I looked over, frowning. “How did you know about Franklin’s memorial?”
Rex fell silent, and a tear tried to escape my eyes.
“It was you, wasn’t it? You made it for him.”
He nodded. “Yes,” he whispered. “I visit every week, too. I write to him about my brother.”
The lunchbox. Rex was the note writer.
“It may have been partly your fault that he died, but you didn’t actually kill him,” I said quietly, my eyes dropping down to his chest. “His heart did. Which means there’s no reason to be sentencing yourself to death.”
Rex shrugged and pulled off the highway into an area full of some of the fanciest office buildings I’d ever seen in my life.
“This is where the Senate offices are?” I asked, and Rex shook his head.
“No, Valentine tracked Avery’s phone GPS to his personal office. I’m sure the anthrax would have been too hard for Bambi to sneak into the Senate offices.” He nodded toward one of the massive buildings, parking curbside in front of it. “He’s in there right now, admiring his new acquisition.”
“You really think he has it in there with him?” I asked, and Rex laughed cooly.
“I don’t think—I know.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone, tossing it to me. “I texted the fucker letting him know we were on to him, and I was coming to get my anthrax. He replied saying he proud of me for having balls for once,” Rex made a disgusted sound, “and was happily awaiting my arrival.”
“Why would you tell him that?” I asked, horrified. “If he has it, shouldn’t we just call the police?”
“And tell them what? A well known and respected Senator has a vial of anthrax, and we’d like them to search his office?” Rex said, giving me a look, and I shrugged, embarrassed.
“It sounded better in my head.”
Rex climbed out of the car, not even bothering to lock the thing, and I followed, grimacing a little as I felt the vial of anthrax shifting around in my bra.
“You’re sure this thing won’t open?” I asked, and Rex rolled his eyes.
“Trust me when I say that King Corp cuts corners when it comes to quality of toilet paper, not containers for biological weaponry.”
“Right,” I muttered as we trotted into the building.
“Hold it there,” security ordered as the metal detectors went off, and I yelped as the man pulled his… taser? Rex raised his hands up, looking amused.
“I’m here to visit Senator Bennett.”
“I see a gun at your side. You can’t go up with that,” the guard said, eyes wide as he stared at the lump under Rex’s jacket.
“I understand,” Rex murmured, moving toward the man as he pulled out his giant gun. “Just let me give it to you.”
“Don’t come any closer!” the guard order, and Rex made a cartoonishly confused face as he continued to walk toward him.
“But I thought you want my—”
“SHIT!” I yelped as Rex’s hand shot out, slamming the man in face with his fist. The guy dropped like a ninety year old’s dick, and I slapped my hands over my mouth, eyes wide.
“Did you kill him?!” I shrieked, horrified. Rex gave me a look, shaking his head.
“Seriously, Mason?” He sighed and headed toward the stairwell, gesturing for me to follow him. “Come on, we don’t have much time before this lobby is packed with incompetent schmucks bearing stun guns and wondering what happened. Avery’s office is on the second floor.”
By the time we busted into the hallway from the stairs, I was panting like a dog. Damn, I needed to work out more. Maybe Rex and I could have some more ‘lessons’.
I smirked at the thought, smiling at Rex’s butt as he came to a stop in front of an office with a shiny sign that read ‘Senator Avery Bennett’.
“Okay, here’s how it’s going to go. Avery’s bodyguard will search us, but he won’t feel up your tits because he’s a misogynist and doesn’t really believe a woman would be hiding anything. Trust me—he’s worked for my dad my whole life. I know the ass. Whatever you do, don’t let him know about the anthrax. I’m going to distract him, and while I do that, you need to get this,” he pulled a crumpled note out of his pocket, “to Bambi.”
My eyes went wide. “Bambi is here?”
He nodded. “According to Valentine, yes. He finally tracked her, and apparently she’s been working out of this office the past two months. Supposedly she’s still here.” His eyes narrowed as I pouted. “We good?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t like Bambi.” He raised an eyebrow, and I sighed. “But yes, fine, I’ll get her the note.”
