“That’s not what I said!” Gregory was on his feet again.
“Sit down and shut the fuck up.” Zach glared at him.
When Gregory dropped into his chair again, Niko continued. “But the rest of us don’t feel Frankie has anything to do with why Sofia is here. She’s told us her ex-husband is stalking her, and since he’s a vice cop, we also have serious concerns about what he could try to do to Lilith’s Playground.”
Demetrius snorted. “We’ve weathered plenty of blowhards trying to make trouble here before. What’s so special about this guy?”
Niko wished he could put his fears into words. It was nothing Sofia had actually said about Rake, but rather the emotion that came off her in waves whenever she talked about him. She was terrified of him and didn’t feel there was any recourse for his continued harassment. In Niko’s opinion, that meant Rake was a dangerous nut job, capable of almost anything. They couldn’t afford to make enemies in the Chicago police force.
“I can tell you that,” said Reeve. He opened a manila folder and pulled out the collection of newspaper articles Niko had helped him dig up after leaving Sofia in her suite before lunch.
“This guy is a dirty vice cop with a penchant for targeting legitimate businesses whose owners piss him off. Niko and I did a little investigating before the meeting.” Reeve began to pass around the papers. “These are copies of articles from every newspaper in Chicago for the past two years. Rake’s name is in every one as the lead detective in a sting where a legit business was shut down for various bullshit violations and trumped-up sex charges.”
Once each man had copies of the articles in front of him, Reeve continued. “In three cases, they shut down the business for laws that were still on the books but are so obscure it would have taken some serious research to find them.”
“This one is a restaurant,” said Demetrius. “What does that have to do with us?”
“Nothing,” said Niko. “The point we’re trying to make is that someone who ran or owned each of these businesses did something to piss off Sofia’s ex-husband, and he went after them until he found a reason to shut them down.”
“How do you know that?” asked Gregory.
Reeve pulled out another piece of paper. “These are contact numbers Zach and Emmett had stored in their databases for the owners or operators of these Chicago-based businesses. Niko and I tracked them down, and all but two were more than happy to tell us about their past dealings with Rake and his merry band of crooked cops. With the understanding, of course, that anything they told us would be held in the strictest confidence.”
Niko glanced around the room. “That means we don’t repeat any of this outside this room. Is that agreed?” They all nodded, and Niko continued. “All of them were paying off Rake or one of the other cops who work with him in some way. Money, food, information, or simply the promise of a favor should it one day be needed.”
“Christ,” said Gregory. “Just like the fucking mafia back in the day.”
“It’s not so back in the day,” said Emmett. “It still goes on.”
“And when they failed to come through,” said Niko, “Rake and his friends went after them. They found obscure laws, planted evidence, or paid off people to lie in order to target the business in a sting operation and eventually take it down.”
Demetrius whistled. “Niko, this is nuts. You’re talking about high level conspiracy.”
“I know. And the worst part is that most of the people we tracked down had proof, but it didn’t matter. A few of them contacted Internal Affairs on their own or through contacts on the police force. In the end, they lost anyway.”
“So what do we do?” asked Demetrius. “How do we protect the resort? Can this dame give us more info on her ex? Does he know she’s here? Has he approached us yet?”
Niko held up a hand. “Slow down. We haven’t heard a word from Rake or any of his friends, and Sofia won’t be much help. We”—he cut his gaze toward Reeve for a second—“persuaded her to tell us what she knew, and I’m sorry to say it isn’t much. Rake didn’t discuss work with her. All she said was that IA has investigated him multiple times, but nothing came of it. Unfortunately though, she also said the name Scott Malloy came up while Rake and his cop friends were over watching football one Sunday afternoon.”
A general murmur went around the table.
“What specifically did she say about him?” asked Zach.
“Only that the men were talking about him as part of a larger group of cops who had tried to shut down sex clubs in Chicago. She knows nothing about his connection to this place, and from what she told us, neither does Rake, but it wouldn’t take much for him to find it.”
