Free Desire Protected by S.J. Maylee Page B

they
sell the girls, but I’m not losing another group of
them.”
    “ You’re certain this woman
isn’t just running the strip club? Everything I have says she’s a
manager of the club. What if the trafficker is one of the bouncers?
Women are rarely in charge in these organizations.”
    “ That’s why this woman has
been so damn successful. The girls trust her. She’s selling them
financial freedom but what they don’t know is they’ll never need
money again because they’ll never again be free.” She looked out
the window. “I don’t have to tell you about the monsters out there
buying girls at these auctions.”
    “ No, I’ve seen it.” A
chill lifted the hairs at the back of his neck. He’d never forget
that dank room. The overly bright smells of urine and the welts
covering the bodies of the girls chained to the walls.
    “ You took down a ring last
year. That’s what got our attention. Ethan, this organization is
ten times as big.”
    “ Fuck.” Ethan pressed his
lips together. These groups were like a cancer. “If you’re not
ready to take out the entire organization, aren’t you worried
taking this woman out will push your timeline back?”
    “ We’ve got a plan for
that.” She rubbed the back of her hand.
    “ I see. I’m not privy to
your plan.”
    “ You don’t want to know,
believe me. I’ll let you know when it’s something to worry
about.”
    “ Fine.” He watched the
traffic. “Stan,” he called to his driver for the day. “Take us to
Evanston.”
    “ Do we have to involve the
others now?”
    “ You’ve put it off long
enough. If you want me to kill a woman today, you need to tell the
others what you told me. What you’re setting in motion is bound to
touch all of them.”
     

Chapter Two
     
    Nadia dropped onto her office chair
and stared off into the distance. When she and Ethan first got
together, she’d been asked about that blonde woman. She’d been
following Ethan at the time. Why was he meeting her now? Could she
have made the phone call that had him dropping everything and
running off to meet her?
    Nadia’s vision blurred as she set her
chair to rock back and forth. She needed to put the whole thing out
of her mind. Ethan would take care of his business and then come
home to her tonight. Nothing had changed. She had to believe it or
their relationship would never work.
    Ethan was her rock and she was his.
She was exactly what he needed. They needed each other and that
would never change. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath.
Someday soon they would get married and live happily ever
after.
    “ Enough silliness for one
day.” She grabbed the smoothies from her purse and went in search
of Sam. She found him chatting with her assistant in the office
kitchen. “Good morning.”
    “ Hi.” They both said in
unison.
    “ I have an extra smoothie.
Would either of you like it?”
    “ I do.” Her assistant
grabbed it and waved to Sam as she left the kitchen. “Call me
later, Sam.”
    He blushed a nice cherry red. “We were
just talking. I wasn’t flirting or anything.”
    “ It’s fine. You should
call her later. She’s a nice girl. Come on.” She turned and headed
back to her office. “There are a few things we need to discuss
before you head out to your offices.”
    “ Okay. I know Aidan needs
to meet with me today but it’s not until later.” His phone buzzed
and he took a quick look. “Take that back. He had a meeting pop up.
If we meet, it will be much later. Dang, I was hoping to show him
the app I just finished.” His pleasant expression faded
away.
    “ You can show me.” She
stepped around her desk.
    “ Can I? Oh, that would be
great. I know I’m supposed to keep security tasks separate from
you. Aidan made it really clear, but this app is harmless.” He took
the phone lying next to her purse. “Is this yours?”
    “ It is. What are you
doing? Wait, I have a password.”
    “ Don’t need it.” He handed
it back to her. “When it