Page 229 of Powerhouse: Boxed Set
He’d pay for that.
Trenton carried on talking, like I needed to hear his advice. “You’re getting yourself in crazy waters. Don’t think I’m gonna be drowning there with you. Leave it alone. Leave her the fuck alone. Please, boss. Just leave her alone.”
Even though my mouth was dry with rage, I couldn’t say I blamed him.
He was right. I was in crazy waters.
I was in the shit. I could feel it all the way through my skin. My father would only have to sniff a hint of the truth in me chasing down Elaine, and the whole damn world would feel my damnation along with me. He would tear me apart alive with the whole family cheering.
“He’s been talking to the board while you’ve been gone. Whispering in their ears.”
I cursed. What a shitshow. With my father losing power and the board losing faith in me…
“I’ll try not to tell him,” he said. “But you know I won’t be able to hold off for long, Lucian.”
Even in my beast of a mood, I couldn’t blame him. They’d tear his spleen out inch by inch until he confessed whatever the fuck they wanted from him. They’d get one hell of a confession, too. Trenton Alto knew my business from the inside out. I should’ve seen it coming.
I hadn’t wanted to. Somewhere down deep he meant something to me.
Trust is always your greatest weakness. Never trust a soul but your own.
How the fuck had I managed to forget my own mantra?
“You’re a piece of shit for telling him anything,” I said to the man who’d been at my right hand for years. The man who was my link to the underworld and all its profits. The man who did the dirty while I did the deeds.
“Ihadto be a piece of shit this time,” he told me. “I’m not going down on that ship with you, Lucian. I’ll end up at the bottom of the ocean when your dad blows up the whole damn boat along with you.”
“Never had you down as a pussy,” I said, and he smiled at me.
“Never had you down as such a goddamn psychopath,” he replied.
I stepped up closer to him. “What exactly did you snitch to my father?”
He kept his eyes on mine as he answered. “I told him that you’ve seen her. Been stalking her around the place. I had to.” He paused. “Doesn’t know you’re digging her secrets out from the Power brothers. That’s a whole other league.”
“You’d better keep it that way if you want to keep your tongue in your mouth.”
“Whatever you say,boss.It’s not just my tongue you wanna be worried about, though. Whispers are whispering right through the back alleys.”
As much as I’d have enjoyed slitting Trenton Alto’s throat in that instant, I had too much I needed from him. “Let’s get back to my question,” I said. “What are the Power brothers planning to do with Elaine Constantine?”
He sighed. “They’ve already sent the orders down. She’s a walking target.”
“Fuckers.”
He sighed again. “They’d be fools if they didn’t. If they let that rich girl off with what’s due, then every fucker would think they could leverage their connections to write their debts off. The Powers can’t allow that. Pride if not the practicalities.” He paused as he stared at me. “Why? What the hell are you planning to do about it? Please say you aren’t going to reason with them to save her ass. Please do not fucking say that.”
He was right. I shouldn’t save her. She wasn’t the well-bred girl I could use to prove myself to the board. Even for a Constantine this was too far. It would mean losing the coup. It would mean giving up being CEO for now… and maybe forever.
“You ain’t gonna do it, right?” Trenton pushed, and it snapped me out of my headspin.
I glared at him, and he gulped down a breath. “Clean this up, like I pay you for, and stay the fuck away from me. You’d better stay the fuck away from my father too, or you’ll regret it.”
“Stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he groaned. “Fuck off, then. Leave me to it.”
The first thing I did was check the tracker on my phone, feeling a flood of relief to see my toy arriving back to her building. She was home.
Home with her asshole still bleeding from taking my cock, no doubt.