“If she knows all this, then she knows the details of the IA investigations,” said Gregory. “Get them from her.”
“She doesn’t have them.” Niko glared at him then softened his expression. He needed to be careful not to tip his hand. It was none of their fucking business that he and Reeve had made love to Sofia. “She only said vice cops take care of each other and Rake was never going down.”
“Then get her in here. We can hypnotize her.”
“We already did,” said Reeve. “That’s all she knows.”
Niko furrowed his brow at Reeve’s words. They hadn’t actually hypnotized her, just pushed with their powers a bit. Reeve must want to protect her from the others as much as Niko did.
“How do you know she didn’t come here to get information for him?” asked Gregory, narrowing his eyes.
“She didn’t,” said Niko. “She’s here to hide from him.” The idea that Sofia was here to spy for Rake was absurd. But short of telling them he’d held Sofia in his arms and made love to her, he wasn’t sure how to explain why he knew that. Rake was more dangerous to them than Frankie had ever been. He had to make them understand that without giving away the fact that he and Reeve had become involved with Sofia.
“She told you that?” Gregory’s piercing eyes looked into Niko’s. He knew Gregory’s powers were nearly gone, but it wasn’t worth taking a chance that he still had enough left to read his thoughts. Niko averted his gaze, pretending to look for another piece of paper in the folder Reeve had brought to the meeting. “Yes. She said he’s still harassing her. She came here to figure out what to do.”
Gregory slapped both hands on the table. “He followed her then. He knows she’s here.”
“Gregory, don’t be an ass,” said Reeve. “If that were true don’t you think one of us would have sensed it by now?”
“And why would she tell Reeve and Niko that Rake was dirty if she were spying for him?” asked Zach. “Instead she’d be trying to convince them he’s harmless.”
Niko shot a grateful look toward Zach. He’d always been the most levelheaded of all of them. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do until Rake approaches us, if he does.”
“I agree,” said Emmett. “We didn’t go looking for Frankie, remember? He came here.”
“So what do we do?” asked Demetrius. “Just wait like sitting ducks?”
“You were the one who just moments ago said we’d weathered worse than this,” muttered Reeve.
“Yeah, well, unless Sofia is lying to you two, it sounds like this guy is bad news.” He glanced around the table. “What do you all want to do? Let him come here, or go looking for him?”
“Demetrius, don’t be an ass,” said Emmett. “Ninety-one years in business and we’ve never gone looking for trouble. Why start now?”
“Let’s take a vote,” said Zach in a quiet voice. “All in favor of seeking out Rake now, before anything happens?”
Gregory and Demetrius raised their hands.
“All in favor of waiting for him to come to us…assuming he ever does?”
The other four raised their hands.
“Looks like we wait this one out,” said Zach. He pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. “I’m hungry. I’ll go ask Tiffany to have dinner sent in.”
* * * *
Sofia paced in her suite for fifteen minutes, debating. Surely someone at the front desk would know where the owners were meeting. But what would she say to them? And would they believe the e-mail was actually from Rake, or would they think it was a trick of some sort? Just because Reeve and Niko believed her didn’t mean the others did.
What had Niko said when she’d asked if the others were upset about her using a fake name? “Don’t worry about that. No one is going to hold that against you. And remember, we’re owners, too.” That wasn’t exactly an affirmation that they’d believe her about the e-mail.
But she couldn’t stand it any longer. Niko and Reeve had to know. Taking her laptop with her, she went down to the lobby and was happy to see Tiffany on the front desk. She liked the girl and felt comfortable around her.
“Miss Fillipone, what can I do for you?” Sofia was happy to hear Tiffany use her real name without any trace of irony or hesitation. The staff here were not only extremely attentive and helpful, they were discreet.
“I need to see Niko and Reeve—Mr. Fallon and Mr. Neville—right away. It’s important.”
Tiffany’s usual smile faded, but only for a second. She cut her gaze to the left, toward the hallway that led to the ballrooms. “Um…they’re in their quarterly meeting. I’m not sure they want to be disturbed.”
