by Naomi West
“Yes!” Marcus said, the word exploding from his mouth like a gunshot. “But not just me—me and my dad.”
Now shit was getting interesting.
“Now, why would your pops do something like that?” I asked. “Aren’t he and Nikki’s dad close?”
“Yeah, but my dad saw an opportunity and he took it.”
“An opportunity for what?”
“To make sure that I married Nikki. And to get a huge cash payment. He needs cash for his, um, side business. Has to stay off the books.”
I drummed my fingers on the table, thinking over what I’d just learned. I knew I’d need a little more interrogation time if I was going to get to the bottom of this shit.
“But I don’t even want the bitch anymore!” shouted Marcus. “Stupid slut, running around getting fucked by low-class thugs like you.”
Now he’d done it. Placing my hands on the table, I stood up slowly, my eyes locked onto Marcus the entire time.
“Listen, kid,” I said. “I know you’re under a little stress right now, but I’m not gonna just stand here while you insult Nikki like that. So, since I’m a really nice fucking guy, I’m gonna give you to the chance to take back what you said. Got it?”
Marcus glared at me hard. I could tell that the gears were turning in that pretty little head of his, and it didn’t take a psychiatrist to see that he was weighing the cost of speaking his mind versus keeping his little mouth shut.
“You heard me, asshole,” he said. “Stupid bitch, running around with trash like you. She’ll get what she deserves.”
I let out a light chuckle as I sat back in my chair. The same big grin was on the faces of my boys—they knew what was about to go down. And on the faces of Marcus’ crew? Let’s just say they were a little … shocked that Marcus would push his luck like that.
So I got up out of my chair, cracked my knuckles, and swung my fist in a swift, effortless arc. My punch connected with the side of Marcus’ face, an expression of shock taking hold of him before his head dropped to the table like a brick and the lights went out.
His boys squirmed and shouted, trying to make a move. But the Cats kept them in place.
“Damn, Tiger,” said Rex, lifting up Marcus’ head and taking a look. “You knocked his ass out cold.
I clenched and unclenched my fist, working out the ache from my punch.
“Now what?” asked Tank.
“Send the rest of these assholes packing,” I said. “Let ’em know that unless they want the Cats coming for them, they’d better keep their fucking mouths shut about what they saw. And as for the rest of us and the golden boy here? We’ve got a house call to make.”
Chapter 20
Nikki
Dad and I spent the ride to Angus’ office in silence. I had the urge to say something, to defend myself in some way, but I knew that more words would just make the situation worse. He’d spent the evening with Angus getting the details of whatever they’d been discussing worked out, and now it was time to bring me over.
We pulled up to the tall, silver office building, the shape of the place dark and ominous.
“Now,” Dad said as we stepped out of the car. “The authorities are going to be here while Angus and I figure out just what to do about all this. With any luck, we’ll get to the bottom of just who’s blackmailing you.”
I nodded, my eyes downcast. Despite everything, all I could think about was Tiger and how much I wanted him at my side.
Security was heavy for a normal office building, and I got the impression that that was because of what was going on inside. Dad and I made our way through the lobby after passing through the metal detectors and were soon on our way up via a private elevator.
When the doors opened at the top of the building, they revealed a spacious office with a view that looked out over the city. The yellows and pinks and blues of the Strip glowed brilliantly in the distance, and Vegas seemed to stretch out forever. The rest of the office was brightly lit and decorated in an old-fashioned style that reminded me of what I imagined the private study of a wealthy nineteenth-century Englishman would have looked like. Local police were there, seated at several tables that seemed to have been brought in recently.
And standing at the large sweep of a desk in front of the office windows was Angus Goldman, one of the wealthiest men in the city. The patriarch of the Goldman clan couldn’t have been more different from his son. Where Marcus was entitled, bratty, and snobbish, Angus was stern and serious, with a grave demeanor that projected power and confidence. His hair was a deep red, slicked back and tucked behind his ears. His features were handsome for an older man, with narrow, hawk-like eyes that seemed to always been scanning his surroundings. He was dressed in a sleek suit that likely cost more than a used car, his aesthetic carefully crafted to project both style and influence.
“There she is,” said Angus, eyes locking onto me as Dad and I entered.
He stepped around his desk and approached the two of us. After looking me over carefully, he leaned in and pulled me into a tight hug.
“This must all be so difficult, what you’re going through,” he said, letting me go after a moment. “But it’s good to see you.”
“You too, Mr. Goldman,” I said.
