Page 45 of Ride or Die

“Dante King isn’t resurfacing. It’s not an issue. We’re not breaking any of his rules.” Nico spat the name, and then his voice smoothed. He leaned back into his chair. “If he’s that worried about it, have him call me. We’ve been smart about this. There’s no need to worry.”

Riley flipped through the rezoning application and made sure each report was still there.

“Thank you for your time. Goodbye.” Nico hung up. His chair rocked back, and he pinched his forehead and sighed. “People are so sensitive these days, Riley, like scared children. Not smart like you. They really have no idea how the world works.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” She put the paperwork on the desk between them and then stepped back. “Can you sign it?”

He swiped the pen across the page and then slid it over to her. “I love it when a plan comes together.”

He bared his teeth in a smile, and she grabbed the paperwork off the desk, shuffling it until it was straight. She slipped it under her arm. “Definitely.” She nodded to him and turned to leave.

“Oh, one thing before you head to City Hall.”

Riley turned at the doorway. “Yes?”

“We don’t need a master copy of all the invoices on the shared drive. The colour coding is a nice touch, but it’s not necessary, and you can spend your time better.” Nico grinned again. “More rezoning perhaps?”

The paperwork felt heavier in her arms.

She needed the spreadsheet as evidence when Gio tried to embarrass her. And she knew it was just a matter of time before he tried to sabotage her over invoicing again. Especially after the HR thing.

He’d do it to regain control, if she remembered anything from her undergrad psych classes.

She’d figure something out.

“Riley?”

She forced a laugh and met Nico’s gaze. “No problem, I’ll file the invoices individually.”

“Thank you, bella.”

“No problem,” she murmured again, gripping the papers too tightly. Her finger stung as one slipped across it.

She stepped towards the doorway and slammed into a large body, shirt unbuttoned too far, the gold chain grazing her cheek.

“Oof!” The air blew out of her as she looked up at Gio’s cold eyes. She shoved herself back with both hands, and the papers fluttered to the floor.

Cold ripped through her, tightening her muscles. The smell of cinnamon and cloves was overwhelming, but she stayed still, balancing on her heels.

“Watch where you’re going,” Gio snapped. He pushed past her and addressed Nico. “We need to talk.”

Riley collected the application off the floor.

“Gio!” Nico’s voice cracked like a whip, and Gio stopped halfway to the desk. “Apologize.”

Riley stood quickly, silhouetted by the fluorescents of the hall, her shadow on the carpet.

Nico’s face was like thunder, and Gio slowly turned to face her. “My sincere apologies, dear Riley.” His lip curled just enough to bare a chipped canine.

“It’s fine. Sorry. Bye, Nico.” She all but ran from the office and closed the door behind her.

She leaned against it for a second, and breath blazed in her throat. The hallway remained empty—work chatter floated by, and Harriet let out a high-pitched laugh from the other side of the office.

Riley took a deep breath and returned to her desk. She collected her bag and coat to walk to City Hall, Gio be damned.

The application was submitted without issue, and at the end of the day, Riley went to look for her master spreadsheet as Nico had instructed. When she opened the shared folder, she scrolled to the bottom and back, and it wasn’t there. The global search revealed nothing, not that it ever did. She looked over to Nico’s office door, but it was closed, the lights off.

She pulled up the copy she kept on her desktop. She hadn’t meant to keep two, but she’d wanted a backup, just in case. She glanced over it, the pages of invoices neatly ordered in rows. It probably contained tens of thousands of dollars worth of transactions. Maybe more. And whenever Gio accused her of submitting his invoices late, she could easily find the day she did. She never submitted them late.