“I will let you get settled in here, Cadence, and then I will start going through the most recent files with you.”
“Sure thing. Thanks.”
She left the office and I took a slow spin around it. So this would be mine for the time being. I went around the desk and sat down in the chair. I leaned against the back and closed my eyes. God, Cadence, I hope you know what you're doing, girl. It's one thing to have a conversation with Damon, quite another thing to begin working for him. If I didn't tread lightly around there I could end up just like my parents. Although I wanted justice for their death, they probably wouldn't have been too pleased with me if I got myself killed as well. Kind of defeated the purpose. I needed to make a plan on how I was going to find out who killed my parents. I knew that Damon was the key, but how did I get him talking about something so private and secretive.
“Well it looks like you are making yourself at home.”
I jumped in my seat and my eyes snapped open to find Damon standing in front of my desk with a smile on his face. I straightened myself out and flustered, “Oh ya, it's a beautiful office. I was just waiting for Chantelle to come back.”
“Relax. I was just playing with you.” He winked at me.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing him standing there before me brought back all the emotions from the night that we had sex together. That had been an incredibly hot night. Seeing him walk around my office, the man just breathed sex as he strutted around. I wondered if he did these things on purpose or if he just wasn't aware of how sexy he was. And he was sexy; he was more than that. He was truly the hottest guy I had ever had sex with and every time he was near I thought about having sex with him again. How was that possible? Why did this dangerous man have such a hold over me? I couldn't explain my attraction to him. It wasn't just physical; no it was more than that, and yet what else could it be? There was a good chance that he was a monster, the kind of monster that killed innocent people, so how could I possibly be so attracted to him? Did that make me a monster as well? I wondered if he ever thought about me when he wasn't around me. Probably not; he had so many women at his beck and call that I was probably just another notch on his belt. It was sad really that I expected it to be any different. I had already seen his social media accounts, and it was obvious he was a no-woman man. He had no interest in pursuing things past the first encounter. He was what I would call a male slut. Fuck society, a slut was a slut despite the gender. There was no way he had any interest in me aside from a passing fancy. Not that I cared. Really I didn't! I couldn't get caught up with someone in the MOB; that was just stupidity.
He looked fantastic in a suit though. It was one of those form fitting suits that hugged the body. I could see his muscles through it. I actually started thinking about what office sex might be like. God, girl, what was wrong with you? The man runs the MOB and you are sitting there having wet daydreams about him. Maybe I needed to get my head checked as well. Though I doubt that I would say no to office sex if he asked me. There was just something about his naked body that sent chills through me.
He moved in front of my desk once again and sat down in the chair across from me. He smiled that handsome smile of his and I warmed all over. “So how is everything going for you this morning? Are you having a good day?”
I smiled. “So far so good. Chantelle was nice enough to show me around. She's super friendly, everyone has been.”
“Yes she is, we like to take care of our people. Do you like the basket?” He motioned toward it and I stared at it once again. That basket.
“Oh ya, it's great. Who doesn't love fruit and cheese? Thank you.”
He chuckled. “My mother insists on them. She has probably given out thousands of baskets over the years.”
“It's a nice touch.”
“Ya I guess. Well I'm sure happy to hear that you are fitting in here nicely. I knew you were the right woman for the job. You will do really well here, I just know it.”
“Speaking of that.” He raised his eyebrows as he waited for me to finish. “I met the rest of my staff, the other accountants and, well, I guess I'm a little confused.”
“Confused about what, Cadence?”
“Well...they are all much older and more experienced than I am. So I guess I'm confused as to why you would hire me to be the head accountant instead of one of them.”
He looked startled at first but recovered quickly. Did I catch him there for a moment?
“That's simple. They are coming close to retirement age or have families. We are looking for someone who can stay the course, stay with the company for a long time if possible. Of course you aren't obligated, but it just doesn't make sense to promote one of them as there are long hours you will probably be working, at first.”
I nodded. I guess that sort of made sense. Though you would think that one of them would have jumped at the opportunity due to the large pay increase. That sort of thing helped families as well and lots of people had kids and worked late. But who was I to judge? Maybe I was reading far too much into things.
He was still staring at me as if he was trying to read me. I didn't like the look. The look made me wonder if I should keep my mouth shut permanently. That was probably really good advice since I now worked for the...MOB.
“How about you come to dinner with me this weekend? I know a really nice restaurant that I think you will love. We can talk shop and I can answer any questions that you may have.”
“Sure, that sounds lovely.” It might be the only chance I had to ask him some questions about my parents. I was torn between not wanting to overstep my boundaries and losing a great job that would pay me a lot of money. I was absolutely broke by then and really needed the job. But finding out who murdered my parents had to come first before anything else. I couldn't work for the MOB for the rest of my life; that was hardly a smart move. If the FBI got wind of the fact that I had gotten myself a job working for Damon I would be pulled in immediately and questioned. They would know right away what I was up to and they would prevent me from endangering myself further. I couldn't let that happen.