A man with wavy brown hair and pewter-gray eyes came around the corner, whistling softly. Sofia recognized him. He was one of the men she’d seen walking around the lake the day she met Reeve. He stopped short when he spotted Sofia. “Miss Fillipone, right?”
“She’s asked to see Reeve and Niko,” said Tiffany, “but I wasn’t sure I should interrupt the meeting.”
The man glanced at the laptop Sofia had placed on the counter then extended his hand. “I’m Zach Neville, one of the owners. Is there something I can help you with?”
Sofia didn’t know if she could trust him as much as she trusted Niko and Reeve. What if he didn’t believe her or gave Reeve and Niko a watered-down version of the message? “Nice to meet you.” She shook his hand quickly. “Forgive me for being blunt, but I need to speak to them and only to them.” He didn’t answer. “Please.”
“Tiffany, have some sandwiches and soft drinks sent into the meeting room, please.” Zach gestured for Sofia to follow him. “Come with me. They’re back here.”
Sofia hadn’t wanted to show the e-mail to all of them, but it didn’t look as though Zach was giving her a choice. The room he led her to was full of nervous energy and loud chattering. It looked as though they were all on a break, and Sofia relaxed a bit. At least she wasn’t going to simply barge into their meeting.
She spotted Reeve and Niko in a corner, their heads bent close to a man with dark hair and ice-blue eyes. She recognized him as the other man who’d been walking around the lake. In the opposite corner a man with jet-black hair was huddled close to an olive-skinned man with brown hair. Both were gesturing quite a bit.
As soon as she entered the room with Zach, all conversation stopped and everyone stared at her. Reeve and Niko came over, followed by the man to whom they’d been talking. Sofia had a flashback to fifth grade when she’d forgotten the words to the song she was supposed to sing during a school play. Six pairs of eyes watching her proved to be just as unnerving as standing frozen in front of an entire auditorium filled with teachers, parents, grandparents, siblings, and neighbors.
“Sofia, is everything all right?” Niko placed a hand on her arm then cut his gaze to the laptop.
She swallowed, wishing he’d take her into the hallway or someplace where the others couldn’t hear. “I checked my e-mail for the first time in two weeks.” She lowered her voice. “There’s something you and Reeve need to see.”
Niko glanced at the dark-haired man. “We’ll be right back.” He took her arm and led her into a room across the hall. Reeve followed, closing the door behind them.
Sofia opened the laptop and placed it on the closest table then scrolled down to the e-mail and pointed toward the screen. Her finger trembled. Niko and Reeve nearly bumped heads trying to both read it at once.
“Fuck.” Reeve walked over to the nearest wall and slammed his fist against it. Sofia jumped.
“We have to tell them,” said Niko.
Reeve faced the two, anger flashing in his dark eyes. “You know what I hate more than anything right now? That fuck Gregory was right.”
Chapter Twelve
“I’m sorry,” said Sofia. She didn’t know what else to say.
Reeve hit the wall again. “How the hell did he find you? Who else knows you’re here? You mentioned a cousin—”
“Her coworker’s cousin was a guest here,” said Niko. “Not one of her family members.”
“What about Michael, the one who’s coming here in the morning?”
Sofia shook her head. “Look at the date on the e-mail. Rake wrote it over a week ago. And Michael didn’t know I was here until I called him today and told him. Even if he had, he’d never have said anything to Rake.”
“Sofia, how did he find you?”
Reeve’s eyes were as black as ebony, and Sofia recoiled at the anger in them. She tried to tell herself he wasn’t upset with her, but it didn’t help. “I don’t know.” This couldn’t be happening. She’d used a fake name, had paid cash, and hadn’t told anyone where she was going. “I don’t even know how he found this e-mail account.”
“What do you mean?” asked Niko.
“I changed my e-mail address after my divorce. I don’t know how he found it.”
He and Reeve exchanged a glance. “He had help,” said Niko.
