Checkmate: Checkmate, #8

by Finn, Emilia

  Not a bad day’s work, really.

  Finishing my coffee, I take the cup to the counter and stop in front of a full-length mirror. I look… expensive, I guess, but without trying to. Which is the exact look I need. Designer jeans, polo shirt, high-market hiking boots, a little jewelry, but nothing gaudy, combed hair, and on my way out the door, I snag a coat and pull it on to fight the chill in the air.

  Olly sits across town from here, watching Libby on her last dayshift before her weekend begins and her week of nights sneaks up, so I slide into my car and pull out of the hotel parking lot.

  It’s Friday, nine in the morning; today is the day I go home to the prodigal brothers.

  They won’t know who I am, but I’ll be close enough I could take them out in a heartbeat. I could, but I won’t, because unlike the blood that runs through my veins, I’m not a murderer. I consider myself more of a cleanup crew; if they’re like him, they die. If they’re like Libby, they live.

  But where Libby’s accounts are clean, I remind myself that theirs are not. Money doesn’t lie, and at this very moment, I have questions about where their cash came from.

  Questions that they must answer.

  This town is far smaller than the city I call home, so not only does it take just minutes to get from one side to the other, but I can swing past the police station too, just for the sake of being near her.

  I need a cover story. A reason for walking into Checkmate Security. And though I should be concentrating on my mission at hand, I find myself focusing on Libby instead.

  I want to get closer, I want to touch her, I want to have a real conversation, instead of her screaming at me. I want an opportunity to ask about my red sweater; why does she have it? And why, after so long, does she have it out and not stuffed away in a box at the back of her closet?

  But to talk to her about my sweater means telling her about Gunner.

  I pull into a parking space outside Checkmate, knowing they have this place wired up with security. My heart swells knowing their system is manufactured and owned by Griffin Industries.

  I can control everything they have. I can shut it down, I can fry it, I can watch it from a remote location. I didn’t know at the time these units were being boxed and sold that they were going to Bishops, but it took only moments once I knew to look, to run a search and have names pop up.

  Today, I go to them as Theo Griffin, and pray no one sees how similar our jawlines are.

  Pushing out of the car and slamming the door, I beep the locks closed and head toward the front doors. I know there’s a garage out back; I know that’s where most of them park and enter their workplace. I know this place has Griffin sensors, so they already know I’m here. Half of this town is wired for sound – not even remotely legal. Dropping my hands into my pockets and willing my heart to slow, I step through the front doors, though I stop at the sound of laughter coming from further inside the building.

  Raucous laughter, girly squeals, a heavy thump, and more laughter. My heart yearns for something it doesn’t know, but my eyes stop on a pair that hungrily eat me up.

  “Well hello, handsome.” The woman that sits behind a V-shaped reception desk weighs three hundred pounds, easily. Though I’m certain a third of that is in her tits, and when she stands and comes around the long desk, another third is in her ass. Her hair is sleek and straight, with hot pink streaks that match her talon-like nails, which matches her glossy lipstick, which doesn’t match her leopard print bodysuit. “Holy Lord up in Heaven. Dreams really do come true. What’s your name, sugar?”

  “Um…” So much for hardening up. I came here braced for Bishops, but I never expected to get weird goosebumps from their overly friendly receptionist. “Theo.”

  “Theo.” She purrs – she fucking purrs my name – and meets me in the middle of the waiting area, then circles me as though I were a cow at show. “You’re handsome as hell, Theo. You go to the gym often?”

  My brows shoot high when her hand slides over the small of my back.

  What is this security system they have in the way of a three-hundred-pound woman? She wasn’t Griffin-supplied, but she’s far and away the best anti-terror device I’ve ever seen.

  “Theo?”

  “Um…” I clear my throat. “I like to work out.”

  Finishing her revolution and stopping in front of me, she looks up and flashes a pearly white grin. “You do the squats, don’t you, sugar? Your butt is like a shelf.”

  “Um…”

  “Dolly!”

