Bet On It: An Age Gap Billionaire Office Romance(68)

"What?"

She pressed her index finger into her chest as she leaned forward and raged at me. "I'm the one who got rid of them. And I tried to save you from Analyn too."

My hackles rose. "What does that mean?" Analyn's performance review came to mind. Had Catherine made changes to it knowing how I'd react? I realized I hadn't gone back and pulled it up to check the sources from which Catherine had pulled together the review.

"The only woman for you is me, Reed. She's making you look like a fool. For God's sake, I will—”

"What did I tell you about—" My phone rang, preventing me from finishing what I planned to say. Normally, I might've ignored the call, but on the chance it was Analyn, I pulled it out. The number was blocked, and my first instinct was to ignore it, but then a kernel of fear took root in my belly.

I swiped over the screen to answer. "Who is this?"

"It's your good friend Gino, Reed. I took a look at your counteroffer and it's totally unacceptable. So I've got a new offer for you."

There was a pause, and I was about to ask what he was talking about when in the background I heard a woman crying out. My heart stopped. "Analyn!"

"I figured my new bargaining chip might be something you'd pay attention to. I have to say, Reed, she’s stunning in red."

"What the fuck, Gino. You’d better let her go or so help me, I will hunt you down and kill you like the dog that you are."

"Now, now, Reed, settle down. I'm going to text you an address. You meet me there in an hour ready to do business. If you do that, you can have your woman back. If you don't show up, or if you show up with cops, your woman doesn't stand a chance."

The line went dead before I could respond. "Holy Jesus fuck." I ran my hand over my head as I searched my brain for what to do. I’d overplayed my hand, and now Analyn was going to pay the price. The phone pinged. Checking the screen, the blocked number had sent a text of an address located in an area that would be deserted this time of night.

I looked up at Catherine all of a sudden, the perspective in my life changing. She and her deranged love for me meant nothing next to saving Analyn.

The look of horror on her face was the only thing that stopped me from running out of the room to take care of Analyn. I rounded on her. "What do you know about this?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, not much."

I wanted to throttle her.

She must've seen the murderous expression in my eyes as she said, "They just offered me a little something in exchange to help get in front of you."

"Did you tell them about me and Analyn?"

She shook her head. "I didn't have to. They had somebody following you."

I scowled. "And how would they know where I was going to be?"

She looked down.

"I trusted you, Catherine. You say you love me, and you did this to me?"

"I didn't know they would do something like this. I could see that you were miserable being the CEO, and I was just trying to help you." She stepped forward again, pressing her hands on my chest. "I did this out of love."

I slapped her hands away. "You're fired. As soon as I save Analyn, I'll decide whether you're going to jail as well." I hurried out of my office, rushing out to my car.

As soon as I was driving toward the warehouse, I called Pierce. "Those fucking bastards took Analyn."

"What fucking bastards? Oh, shit, not the Paradise Limited people?"

"Yes. They’re holding her hostage. I'm going to have to agree to this partnership in order to save her." There was no question now that I would do whatever they wanted me to do. Once she was safe, I would figure out the next step, which would likely be calling the Feds and figuring out how to get rid of my part of the partnership. And then maybe tanking the company. I also had to figure out a way to save everyone on my staff from utter ruin. Everyone except Catherine, of course.

"You're not doing anything stupid, are you?" Pierce asked.

"If I call the cops, she's dead. If I show up willing to do this deal, they say they’ll let her go."

"Can you trust them?"

"Not as far as I could throw them. But what choice do I have?" My tires squealed as I made a righthand turn onto the street that would take me out to the warehouse.

"You can't do this by yourself, Reed. Seriously, once you sign those papers, they could kill the both of you. You need help."

"No cops, Pierce."

The line was quiet for a moment. "Okay, no cops. But they didn't say anything about another kind of backup."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Come by the rink. I think I've got an idea."





36





Analyn





I was trembling, and I felt cold down to the marrow of my bones. But it wasn't the temperature that had me shaking. It was fear. I sat in a warehouse with boxes stacked twice as tall as me filling most of the space. In the open section, I sat in a chair with my hands tied behind my back. A man with a gun stood one side of me. On the other side of me was another man with a gun strapped to his side as he leaned against the wall scrolling through his phone and looking bored.