Nothing To Lose: A Grey Justice Novel (38 page)

And now, the way he was feeling, he could live to be a hundred…if not more. No one could stop him…nothing could hold him back.

The buzzer on his desk went off. Mathias growled into the intercom, “Yes?”

“You son Adam is here, sir.”

“Send him in. And make sure we’re not disturbed.”

Seconds later, Adam strode into the office like a cocky rooster. Mathias sighed. The boy had learned nothing from their last tangle. Why couldn’t he have had at least one son who acted in a manner befitting a Slater? This little pissant should have been slinking in with his tail between his legs, crawling to his daddy, asking forgiveness. What did the little shit have to be smug about?

Adam had always been the most arrogant of his sons, and Jonah, his youngest, had been the exact opposite, mild-mannered and humble. Eli had been in the middle, never seeming to need his father for anything. Of course, thanks to Mathias and his stern treatment, Jonah had finally grown a backbone. Too bad it’d gotten him killed. Should’ve been tougher on the little twit.

Adam threw himself into a chair and sprawled out like a giant, lazy hound. As much as it galled Mathias, he refrained from berating his son. Right now, Adam was his only familial ally. And even though the kid held on to his daddy’s coattail like a terrified kitten, alienating him might do more harm than good. The idiot had yet to figure out that he was Mathias’s tool, to be used or discarded at will.

“Get your feet off the furniture, son, and tell me what’s got you looking like you just hit your first home run?”

Grinning like a fool, Adam said, “I just stole Eli’s assistant right out from under his nose.”

“You did what?”

“You’ve seen her, Daddy. She’s that sexy number that Eli’s been sporting around town to all the functions. Stupid of him to think he could hold on to something so fine. Barely took any coaxing at all for her to come work for me.”

“What are you talking about? Why would you want to steal your brother’s assistant?”

“Well, for one thing, you did away with mine, and I haven’t been able to find an adequate replacement.”

Mathias let that little chastisement slide. Picking and choosing his battles had gotten him this far. Still, it didn’t keep him from looking forward to slapping the shit out of the boy one day very soon.

“Surely there are other young women you could get to fetch and carry for you. Why’s this one so special?”

“Because she’s gorgeous, and Eli always acts so smug when he’s with her, like he’s got something I can’t have.”

Mathias barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Of all his sons, Adam had always been the most covetous. Whenever one of his brothers or friends got something new, they’d had to watch out, ’cause Adam would find a way to either destroy it or take it away.

“How do you know you can trust the girl? You know as well as I do that Eli doesn’t give a rat’s ass hair about the family. He’d love to destroy both of us and take over everything. For all you know, this bitch is a spy.”

Adam let loose a guffaw that would’ve done a donkey proud. “Don’t be silly, Daddy. She’s ambitious and seems moderately intelligent, but she’s no brain surgeon. There’s no way in hell she’d have the smarts to spy on us.”

“Maybe so, but how do you know you can trust her? Just because you think she’s not smart enough to spy, how do you know she’s not going to spit out some family secrets? Your last assistant sure as hell didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.”

Adam waved away the objections. “I know, but Teri was doing all of that for Jonah. She probably thought he’d take over the family business someday. Rachel is different. She’s got no loyalties to Eli.”

“What do you know about her?”

“Everything there is to know. It’s not like I was born yesterday… I had her thoroughly investigated. She’s from Amarillo, has no family, and never been married. Never been arrested—not even a speeding ticket.”

“How do you know she’s smart enough to handle the job?”

“She’s got a college degree, and she got promoted several times at Slater House before Eli scooped her up for his assistant. She’s been working for him for several weeks, and you know he’s not one to put up with foolishness. Besides, I’m a good judge of people.”

Good judge of people, his ass. No, Adam had seen something shiny and new that belonged to his brother and decided he had to have it.

“You’d better be right, boy, ’cause I’m not going to pull your ass out of the fire if she’s not on the up-and-up.”

“You won’t need to, Daddy.”

Mathias raised himself up and glared at his son, ready to talk about the real reason he’d told the boy to come see him. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing having that Italian Mafia group over at your house for dinner?”

Adam’s face went three shades lighter, and then he swallowed so hard that Mathias saw his throat convulse. “I… It’s not what you think, Daddy. It was…it was Eli’s idea.”

His eyes narrowed on the boy. “That right?”

“Yes, sir.” Adam nodded like an eager puppy. “See…Eli knew I needed more funding for the restaurant. And since you’d made it clear you weren’t going to give me more, he suggested I call them. It wasn’t until later that I realized how dangerous they were. I didn’t take anything from them. Honest.”

He hated when one of his children lied to him. “That’s good to know, son. And you know exactly why I didn’t give you more money. That place is a money pit. That’s two and a half million of hard-earned Slater dollars I’ll never see again. You know how stuff like that riles me.”

“Yes, sir. But I’ll get that money back for you someday. I promise.”

Even though that was about as likely as a July snowstorm on the sun, Mathias nodded his head as if he really believed it. Adam, the jackass, looked both relieved and jubilant. Yeah, he thought he’d pulled one over on his old man.
 

“Get on out of here, boy. I got work to do. And don’t forget to go by and see your mama. She’s still hurting over losing Jonah.”

Huffing out a breath like a snotty, teenage brat, Adam stomped out the door. The instant it closed, Mathias pressed the intercom. “Round up Cyrus. Get him in here.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mathias blew out an explosive sigh. He’d always known Adam was the dumbest of his kids, which had worked well for many years. That was going to have to change. Not only had he lost a mountain of money on that dumbass idea of a restaurant, he’d gone and gotten in bed with some hoodlums. Those Italian boys were in the big leagues. Not as powerful as a Slater, but still, they could do some damage if they wanted. When Adam disappointed them, as was inevitable, his son was going to pay big-time. And that meant it could come back and bite Mathias on the ass, too.