Just then Damon's phone rang and he motioned to me that he had to take it. Seeing his face scrunch up in anger startled me and caused a chill of fear to run up my spine. I had never seen him like that before and I wondered who was on the other line.
“What the fuck! Wait until you get the order dammit!”
My eyes widened. What could they be talking about? An order? What order? Please no...not a killing order. Was I witnessing one going down right there before me? I willed myself to not tear up. He would know that something was wrong, that something wasn't quite right with me. He wouldn't know why I was crying in my office for no reason. I would not cry.
He cancelled the call and glanced at me with a vacant look. He started backing out of the office as he talked to me. “I will see you this weekend, Cadence, have a great first day. I will pick you up around 6pm on Friday.”
I nodded, feeling more scared than I had in my entire life.
Chapter Four
Damon
My mind was filled with thoughts of Cadence. She made my mind spin and I wasn't sure that I liked it. Every time I was in her presence I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her close. Her smell intoxicated me and made me want to bend her over the desk in her office. I wasn't really sure what was wrong with me. I never usually felt this way about a woman, any woman for that matter. I had never been in love because it just seemed pointless. Not that I was in love with Cadence; that would be insane. But she did cause a stir inside me and not just in my pants. Usually the women in my life didn't stay around longer than a night — I made sure of that. I didn't like baggage and I liked it less when a girl tried to attach herself to me like some kind of handbag. I wasn't settling down for anyone. But Cadence was around the office now, she was getting used to things and I would be seeing her all the time. Had I wanted that? Was that the real reason that I had hired her? No, I knew that she was easily manipulated, t
hat was why I had hired her. She would do whatever I asked of her and ask no silly questions. I had been surprised, however, when she brought up the other accountants. Maybe she wasn't as naive as I had thought she was. That was okay. I could still put her under my thumb; I wasn't worried about her at all.
I was on my way to meet Gord. The phone call that I had received from one of my lackeys while in Cadence's office had rattled me to say the least. I wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but I wasn't about to tolerate getting random phone calls like that one again. People were going to start listening to my orders or I would have them removed.
Driving out to a warehouse in the middle of the night wasn't exactly my idea of a great night. Whatever they were up to better be good because I was in no mood to fuck around. It boggled my mind that the 'boss' would have to deal with situations like the one I was in. Didn't anyone know how to be competent in any aspect of their job? Gord had insisted I come out and I couldn't even imagine what they needed me there for.
When I pulled into the empty warehouse parking lot, I at first thought that I was the only one there. Then I saw a few cars in the back and pulled mine over to where they were. I stepped out of my car and made my way to the building. I had a briefcase in my hand just in case the matter required large sums of cash. I had a bad feeling in my gut and when that happened it usually meant I was in for one hell of a night. I considered heading back home and telling Gord to just deal with whatever he had going on, but maybe losing my mind in front of them would prevent such meetings like this from happening again.
I walked into the building and wandered around. It wasn't long before I saw a group of guys in the back. When I walked up to them my heart went into my throat and constricted my breathing. There was Gord standing there with the guy that had made the phone call to me. The other guy, I was sure his name was Teddy, he was one of the guys that handled the killings from the three strike list. None of this was surprising, but what was surprising was the three people who were on their knees in front of them. To my dismay, I suddenly found myself in a situation that I didn't want or need to be in. The three on their knees had bags over their heads and their wrists were tied with rope. I threw my hands above my head exasperated. Was this really how my father ran things? It just blew my mind that they would call me down while they were in the middle of killing people. Was everyone but me out of their minds?
“What the fuck is going on here, Gord?” I had never felt angrier in my life.
He handed over what looked like a Glock to me. I took it and stared down at it confused. Why the hell was he giving me a gun?
“Damon, these are the three from the list of the three strikes.”
“Ya, I think that's pretty obvious, Gord. What is less obvious is what the hell I'm doing here,” I roared. My blood pressure was going through the roof and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to contain my temper. I wanted nothing more than to strike Gord for his idiocy.
“You need to kill them, Damon.”
I looked at him as if he had grown three heads right before my eyes. “You are not the boss Gord, and I'm a little surprised I even have to say that. Don't sit there and give me fucking orders.”
“I'm not giving you orders. This is the process a new leader has to take. Your father had to do the same. We need to know that you will do whatever it takes to be a true leader. You need to kill them, Damon, otherwise word will get around to other members of the MOB that maybe it's okay to do things like this and get away with it.”
“Do it yourself and it will send the same message.”
“No Damon, it has to be you this time.”
I was certain that Gord knew that I had no experience with things like that. He knew that I had never killed anyone before. I considered ordering them to do the job themselves but I wondered if I was being tested. If they thought they had someone weak running the company it was likely that I could be removed in the same manner as the people on their knees. Family or not, they would not have someone weak running the show. The reason why my father was a great leader of the organization was because he was terrifying. To everyone, he was a ruthless man that never let anyone get in his way. I needed to be the same kind of man or I would lose control of my men and I couldn't have that.