  My heart spins out of control when the pregnant twin I’ve spent all week studying steps around the corner and scowls at the heavy receptionist. She – Jessica – walks with a kind of waddle, has a hand permanently attached to her back, and her hair tied up in a high ponytail that isn’t nearly as sleek as it was in all of the images that have slid across my screens.

  She’s normally so high-market and perfect, but in person, she’s just super pregnant and a little tired. No fancy heels, no designer jeans, she wears sweatpants and sneakers. The sweats are hers, at least. As in, they fit her well, show off sexy thighs, stop above a pair of Nikes, and the thick waistband rests below her swollen stomach. She wears a form-fitting, three-quarter-sleeved shirt, so front on, she looks pretty fucking sexy, but when she turns a little to the side, you see the real picture.

  There are definitely two in there; perhaps twelve.

  “You leave this nice man alone, Dolly. Jesus. Why do you have to terrorize every penis that walks through here?”

  “Because he’s so damn handsome.” Dolly takes Jessica’s hand as though the girl needs the help to stand. “Look at his jaw, Miss Fancy. Look at his eyes. He’s so pretty.”

  “And you’re edging toward a sexual harassment charge.” Jessica rolls her eyes and stops just three feet in front of me. As in, her face is three feet away, but her stomach is much closer. “Hello.” She extends a hand and smiles. “My name is Jess Lenaghan, welcome to Checkmate.”

  I take her hand and wait for the electric shock. I’ve walked into the lion’s den, but no one knows me here. I’ve walked into enemy territory, and everyone is so relaxed that the most vulnerable one, the pregnant one, greets me.

  “Hi, Jess. My name’s Theo.”

  She gives my hand a fast pump that assures me she’s not shy. Stepping back when we disconnect, she leans against Dolly’s tall desk and practically pants, as though she just ran a race. “This is our place – we specialize in home security using the very best technology on the market,” Yeah, Griffin technology, “and we have the very best men to install and monitor it. I’m not actually employed here, but I’m slowing down at my real job as we prep for this.” She points at her belly. “Our guys are out back, screwing around with a new system that arrived, so here I am doing their damn job. Maybe I can help you find what you need?”

  She flashes a dazzling smile and proves how she brought Kane Bishop to his knees. She’s beautiful, and her kind greeting fucks with my head.

  These people are the enemy, and maybe they haven’t sent their most vulnerable out at all. Maybe she’s their weapon; she seduces the enemy with her smile, and then the rest come up and take a man out.

  The back of my neck tingles, and I swing my head around to check. But no one stands behind me. Turning back, I meet Jess’ eyes as she watches me with a lifted brow. She’s not impatient, just curious.

  “It’s faulty!” a deep voice booms from the back. “It’s a piece of shit prototype bullshit thing. Just send it back, get them to replace it. If they don’t, we’ll shop elsewhere.”

  Jess blushes when our eyes meet. “Our security tech rep told us about his company’s new system they’re looking to roll out onto the market. He sent one out for us to try, but I guess our guys aren’t smart enough to figure it out. They say it’s faulty, but I’m saying they didn’t read the instructions properly.”

  A part of me wants to go back there, to walk among the murderers and thieves. I want to see their faces as my t
ech outsmarts them, and while they’re busy reading the upside-down manual, take them out and end this war. But then a second beautiful woman steps into the reception space. A face I recognize.

  She moves to Jess’ side, but her eyes remain on me. “Hey there, big chief. You need something?”

  “Sophia Solomon,” Jess waves from the new face to me. “This is Theo. So far, he’s been solicited by Dolly, learned of our incompetence while the idiots out back cry about how dumb they are, and hasn’t asked to touch my belly once.”

  “Keeps looking at it though, doesn’t he?”

  “Sophia Solomon?” My mind races past the hours and hours of data I’ve scanned the past week. Her name has popped far too often for her not to be important.

  Dance studio. Millions in profits in just a year of teaching toddlers. Is she a threat to me? Physically, no. She looks the part of a ballet teacher; tiny, thin, waifish. But she’s not clean, no matter how cute she thinks she looks in tight jeans and glossy lips.

