Free Revenge: A Bad Boy Romance by Jessica Ashe Page B

all subtle.
    She had to be after Denton, but if so, she was playing a dangerous game. She wasn’t working with the authorities, because we’d ordered all agencies to stay the hell out of our way. She might work for a another criminal organization, but she looked a little too clean cut for that. Mind you, so did I, and yet here I was about to go to lunch with a major criminal and alleged murderer.
    “Lunch is off,” Denton said, as he hung up the phone, and made me look away from the woman following us.  
    “Oh, okay. That’s fine. I brought a packed lunch to the office anyway. Shall we walk back?”
    “You walk back. I have something I need to take care of urgently.”  
    “Why don’t I come with you? I could do with the walk.”
    “No,” Denton replied aggressively. “No, you need to go back to the office. You can’t be with me for this.”
    “If you need to make another ‘collection’ then I assure you I can handle it.”
    “Chloe, I’m not backing down on this. When you get back to the office, call my driver, Alan, and have him bring the car to the abandoned sugar factory near Twenty-First street as soon as possible.”
    “Abandoned factory?” Nothing good ever happened in abandoned factories.  
    “Yes. Can I trust you to do that?”  
    I nodded and Denton walked away. The factory wasn’t that far, so he should have been able to walk back to the office afterwards. Why did he need the car?  
    I needed to know what he was doing. Lois would only accuse me of going soft on him if I didn’t find a way to butt in.  
    I called Alan when I got back to the office, but told him to swing by and pick me up first. There was no way I was staying at my desk when Denton was up to something far more interesting.  
    I was going to find out what he was up to. Maybe then I would find out what sort of person he really was.

Dad always did have perfect timing. He called just as Chloe and I were about to go into the restaurant for lunch together. Five seconds later, and I would have set my phone to silent and enjoyed a nice lunch with my new assistant.
    Perhaps the interruption was for the best. Other than Kara, I’d never taken any of my employees for lunch, unless it was as part of a big group.  
    Inviting Chloe for an intimate meal at my favorite restaurant might be considered somewhat inappropriate behavior for a boss.  
    The truth was, I just really wanted to spend more time with her without it being about work. The short time we’d spent together in the nightclub had been a lot of fun, and I’d met the real Chloe. At work she was my diligent assistant, seeing to my every need and desire, but that night she’d let her hair down a bit. I wanted to see more of that Chloe.
    But then Dad called.
    He had the location of the two Barton brothers, but he also had it on good authority that they would only be there for another hour at the most.
    Chloe had wanted to tag along, which I found flattering, but there was no way I could let that happen. I’d already lost one woman I cared about due to my fucked up life, I wasn’t about to lose another. Not that I cared about Chloe as much as her. I couldn’t--we’d only just met.  
    We’d quickly developed a bond, but that was just a work thing. Nothing else. I hoped to God there was nothing else. I couldn’t afford to get close to anyone again.  
    I didn’t have much time, so I broke into a jog and didn’t stop until I rounded the corner and saw the old factory. The chain and padlock around the gate had already been broken, so I looked around to make sure the coast was clear and then walked through.  
    My instinct was to head straight for the main door on the off chance I might take them by surprise, but something didn’t quite feel right about the whole situation. There was no noise; not a peep. The warehouse was empty, so I’d assumed the brothers were using it to interrogate a rival or kick the shit out of someone, but that would have been