He smiled. “Thank you. Oh, and one more thing… Luke’s here, too. Let’s go.”
I let out a yelp of disbelief as Rex pushed through the fancy door, and my eyes widened as we entered the extremely elegant office. I’d thought Rex’s was nice, but this looked like one of those offices that the super rich villains always have in movies. Which, I supposed, worked for Avery.
It was separated into two areas, one made up of the desk and bookshelves and the other of sofas and a wet bar. Bambi was seated at the desk, where about a half a dozen computer screens were set up, looking absolutely nothing like herself. The brunette ponytail and red locks had both been traded for bright blue pigtails, and she had piercings in her lips and her nose. The bitch smirked at me, and I gave her the finger. She stuck her own middle finger in her mouth and looked pointedly at Rex.
What a slut.
“Well, look who’s here,” a voice called out, and I turned toward the sofas, where Avery was lounging, along with—god help me—Luke.
I scowled at my ex, and he openly leered at me, grabbing at his crotch.
“I see you’ve stolen Rex’s dick. Congratulations on being the Dick Thief. Have you gotten the heart, or are you still trying for that one?” He sneered, and Rex took a step toward him, eyes narrowing, but I placed a hand on his arm, holding him back.
“Ignore him. He’s an idiot. I can’t believe I ever dated the jerk.”
“Oh, so this is your lovely new girlfriend, is it?” Avery spoke up, smiling at me.
I wish I could say that I shuddered when I looked at the man. Unfortunately, the asshole was as gorgeous as his son, despite being sixty years old or whatever. The bastard stood and walked toward me, hand extended. “Perhaps you would be interested in meeting a man with a little more… elegance.”
I smiled sweetly. “I would, but unfortunately, being super ripped and uber tall doesn’t make up for the fact that your Viagra prescription simply isn’t doing it for you anymore. After Luke, I realized that it’s an absolute limit for me. Sorry.”
From the look that appeared on Avery’s face for a mere instant before he recovered his suave smile, I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. Apparently Bambi saw it, too, because she burst into a very unattractive, snorting laughter.
Avery growled at her. “Shut up, cunt, and finish your job. Stupid bitch.” Yeah, I saw what Rex meant when he said that his dad treated women like shit. The bastard glanced over to the corner, where I noticed a bulky man in a suit standing for the first time. “Search them, Don.”
The man obeyed, starting with Rex. I winced as he shoved my man hard against the wall, ripping off his jacket and removing his gun from the holster, sticking it in the waistband of his own pants.
“That’s a good way to blow your own balls off,” Rex said helpfully, resulting in Don shoving him harder into the wall as he ran his hands up and down his body. Finally, he stepped back, and Rex pushed away from the wall.
I noticed that Don was much less thorough with me, as Rex had predicted. He didn’t make me lean against the wall, and he hardly did anything at all when it came to searching. His hands stayed a little too long on the tops of my breasts, in my opinion, but he didn’t actually try and search them.
Dumbass.
“Where’s the anthrax, Avery?” Rex said, and Avery laughed, shaking his head.
&nbs
p; “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have no anthrax. Aren’t you here to have a drink with me?” He moved back toward the bar, and Rex shot me a look as he followed the man. I glanced over at Bambi and reached into my coat pocket, feeling the crumpled note.
What exactly was so very important for Rex to get to Bambi? I licked my lips then, staring at it for a moment, then clenched my fist and started across the room toward Bambi’s little set up, hips swinging and a pissed off look on my face.
It wasn’t hard to fake a bad attitude when it came to dealing with her.
“You slept with my man!” I snapped as I slapped my hands down on the desk, dropping the note into her lap. “Practically in front me. That is so fucking skanky!”
Bambi glanced down at her lap, frowned, then began to unfold the paper as she looked back up at me, pasting a sassy sneer on her face.
“Uh, hello, I was playing a prostitute! Your little manslut of a boyfriend is the one who hired me!” She glanced back down, eyes skimming over the note. Or what I’d assumed was a note. I wasn’t at a good angle for me to see, but it sort of looked like a picture printed off a computer.
