an ounce of consideration for her.

Oh, well, she won’t have to deal with him for much longer once the plan is put in motion.

Speaking of Lacey, I really need to figure out how I’m going to talk to her about all of this and how I’m going to present my plan. It’s a great plan, I know that, but it’s a matter of convincing her that it is, and that it’ll work, and that she needs to help me with it.

It’s quite brilliant, actually.

The first time I thought of the idea—mind you, it was just a thought at that point, but still—was right after I took Lacey to the strip club.

She had an absolute ball, wasn’t uncomfortable, and obviously she’s got no issue with sex or women using their bodies to make money.

What does this all have to do with my plan, you may ask, and how did I come up with the idea in a strip club, of all places? Well, let me enlighten you.

It’s genius, really, my idea.

I want to take the money from that greedy bastard of a CEO, slip it right out with Lacey attached, and quietly invest it in businesses in Amsterdam.

The businesses of the Red Light District, to be more specific.

He’ll be none the wiser, and we’ll be sharing our crown together.

By investing in the Red Light District, we’ll be able to use the businesses there to launder out the money, filtering it back into the company as successful revenue, and keeping us in the clear.

There are dozens and dozens of different businesses and venues that we could invest in and work from, and they would all be easily manageable and would hide the money laundering perfectly.

Not to mention all of the purely cash dealings we could do, furthering our profit and reducing our paper trail.

Of course, we’ll run the businesses and handle the finances ourselves; that way, there’s no risk of an employee getting curious or having sticky fingers. The last thing we’d need is some eager go-getter who decides to investigate a discrepancy in our monthly earnings or cash flow.

Not only will we have a surefire way of laundering the money without getting caught, we’ll be running legitimate businesses together. No one will suspect a thing, and we’ll get our own little happily ever after.

A little bit of an unorthodox happily ever after, but that’s not the point. The point is, we’ll be together, we’ll be away from that filthy scumbag, and sharing our palace until the end of days.

Not only is it the perfect place to carry out my plan—soon to be our plan—but it’s gorgeous and actually pretty romantic, which I’m sure she’ll love. We’ll be raking in the dough while we get to enjoy the scenery and city, pretty much being paid to enjoy ourselves.

Sam and Charlie? Well, they’re my brothers, but…gotta crack a few eggs, right? Point is, Lacey is mine, and she’ll see that once I have this all together. Snatch the cash, clean things up, and we’ll be living the high life.

Like I said: it may not be your typical fairy tale romance or happily ever after, but it certainly works for me.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get, and I’m now sitting here in my chair, grinning from ear to ear like an idiot.

I’ve pretty much worked all of it out in my head, and it seems pretty straightforward to me, so now I just have to run it by Lacey and make sure she’s up for it. Not that I have any doubts that she’ll object, but still, my nerves will be a bit on edge until everything is said and done.

This is a huge risk, I know that, but, like Lacey said: go big or go home, right?