A Dirty Business (Kings of New York #1)(65)

“You don’t want backup?”

“One of us getting dirtied up is enough. I don’t want this shit to spread to you.”

She gave a nod and stepped back, taking the sealed UA from me. “Hey, Jess.”

I opened the door, looking back at her before getting inside.

Her gaze was hard on me. “Just be smart, whatever you’re going to do.”

Smart? I’d try. Anything else, I couldn’t promise.

I indicated the UA. “Can you turn that in for me?”

“I will. I’ll call for a ride.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. Go handle this shit before it spreads any more.”

“Thank you, Val.”

Another sober nod from her. “Just remember what I said. Be smart.”

She was right. When I murdered Trace, I’d have to be very smart about where I hid his body.





CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR


TRACE


“Mr. West, an Officer Montell is here to see you. She’s saying she doesn’t need an appointment.”

I frowned, not expecting this greeting when my phone had rung from the building’s front desk.

“Let her up.”

“Will do, Mr. West.”

I exited out of the portfolios that I’d been studying when the elevator pinged her arrival. The front desk staff would’ve notified my assistant, who indicated my office for Jess, as she saw me through the glass walls we had in this building. Normally I didn’t mind being surrounded by glass walls. It’d been a trendy thing when they’d first designed this place. Everyone wanted to see what everyone else was doing. It cut down on any stupid shady shit, too, which I always thought was the real reason behind the design. Everyone had coverings for their computers, so privacy was still maintained, but getting the warning burn from Jess’s glare had me cursing the see-through walls right now.

Still, when she came inside and once that door shut behind her, I hit a button, and we were soundproofed now. The windows clouded over. We were still visible, but our facial expressions would be blurred.

She came in, stopping just inside so almost the entire room was between us. Her hand was on her hip, where I knew she kept her weapon.

I stood up from my desk. “What’s going on?”

“You put out an order of protection on me? With the West Mafia stamp of approval?”

What?!

That would condemn her. It was the exact opposite of what I wanted for her. “I didn’t, Jess.”

“You did!” She started for me but slammed on her brakes. Her body ricocheted back from the force. “Do you have any idea what that does for me?”

“Yes. I do! I would never do that to you. Not that I wouldn’t want to, but I wouldn’t. Jess.” This was the worst-case scenario. I’d done so much to keep my mind off of her. “What you said to me, the last time we talked, it’s true. I wouldn’t want that for you. I wouldn’t want to do that to you. I’ve been staying away.”

“Then who the fuck put the order out on me? I look like—”

“I know what you look like. I know. I would never do that to you.”

Her eyes were sparking fire, and every inch of her body was rigid. She was ready to fight.

I brought out a burner phone and dialed Ashton’s number, the phone reserved exactly for these conversations. When he answered, I put him on speaker. “Just so you know, you’re on speakerphone. I’m in my office with Jess.”

He was quiet. “Well. Didn’t expect this call, though maybe I should’ve, considering you’re using one of these phones. What can I do for you both?”

“Jess just informed me that an order of protection was put on her, on behalf of the West family.”

He started laughing, which turned into a coughing fit as he tried to settle himself. “Sorry. I—just—what the fuck?!”

I relaxed at hearing that. He hadn’t done it on my behalf, and I sat down, lounging back in my chair. “Who would’ve done this, Ashton?”

He cursed. “You’re asking me? It’s your family.”

I cast the phone a look. “You know exactly why I’m asking you. Who do you think did this?”

Jess was still rigid, her head back and her eyes closed. Her chest was barely moving, and her hands were digging into her hips, but I noted that her right hand was not by her weapon anymore.

“I honestly don’t know, but . . . can you take me off speaker?”

Jess’s eyes opened. She had a guarded expression over her face, but she didn’t object as I took my phone and took him off speaker.

Standing, I went to the window, my phone to my ear. My back was to Jess. “What are you thinking?”

“You did that so she could hear my reaction, right? Make sure she believed it wasn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

He exhaled over the phone. “Don’t fucking do that again.”

“I won’t, but who are you thinking did this? You know what this means for her.”

“Yeah. She’s marked on the streets. No wonder she showed up at your office.”

“Ashton,” I growled. He had a better feel for the streets than I did. That was his area of expertise. “Who did this?”