in. I turned it over in my fingers. On the back, someon
ing with every step. The Brooklyn apartment building loo
door. I swiped the keycard through the reader. Aold and stale cigarettes. I found the apartment number and
ng up in every direction. He looked me up and down, his eyes wide
ed from inside the apartm
as his na
y shoulder past his chest
le coffee hit the back of my throat. I c
anding in front of a massive whiteboard covered in complex financial algorit
d a clean towel from the back of a chair and threw it directly at my face. The hea
scrubbed my wet hair, and drop
I demanded, looking
me, the sheer physical mass of him m
flat. "You keep the media off my back and block the a
h. "And what exactly do I get?
he sofa, trapping me between his arms. His face was inches
for the corporate fraud," he whispered
of adrenaline shot straight to my fingertip
Cash. Upfront," I said, my voice ste
y, but he didn't argue. He pulled a sleek black phone from his pocket, tapped
across the cracked screen. The phone was ancient, but the prepaid balance hadn't
les," I said, sitt
slamming pots and pans into the sink. The deafenled it with terrifying precision. It smashed directly into the w
reamed, my voca
t the smashed apple, an
He picked up a printed Non-Disclosure Agreement from thy against the thick pap
partment. Someone was kicking the front door with enough force to
He grabbed my upper arm and s
and slid a solid aluminum ba
d. The door flew open,
re cheap suits, but the Washington family securi
h. "Look at the stray dog in his little poun
fear in his eyes. Only the cold, emp
orward, reaching out t
from behind Kayden, grabbed the heavy glass ashtray off the
agged base, the sharp edges biting into my palm, and poin
y house," I snarled, m
t the crazy woman bleeding ont
d dog, swinging the bat in a brutal arc. The sickening crack of break
's belt, flipped it open with a flick of his wrist, and drove the steel tip directly in
bleeding partners, turned, a
loor. He turned slowly, his chest
ld barely keep my grip. I dropped the glass. It shattered into smaller pieces
. "I want hazard pay
d in a dark, almost imperceptible smirk. He
business with yo
only bedroom down the narrow hall.
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