“Please,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. “You know better than to call me that.”
I matched his smile, brought in for a moment by his charm. “Sure, Angus.”
“That’s better,” he said.
Then he turned his attention to Dad, Angus’ expression instantly snapping from warm to grave.
“Dennis,” he said, the two men shaking hands.
“Any new developments?” asked Dad, his gaze sweeping over the half-dozen or so police officers at work on computers, a few men who looked like security technicians from Angus’ hotel seated among them.
“The boys have been busting their asses,” he said. “My crew’s still going over the access logs to the security footage, and the police have been trying to piece together just who’s been sending you the messages.”
One of the officers, a slim, suited middle-aged man with a gaunt face and a horseshoe of dark hair on his head, rose from his computer and stepped over.
“I’m Detective McConnell,” he said, shaking my hand. “I’m leading the investigation. Don’t worry—we’ll figure out just who’s blackmailing you.”
“Thanks, detective,” I said, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by everything that was going on.
“Like Angus said,” said the detective, “we’ve been doing our best to learn the identity of the blackmailer. Or blackmailers. But whoever they are, they did a hell of a job covering their tracks. All texts were sent from burner phones, and all of the physical notes were free of prints and sent from areas that didn’t have security cameras.”
“And the situation isn’t much better with the security feeds from the hotel,” said Angus, a trace of sadness slipping into his tone.
“What do you mean?” asked Dad. “I thought it was just a simple matter of finding out who’d accessed the footage and tracing it back to a computer.”
“That’s what we thought,” said Angus. “But whoever pulled this off wasn’t just some computer novice. Just like with the notes, they covered their tracks extremely well, going through multiple proxies. If they hadn’t sent the footage to you, we likely wouldn’t have even known that they even entered our systems in the first place.”
“Goddammit!” shouted Dad.
Anger gripped his features, and he looked like he wanted to smash his fist into the nearest wall. But he kept himself in check.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Who would be doing this to us? Why would anyone be going to such trouble to blackmail me?”
“That’s a good question,” said Detective McConnell. “Nikki, can you think of anyone who’d have it out for you? An enemy, maybe?”
“Not really,” I said. “I spend most of my time on campus; not a lot of chances to ma
ke enemies there.”
“And what about you, Mr. Naylor?” he asked, turning his attention to Dad. “Anyone who’d maybe get it into their heads that putting you in a spot like this might give them some leverage? Maybe a competitor?”
Dad shook his head.
“No one that I can think of,” he said. “I just manage people’s money; not like I’m running a business with a lot of direct competition.”
Detective McConnell shook his head.
“In that case, we might just be dealing with someone who’s in it for the money. Maybe they’ve been doing their research and found that a man like you might make a good target. There’re plenty of career criminals who specialize in crimes like these. You might just be their current target—nothing personal about it.”
Dad shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.
“Then what can we even do?” he asked. “I can’t have this footage going out on the internet; it’d ruin my daughter’s life!”
“Believe it or not,” said Detective McConnell, “situations like this are becoming increasingly common. And not just at high levels like this—it’s so easy to make … obscene footage like this, and it doesn’t take much for people to get ahold of it. Plenty of cases with bitter ex-boyfriends threatening women with putting sex tapes onto those porn clip websites.”
“Disgusting,” said Angus, shaking his head.
“But this isn’t just … revenge porn,” said Dad, the words sticking in his mouth. “This is a major criminal undertaking.”
“That’s right,” said Detective McConnell. “And that’s why I think that your best bet is just to pay the hackers and put all of this behind you.”
“Are you serious?” asked Dad. “Just pay them and let them get away with it?”
“It sounds dreadful, I know,” said Angus. “But that very well might just be our best bet. We pay them and this all goes away. You two can go back to your normal lives and start putting this all behind you.”
“But wait,” I said. “How do we even know that they’ll agree to their end of the bargain? Couldn’t they just take the money and put the footage on the internet anyway?”
“It’s possible,” said Detective McConnell. “They do hold all of the cards in this situation. But criminals like this, they’re professionals. Taking the money and releasing the footage would be a personal insult that they likely wouldn’t want to bother with. It’d just bring down more heat on them.”
“They’d likely just move onto the next victims,” said Angus.
“And we’d be letting them get away with it,” said Dad.
“This time, yes,” said Detective McConnell. “But criminals like this, doing high-risk crimes, it’s only a matter of time before they slip up and get caught. We might not get them now, but we will eventually.”