“You are new to the organization Damon, this is important. Once you have taken care of these pieces of shit you will understand what needs to be done to be the kind of leader we all need.”
I nodded. Well fuck me. “Look, I want you two to both get the fuck out of here. I will deal with these three.” I gave them a look that should have told them not to fuck with me for a moment.
“I don't think—” Gord stammered.
“Get the fuck out!” I roared in his face, shaking before him.
That was all it took for the two of them to hightail it out of there. Holy fuck, I stood there before three people with a gun in my hand. How had I not anticipated that something like this could happen? Had my father really killed people before? It wasn't hard to imagine but I had never expected that I would have to do it too. We had people who did the killings for us, the boss always remained untouched. That's why I wasn't sure if this was a test or not. What happened if I failed, would I make it out of there alive?
I bent down before the people and pointed the gun to the first man’s head. I counted to ten, willing myself to pull the trigger. This was what I had to do to run the organization. The gun started shaking in my hand as the anger built up inside of me. Fuck this.
I put the gun in my waist band and proceeded to unite the wrists of the people before me. I took the bags off their heads one at a time. They stared up at me with disbelief on their face. Tears stained the girls’ cheeks and I wondered what it had felt like to think that you were just about to die.
“Listen to me closely. I'm not going to kill you.” They looked like they didn't believe me. “I'm going to give each one of you $100,000 in cash. This is your only chance to stay alive. You need to leave the state immediately and never come back. You cannot contact any of your family members, you must start new lives. Stay out of the drug world or we will find you again. If you don't follow my rules exactly you will end up dead. If you breathe one word of this or anything to do with the MOB, you will force me to regret my decision to let you live and I will personally come and find you. If that happens I will make sure your death is slow and torturous. Do I make myself clear?”
All three of them nodded quickly. There was something close to gratitude on all of their faces. I opened the briefcase I had brought, thankful that I had thought to bring cash with me. I handed each one of them a stack of bills. They nervously took the stacks as if they expected to be tricked. I could hardly blame them, they were just seconds away from dying. I was sure that my father would not have offered them even an ounce of kindness. He couldn't even manage to do that for his own son, never mind a bunch of sluts and dealers. No, he would have shot them without a care in the world and never looked back. Thinking that he had any type of a heart was a foolish thing to do.
“I suggest you get going and leave town as soon as possible. The two men that left will know you didn't die and they will come looking for you.”
That was all it took for them to run out the back of the building. I hoped for their sakes that they would leave and not go on a bender. This would be their only chance to save their lives.
I wasn't too worried about what the other dealers and prostitutes would think. As far as they would be concerned they would know that three people disappeared and they would have to assume they were dead. If any of my lackeys crossed me, I would have no choice but to kill them myself. It would be a blessing to get rid of some of the evil on the planet; that kind of killing I could handle. As for the rest of them, they would know that the strike list was real and heed that warning.
Chapter Five
Cadence
Damon had picked me up on time which was refreshing in a date these days. My ex-boyfriend had been brutally late for almost
every date. It had almost made me think he wasn't interested in going out with me at all. I should have bailed on that one a long time ago. That one had me fooled from the beginning, making me believe that I was his true love, only to find him in bed with another woman. God, what a cliché that was — didn't guys have any original ways of cheating on a girl?
Shaking my head, I cleared out those thoughts. I was on a date and the least of my worries should be my ex-boyfriend. Damon was taking me to a nice seafood restaurant and I was excited to be going out. I hadn't met too many people while being in Hollywood, which came as a surprise to me. With all the glamour and glitz I thought I would have plans every night. But apparently you needed to know certain people to have that kind of a lifestyle.
We were seated immediately when we arrived and the outside terrace offered the right amount of romance for the date. Though romance was not why I came that evening, it was a nice treat anyways. The evening was warm with a cool breeze which felt refreshing against the setting sun.
The waiter approached the table and Damon requested the best wine that they had. He also ordered appetizers and lobsters for dinner. It was the first time someone had ever ordered for me and I sort of liked it.
“I hope you don't mind me ordering for you.”
“No, not at all. I’ve never been here before. Thank you.”
He smiled. “No, thank you for joining me for dinner.”
“So tell me Damon, what kind of hobbies does a man like you have?”
He paused and looked at me, stunned. He took a sip of his wine and I followed suit. “God, I don't have hobbies. I can't even remember the last time I did something like that. My life is far too busy for that I guess.”
“That's sort of sad. There must be something you do in your spare time for fun.”
He smirked. “I guess there is, but if I told you, then you probably wouldn't like me much.”
Mobbed By Him #2 (Mobbed By Him Romance Series - Book #2) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) Page 2