  She walked through the back to get here. She’s banked money that doesn’t belong to her. That makes her one of them, and that makes her the enemy. It makes her someone I desperately want to speak to. I want to know her secrets. I want to know who she’s working for at a ground level.

  “Can we help you?” Sophia gets a little less ‘Welcome,’ and a little more ‘Get to the fucking point’. “What do you need?”

  “My name’s Theo Griffin.” I solidify my voice, and use the very opportunity that’s been handed to me. So much for staying under the radar. “I’m your security tech rep for today.”

  Sophia’s brows shoot high as she takes another scan from my jeans to coat. “Theo Griffin?” Her eyes flicker to my shoes. Then to my hands. “The Theo Griffin? The dude whose name is on all of our shipping boxes?”

  I shrug, forcing an air of nonchalance, but failing when that deep voice echoes again from the back. “It’s stupid! I don’t want this system anymore. It’s faulty.”

  “It’s not faulty,” I murmur. “It’s intuitive, and I guess maybe your staff are not.”

  Jess’ eyes widen when she picks up the arrogance and dismissal in my voice.

  “I’m visiting some of my higher-spend accounts… ya know, a PR thing that my people said I should do.” I let my eyes slide along Sophia’s body. I push Libby out of my mind, welcome in my bitterness. I feed on it, then I step forward and block out the pregnant chick so I can zero in on the dancer. “I was thinking of getting a bite to eat tonight. You could join me, and we can discuss your security needs.” I lean against Dolly’s desk, present Jess with my back, and slide a finger over the ball of Sophia’s shoulder.

  I want it to be Libby’s shoulder.

  I want to leave this place and never come back.

  “Dinner?” Sophia’s lips firm. She remains in place and allows my finger to move over her skin. “You’d like to get dinner to discuss our security systems?”

  I reach into my pocket and pull out a business card. “I’m to select a representative from each of my accounts. We sit, talk.” I bite my lip and draw her eyes down to my mouth. “Have a drink or two. It would be fun, it’s a business expense, you get a free evening… with me. And I get to look into a beautiful pair of eyes while I talk shop.”

  “Uh… Soph?” Jess’ voice should have been warning enough. “Can we talk a sec?”

  “I’d love to get dinner with you.” Soph’s smile is magnetic. She might not be my type, not in the way I consider short, stocky, policewomen my type. But she’s stunning all the same. “Tonight at seven?”

  I grin. “Sure.”

  “Sophia…”

  “Club 188 does a good meal, they’re good people, good tables, good entertainment.”

  Club 188 also used to belong to Frankston. This woman, this filth, disrespects me and has no clue. “I’ll get us a table,” I grit between my teeth. I let my most charming smile grow forced, fake, while the thud that my mom’s head made against Hayes’ desk plays in my brain on repeat. “Seven.”

  “Sophia!” Jess’ snapped word barely registers past the gunshot in my mind. “We need to talk.”

  “I don’t want to talk right now,” Soph chirps. “I’m doing business. Can you go out back and… I dunno. Get busy doing something else?”

  “John!” Jess spins away from us as fast as her pregnant body allows. “John D Hamilton! You’re needed at the front desk immediately.”

  “Wear something nice,” I continue when Soph’s eyes show absolutely no concern for Jess or her John D Hamilton. I look around this tiny office; not tiny by usual standards, but tiny compared to mine. “You never know, maybe you’d like a change of pace. Something new to look at when you glance out the window.”

  “Yeah?” Sophia sidles closer and gives me the come-hither eyes I wish Libby would. “This town is such a drag sometimes. Can’t buy much of anything around here, and if you want it to come with a label, you have to take your ass into the city or order online and have it delivered. Even Griffin tech.” She drags her bottom lip between her teeth, and smiles when my eyes follow the movement. “Not a single store in town carries your products for the end consumer to buy.”

  I lift a brow and let my cover slip. That information genuinely surprises me. I make a mental note to talk to Annaliese about that as soon as I get back to my room. We need more reps. More towns. “Sounds like our dinner would be mutually beneficial. I could talk to you about how Griffin can help Checkmate. And you can tell me of the… holes that need to be filled.” Her eyes widen. Her lips drop into an O. “In the market, of course.”