I saw Bambi’s lips tighten, then she wrinkled the paper back up.
“Don, get this bitch off my desk!” she shouted, and I shrieked as Don grabbed me from behind, pulling me away from Bambi and hauling me back over to the sofas, where Rex and Avery were apparently in some kind of argument. A very strange argument.
“You didn’t even know that I have a dog?!” Rex snapped, eyes flashing with fury. “You call yourself a father, but you don’t even know about Allah?!”
Wait… since when did Rex have a dog?
Avery looked at him in horror. “You named your dog Allah?”
“That’s right! I have a cat, too. She’s a very good cat.” He smirked. “I named her after your opponent.”
“You named your cat after Kerrington?!” Avery practically shouted, slamming his liquor glass down on the table. “What’s wrong with you?!”
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Rex snapped back. “It’s you who is messed up. You worship yourself.”
“I worship strong leaders who are capable of controlling the outcome of life,” Avery replied, his nose in the air. “If that includes myself, so be it.”
“How did you even get elected?” Rex demanded. “You’re a monster.”
Avery smirked, shrugging. “This is America. ‘Politician’ is a synonym for ‘monster.’”
“Hey, T-Rex, wanna have some sex?” Bambi’s voice came from right behind me, and I yelped as her hands landed on my shoulders. I turned my head, glaring up at the bitch standing there, bent over just enough to show off ninety-nine percent of her ginormous boobs to Rex.
“I’m a little busy here, Bambi,” Rex snapped, still glaring hatefully at his father. “This bastard didn’t know I have a dog!”
“Oh, baby, that’s horrible,” Bambi moaned as she moved around my chair, sashaying her way over to Rex and plopping down right beside him on the couch.
“Get away from him!” I shouted, standing up, totally ready to give this slut a can of whoop ass. Something I had no chance to do since she shrugged and stood up immediately.
“I think that’s a good idea. I don’t have health insurance, and I think he has crabs.” She smiled and took off across the room.
I frowned, then went stiff as Rex reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a tube that looked exactly like the one in my bra. I squeezed my boobs together, brow furrowing as I felt it still firmly imbedded. Did that mean the tube Rex had was the one from Angela’s Lab?
“Looks like I got what I came for, Avery,” Rex said, flashing his father a smile.
Avery hissed, standing up and glaring at Bambi. “You bitch! What’s wrong with you?”
She held up the paper I’d dropped her, eyes flashing. “Bennett, is this your son?”
My eyes widened as I realized the picture was of a small child, Wesley apparently, in a hospital bed, hooked up to more wires and tubes than I would have imagined possible. He was covered in cuts and bruises and his face was almost crushed.
Avery’s lips curled up. “The bastard deserved it,” he said in a superior tone. He turned back to Rex. “You always were a wimpy, pitiful bitch. You’ll never get out of here with that. Don, take it back from him.”
“Who says I want it back?” Rex asked, and I let out a scream as he pulled the top off the vial and tossed the powder into the air.
I gasped, then realized I probably shouldn’t have done that since inhalation was bad, and screamed again instead.
Rex stood up and moved quickly over to me, tugging me to my feet and wrapping his arms around me. “No worries, baby,” he murmured in my ear. “There’s plenty of cure.” My eyes widened as I felt his fingers slip in between my breasts, pulling out the vial. “It’s all going to be okay.”
Like hell it was. He’d just used a fucking biological weapon on me!
Avery let out a frustrated yell, squeezing his hands into fists, while Luke… Well, let’s just say that if anyone was a wimpy bitch in this room, it was definitely Luke.
“Oh my God, was that the death powder stuff? That anthrax shit? I’m gonna die! We’re all gonna die! I didn’t count on actually dying! It’s going to kill us all—”
“SHUT UP, LUKE!” Avery shouted, and my cowardly ex fell silent, dropping down onto a sofa and covering his hands with his face.