“Or he hacked into databases,” said Reeve. “Which means he violated all sorts of regulations. And if he accessed police databases for his personal use…”
The corners of Niko’s mouth turned up slightly, and Sofia’s heart began to race. What the hell was he smiling about? “Exactly. Regulations and databases that the FBI might be interested in knowing about.”
“Especially if Rake used Chicago police department equipment to hack into the websites, which he most likely did.”
Niko gave her a long, searching look. “Sofia, if you have anything else to tell us—anything at all—this would be the appropriate time to come clean.”
Her heart sank. “You don’t believe me.”
He shook his head. “No, love. That’s not true at all. I’m only saying if there’s some other secret or bit of information you’re protecting, or are afraid to tell us, you need to say it now.”
“There’s nothing else. I swear it. I never gave him this address, and I told nobody I was coming here.” She dropped into the nearest chair, trying to remember the rumors she’d heard whispered among her cousins while growing up. It had all seemed like the stuff of movies, not reality. She’d once asked her grandfather to tell her more about his parents, and he’d been evasive to the point of making Sofia uncomfortable. While she could understand him wanting to shelter her, she wished now she’d pushed more or sought the information on her own. She was in the dark here. It appeared these strangers knew more about her family than she did.
Niko motioned them both to follow him. Sofia picked up her laptop, wishing she’d stayed in her suite. She hadn’t wanted to face all the owners with this information. It had taken enough courage just to come downstairs and show the e-mail to Reeve and Niko.
She took the seat offered between Niko and Reeve. Across the table, the other four men gave her looks that ranged from mild curiosity to outright hostility.
“You’ve already met Zach,” said Niko. “Next to him is Emmett Fallon.” The man with the ice-blue eyes nodded and smiled. “On his right is Demetrius Neville.” The olive-skinned man regarded her with cold eyes. “And next to Demetrius is Gregory Fallon.” The man with the black hair and piercing green eyes sneered.
“Sofia has received an e-mail from Rake that I think you all should read.”
“Ha,” said Gregory.
He and Niko glared at each other for a few seconds. “But before you do,” continued Niko, “it’s important that you understand it was sent to an account she opened after her divorce. She doesn’t know how he found it.”
“Bullshit. I told you.”
“Gregory, shut the fuck up.”
Sofia stared at Niko. She’d never heard so much venom in his voice.
“Reeve and I believe her.” Niko took the laptop from Sofia and passed it across the table. All four men stared at the screen, then Emmett lifted his gaze to Sofia.
“Mind if I look around a bit on this? I won’t erase it or mess with your settings.”
“Be my guest. If you can figure out how he found the address, I’d be grateful.”
“Gregory,” said Niko, “I’m thinking it might be time for you to contact Jordan.”
Gregory glanced up sharply. “Why?” His narrowed green eyes reminded Sofia of a large cat, ready to pounce.
“I told you. We believe her. She didn’t give him this e-mail address, and she told no one she was coming here.” Niko’s voice was soft but held an edge to it.
“Read the e-mail again, Gregory,” said Reeve. “It clearly indicates Rake is toying with her by letting her know he’s found her. Why would he do that if he’d sent her here?”
Demetrius leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “So I guess this means Frankie has nothing to do with this?”
“Yeah,” said Reeve, his voice full of sarcasm. “We’ve moved past that, Demetrius.”
“You’ve all been discussing me.” Sofia had suspected as much, but she hadn’t realized the full extent of it until now.
“What did you expect?” asked Gregory. “You came here with a fake name.”
“I was trying to hide.” She pointed toward her laptop. “From him. But it didn’t work, did it? He found me anyway.” She was close to tears, and she hated that fact. Who the hell did these men think they were? “I’ve been trying to hide from him for a year. I can’t go anywhere without him there. I can’t date anyone because he harasses them, too.” She swiped at the fat tears running down her cheeks. “I have no life. I divorced the asshole, but I’ll never be free of him. The cops won’t help me. No one will help me.”
Cherished by Two Angels [Notorious Nephilim 5] Page 9