  “Of course,” she purrs.

  “What the fuck is going on in here?” That deep voice that shouted of faulty tech now grabs my shoulder and tears me around so my back is to Sophia.

  Glittery black eyes. Strong, square jaw.

  He looks like Colum, but in the flesh, he looks a hell of a lot like me, too.

  “State your business, motherfucker. Then say goodbye to your momma, because I’m about to bury your body in the desert.”

  Kane – a little broader, a lot meaner – steps up beside his brother with folded arms and an angrily ticking jaw. He says nothing. He does nothing. He simply stares until my gut nearly drops out of my asshole.

  There will be no pissing contests here today, no shouting among men in hopes to win a petty argument. There’s just death; one man will win, and one man will lose.

  Unfortunately for them, Jay mentioned my mom, and I’m willing to die for my cause.

  My hand shakes, not from fear, but from the flood of adrenaline that pings through my body. Rage chases it, burning up the energy and leaving behind lava. Bubbling, angry, boiling hot. “Theo Griffin,” I grit between my teeth. Neither men take my hand, and when more step up behind the duo, I understand I will not pull a weapon and survive this place today. “Griffin, of Griffin Industries.”

  Jay’s jaw ticks as he snatches Sophia’s hand and tears her around his body with a hard yank. “Had you not been touching my fucking girl, I might be fangirling for you right now. I love your tech, I love your brain, but then you had to go and put your hands on something that belongs to me. Now you risk your life and every fucking limb you possess.”

  “Jay,” Sophia growls. “Women are not possessions. I do not belong to anyone.”

  My brain files away the fact that Sophia has been claimed by the youngest Bishop, but that she doesn’t tolerate the idea well. I didn’t know I was hitting on his girl, but I’m not sorry for it.

  “You need to zip it, Soph.” Jay’s eyes meet mine. His gaze drops to my jaw, to my eyes, down to my jaw again, then back up to my eyes. “State your business, or get the fuck out.”

  “Or how about we skip right to the end, and you get the fuck out,” Kane finally breaks his silence. “Whatever you’re selling, we don’t want it.”

  “Your company is reliant on Griffin tech,” I answer in a bored tone. “Without Griffin, Checkmate suffers. I’m here as representative for the techno
logy you purchase, so you’re going to want to cool the fuck down.”

  Kane takes another step forward and effectively shields his brother from my sight. He’s my height, a little broader than me. Possibly, unbelievably, he might almost be angrier than me. “I will burn my place down with you and your tech inside, motherfucker. Business is just business to me, and if I lose this place, I’ll build another someplace else. That’s where you can’t relate; if you’re Griffin, you sure as hell ain’t gonna risk what you’ve built. So now you need to explain to me why you had your hands on her mere seconds after meeting her.”

  “Business.” My word is barely a hum, because he deserves nothing more. “A man is allowed to look, and I assure you, she wasn’t asking me to back up.”

  “He was discussing the new prototype,” Sophia pushes around the guys and places herself between me and Kane. “He’d like to discuss it over dinner, and I’m thinking it might be a good idea. Business is business, after all.”

  “Absolutely not.” Kane’s gaze sears straight over the top of her head and into my eyes. “You can ask me to dinner, pretty boy. Your offer still open when we switch whose eyes you get to stare into over candlelight?”

  Ignoring him, I look back to Sophia, to the woman I know is my enemy, but that doesn’t mean I would pass up an opportunity to talk to her in private. They protect her, which means she’s a liability. It means she’s a weak link that I could work.

  I meet her eyes and sign my own death warrant. “Dinner, drinks, and a job.”

  Her brows pop high.

  “Whatever you make here, I’ll double it. And I’ll get you out of this podunk town and put you up at Griffin Plaza.”

  “The plaza?” Her eyes widen. “For real?”

  “Forty-three floors in the plaza alone; forty-first is my office. Forty-third is my penthouse apartment.” I pause and let the pressure build. “Forty-second is sandwiched between, and I’d be willing to open it up to new tenants, especially if they’re beautiful like you.”