Avery crossed his arms over his chest. “This makes no difference to me. It was my plan to create a scare, anyway. This will work just as well.” He walked over to Don, who was hiding behind the door—apparently thinking this would protect him from any anthrax left in the air— and reached down, pulling out the man’s gun. “Of course, that hacker bitch will have to pay for betraying me.”
“What hacker bitch?” Rex asked, and my eyes widened as I looked around and realized that Bambi was long gone.
Tricky bitch. Leaving us to die of anthrax while she goes and gets her slut on. Hmph.
Avery cursed, slamming the gun down on his desk.
“You’re going to go to prison forever,” he snarled as he turned back to Rex. “Attacking a Senator—your own father, for that matter. You may have had a chance of getting off before, but now you’ve sentenced yourself and your little lover to a life behind bars.
“You’d better make that call, Father,” Rex replied, words sickly sweet. “Wouldn’t want the media to wonder why you waited so long to dial 9-1-1.”
Avery glared at him for another moment then picked up his phone, dialing quickly. “This is Senator Avery Bennett. I would like to report a biological attack at my office in the Rensworth Building. I believe it was anthrax.”
chapter TEN
BREAK MY HEART
- MASON -
“Please tell me this is part of the plan?” I said through gritted teeth, heart pounding like a high school drum line as General Wong drove the Department of Defense SUV through the city at just under a thousand miles per hour, lights flashing and siren screaming.
“The reckless driving?” Rex said, looking rather pale himself. “No. The arrest? Absolutely. In fact…” He leaned forward, and I really hoped he didn’t accidentally puke on me. “Marshall, would you mind giving us the keys for these cuffs so we can hold on?”
“Pick the lock,” the general snapped, looking quite peeved, though I wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t the one chained into place in the back of a car currently making NASCAR look like a 5k for Geriatric Health. “I spent the last twenty-four hours wearing a gas mask and being chased by screaming journalists because of you. I need sleep, a deviled ham sandwich, and a bottle of Bud. Instead, I’m back in DC, playing chauffeur so that you can pull a frame job on your Senator father.”
“It’s not technically a frame job,” Rex pointed out. “He was the one who took the anthrax. He just wasn’t the one who actually fucked the girl who used her pussy to sneak in. That’s all that matters.”
“I’m n
ot sure the American justice system would agree,” Wong replied dryly. Thankfully, he gave in, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the cuff keys, tossing them back to Rex. He caught them and quickly unlocked his handcuffs before glancing over at me.
“I kind of like this look on you,” he said with a wicked smirk, and I snorted.
“Not a chance. You infected me with anthrax. You ain’t getting laid for a long time, Bennett.”
The SUV’s tired squealed as we zoomed into an area of the hospital with a sign stating ‘AMBULANCES ONLY’ in letters the size of my face.
“Is he here yet?” Rex demanded, and I assumed that he was talking about his father, who’d been shuffled into an ambulance while we were being handcuffed and tossed into Wong’s Deathmobile. Wong glanced down at the car’s GPS then shook his head.
“No, the ambulance took the long route, as requested. Though I believe the bodyguard and the other man have already arrived. Bennett Senior should be here any minute, though.”
“I still don’t understand this plan,” I said through gritted teeth. “And if I die from it, I’m going to come back from the dead and haunt Krishna until he agrees to rip your balls off for me.”
“She reminds me of Cho,” Wong said, and Rex snorted.
"Yeah, threatening to rip my balls off is sort of her thing. Luckily, she saw a picture of it once, and I'm pretty sure it made her sick, so I don't worry."
I scowled. Damn that Joey Schumer for ruining my threat.
“Ah, there he is now,” Wong said.
I looked up as an ambulance came to a halt at the entrance to Emergency, and the paramedics jumped out, along with a gurney carrying someone who greatly resembled Senator Avery Bennett, complete with arrogant smirk and cold eyes.
“Looks like we’re a go,” Rex murmured, opening the door and hopping out. When I stayed sitting, arms crossed stubbornly, he raised an eyebrow. “Well? Do you want to see the show or not?”
Heart Thief (Black Market Billionaire Book 1) Page 24