That didn’t make me feel much better. It was like giving into evil or something.
“But look on the bright side,” said Angus. “They’ve made it very easy to do the wire transfer. Dennis, I know this is hard, but you could pay them right at this very moment. They’d see that the money’s been sent, and that’ll be the end of it. You’ll be back to normal by the end of the night.”
“I don’t know how we can go back to normal after something like this,” I said.
“I can think of one way,” said Angus. “We can start the planning for you and Marcus’ wedding. I know that he’s been chomping at the bit to get together with you, Nikki. Maybe this is the wake-up call you both need to realize that starting a life together will be the best thing for both of you.”
The thought made me sick to my stomach, especially knowing how Marcus had been behaving in the last few days.
“Maybe that would be for the best,” said Dad. “Maybe getting married would be the best way to keep you out of … situations like these.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but what could I say? My eyes drifted across the office, taking in the sight of all of these men and women working hard to clean up after my mess, made me wonder if Dad was right that I wasn’t responsible enough to make my own decisions.
But that didn’t make me want Tiger any less. I wished more than anything that he was here. I knew he’d be able to come up with some plan to find the criminals and bring them to justice.
“Then I think that’s all there is to it,” said Dad.
He turned to me, took my hand into his, and looked deep into my eyes.
“Listen, Nikki, I know that you’re feeling scared out of your mind, and probably feel ashamed and hurt by all of this. But you’re my daughter, and I love you. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that you make it to the other side of this. After all, it’s not just you we’ve got to look out for now.”
Dad’s words cut right to the core. It was easy to believe that he was a stern asshole, concerned about nothing but his reputation and keeping me in line. But I knew there was love behind his actions, and that my well-being had never stopped being his most important priority.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, tears forming in my eyes.
“Wait, what?” asked Angus. “Who else are you looking out for?”
“Ah, I didn’t mention that Nikki was pregnant.”
Angus’ expression shifted from its regular cool to one of bemusement.
“Wait, you’re pregnant?” he asked. “But who’s the …”
It didn’t take him much thinking to put two and two together.
“The man on the camera?” he asked. “That biker is the father of your child?”
I nodded. What else could I say?
“Is that going to be a problem?” asked Dad.
“I, ah, I suppose we’ll have to work with it,” said Angus. “Marcus won’t be happy, but we’ll figure something out. The important thing is that we get the two of you together, and not waste anymore time.”
“Actually,” said Detective McConnell. “The important thing is that Ms. Naylor gives me the word on just what he wants to do next. You’re ready to pay the ransom?”
Dad took a deep, slow breath.
“I suppose we don’t have any other option,” he said. “Send out a message to the criminals and let them know that I’m ready to pay.”
I took Dad’s hand and squeezed it tight. His shoulders slumped and his eyes downcast, he looked more defeated than I’d ever seen him before.
“Hold on,” said one of the police officers. “We’ve got someone down at the front desk. Says he knows something about who might be behind all of this.”
“What?” asked Angus, striding towards the officer. “Who the hell could it be?”
“No idea,” said the cop. “But he says his name is Tiger.”
Chapter 21
Tiger
“They said to come right up,” said the man at the front desk, his eyes locked onto my tattoos. “Just go to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. They’ll all be waiting for you.”
“Thank you kindly,” I said.
I took a look at the spiffy interior of the lobby, marveling at how much money it had probably cost to build a place like this. My steps easy, I entered the elevator and pressed the button. The doors slid shut and up I went.
I wasn’t sure just how this was all going to go down, but I knew this was where I had to be. Nikki was here, and I had to do right by her and our baby.
The doors slid open, revealing a massive, old-timey office that looked out onto the city. Nikki, her father, and some other important-looking guy in an expensive suit were there, along with a handful of detectives and other techie-types.
“Tiger!” shouted Nikki, running across the office and throwing her arms around me.
Her touch was incredible. I hadn’t realized it, but there was nothing I’d wanted more at that moment than for her body to be pressed against mine, for me to smell her hair, to feel her skin. I closed my eyes and savored the moment.
“This is the biker that’s behind all of this trouble?” asked the man in the expensive suit.
“And we’re just letting him up here?”
“Let me guess,” I said. “You’re Marcus’ pops?”
He furrowed his brow and looked at me skeptically.
“How the hell do you know that? And how the hell do you know my son?”
“We go way back,” I said, letting go of Nikki. “And as for how I guessed, let’s just say you both get the same tone to your voice when you’re pissed off. It’s kind of cute, actually.”