He had covered for the idiot for the last time. To the rest of the world, Adam Slater was a brilliant businessman. To his father, who had created the illusion, he was a fool who could barely count to a hundred without help. Every dime the world believed Adam had earned had been carefully orchestrated by Mathias.
 

Didn’t matter that Adam was his own blood. When a man made a mistake, blood couldn’t count. Mathias was a man who believed in survival. If that meant standing on the fallen bodies of others to stay alive, then that’s what he’d do, kin or no kin.

Lying to a parent was about as big a sin as one could commit. It was time for a hard lesson for another of his boys.

And no matter what Adam had said about the woman he’d stolen from Eli, Mathias wouldn’t rest easy until he’d had her thoroughly researched. He’d come too far and sacrificed too much to have some little bitch from Amarillo ruin it for him. And if she was up to no good? Well, then, she’d end up in the same position as Adam’s last assistant. Dead and in pieces.

Chapter Thirty-four

The transition from Slater House to Slater Enterprises had been much easier than she anticipated. One day she’d left work after a full workday as Eli’s assistant. The next day, she’d traveled to another office building ten miles in the other direction and reported to his brother.
 

Adam wasted no time introducing her as the assistant he’d stolen from his younger brother. The speculative and knowing looks she received from his upper management bounced off her like a rubber ball against concrete. If they wanted to believe she was here to fulfill some sort of sexual depravity with Adam Slater, let them. She had a purpose far beyond what they could imagine. Her reputation as an executive assistant was the least of her worries.

After the round of introductions, she was shown to her new office. Most people would have been thrilled to have their own office, filled with nice furniture and even a semi-decent view out her window. She wasn’t one of those people. The fact that she had an office disturbed her. She had liked being out in the open when she worked for Eli. In an office, she couldn’t see what was going on, who came to visit Adam, or hear what someone might say in an unguarded moment.

Since the appropriate response should have been gratitude and awe at her new surroundings, Kennedy did just that, along with the proper amount of arrogance, of course. She found herself walking a fine line between cold, ambitious bitch and subordinate. She was sure Irelyn would have had no problem carrying off such a role, but she was no Irelyn.

She had seen the woman only once since learning that Jonah had been killed. Though Irelyn had behaved as coolly confident as always, there had been something different about her, too. Maybe it was because she’d learned about Irelyn’s relationship with the man who had arranged Thomas’s death. While Kennedy had been anticipating and planning her future with Thomas and their baby, Irelyn had known none of that was possible. That lay between them. And though she couldn’t say the time she spent with Irelyn had ever been comfortable, their meetings had become easier. The last one had held the awkwardness of their earlier sessions.

The last few minutes of that session had been the most surprising and revealing time Kennedy had ever spent with the woman. She’d been gathering up her purse and coat when Irelyn put a hand on her arm and said quietly, “I know you must hate me.”

Kennedy shook her head. “I don’t understand you, but I certainly don’t hate you. I believe you would have tried to prevent Thomas’s death if you had learned about it in time.”

Kennedy thought she saw a gleam of appreciation in her eyes. “Thank you for that.” And then a hardness crossed her features as she’d leaned closer and whispered, “If you get in trouble…if anything happens, don’t depend on anyone but yourself. Not Nick, Eli…certainly not Grey. Save yourself…don’t wait on someone to do it for you. Be your own hero.”

Then, as if nothing unusual had been said, she drew back and gave her usual jaunty smile. “See you next time.”

Kennedy had left that meeting more confused and intrigued than ever about Irelyn Raine.

A buzzer ripped her back to reality. Pressing the intercom key, she said, “Yes?”

“Come in to my office and let’s go over this month’s agenda.”

“Be right there.”

Gathering her calendar, along with her cellphone, which she slipped into her suit jacket, Kennedy left her office and headed to meet with her new employer, eager to take her next step toward destroying him.

Grey eyed the man across from him. He was usually excellent at reading people, but he had to admit that Nick Gallagher was a challenge. For the first time in a while, Grey had no idea how the man was going to respond to his offer and request.
 

“I understand you resigned your position with the Houston Police Department.”

Gallagher shrugged. “Thought it best since I was breaking into a prominent citizen’s home.”

“I imagine that would be difficult to explain to your superiors. You have any plans for the future?”

“Beyond destroying Mathias and Adam Slater? No, can’t say that I do.”

“I offered you a job when we first met. Now that you’ve seen the private side of our victims advocate operation, any interest in joining us?”

“Possibly. Once the Slaters get locked away, I’ll make a decision for the future.”

“Fair enough.” His gaze dropped to the phone Gallagher held in his hand. “How’s she doing?”

“From what I can tell, things are going smoothly. Adam might be proud of his newest acquisition and smug that he one-upped his brother, but he apparently intends for Rachel to do her job.”

“Excellent. The more responsibilities he gives her, the more she will gain his trust.” Grey stood and headed to the large bar across the room. “Want more coffee?” Though he ran his corporations in one of the largest skyscrapers in downtown Dallas, Grey was more comfortable discussing certain issues within the privacy of his penthouse.
 

Gallagher shook his head. “So why else am I here?”

“As I mentioned when we first met, you have excellent instincts, Gallagher.”

Grey hesitated a moment before he made the request. It’d been years since he had been so conflicted over a decision. Even though the stage was set, with everything in place, the ramifications would be long-lasting, possibly permanent. This upcoming event had been years in the making, and while one part of him hesitated to carry it through, another, stronger part of him was infuriated that he was even vacillating.