Chapter 5
He understood that he had created a digital trail wide enough to destroy him.
“You did not simply steal.”
Tessa closed the empty envelope.
“You exposed the company.”
“You sold the access codes to the Sullivan syndicate.”
Her voice remained controlled.
“You used company systems while committing the theft, creating direct liability for Mr. Valorie.”
Tessa looked toward him without sympathy.
“It was careless, Gary.”
“It was embarrassing.”
Donovan collapsed into the chair.
He looked toward Roman with panic.
“Roman.”
His voice cracked.
“I can return the money.”
“I have not spent it.”
He began pleading.
“I swear.”
Roman moved.
He walked around the table and stopped beside Donovan.
“The Sullivans believed they could enter my property because you opened the entrance.”
His voice became a low and dangerous vibration.
“They locked my people inside a room.”
“They threatened my assets.”
“I did not know.”
Donovan gripped the chair.
“I only provided the codes.”
His voice rose.
“I did not know anyone would be present.”
“Ignorance is not an accepted defense inside this company.”
Roman’s bandaged hand closed around the back of Donovan’s neck.
His fingers pressed into the nerves.
Donovan gasped.
Roman leaned toward his ear.
“You are dismissed, Gary.”
His delivery was soft.
“Effective immediately.”
Roman released him and looked toward the men near the entrance.
“Take him beneath the old naval yard.”
His voice became final.
“Obtain the account access.”
“Recover the money.”
Roman looked down at Donovan.
“When the funds enter our accounts, provide his severance.”
“No.”
Donovan screamed while the men seized both arms.
They pulled him from the chair.
“Tessa.”
His feet moved over the floor.
“Tell him.”
“Tessa, please.”
She did not blink.
Her hands remained joined over the closed envelope while Gary Donovan was dragged from the glass room.
The entrance closed.
Only the ventilation system remained audible.
Roman returned slowly toward the table’s head.
He looked down at Tessa.
“You managed that well.”
Tessa raised her face.
Her heart moved rapidly beneath her ribs.
She felt no pity for the man taken toward his death.
She felt secure.
The threat had been eliminated.
“The company is protected, Mr. Valorie.”
Roman gripped both of her upper arms and pulled her upright.
He did not release her.
He brought Tessa completely against his chest.
“The company is fine.”
His eyes searched her face for regret.
“How are you?”
Tessa placed both palms over his lapels.
Solid muscle and heat remained beneath the wool.
“I am precisely where I want to be.”
Roman’s control ended.
He kissed her hard.
It was not gentle.
The kiss carried possession and the weight of the violence they had organized together.
Tessa answered with equal force.
Her fingers entered the hair at the back of Roman’s neck.
They stood like 2 predators inside a glass enclosure, finalizing a dark and permanent agreement.
Two weeks later, rain returned to the city.
It removed soot from the streets and struck the reinforced windows of the executive floor.
The upper reception desk of Valorie Logistics remained empty.
The brass plaque bearing Tessa Quinn’s name had been removed.
An employment agency had been hired to provide a replacement.
Roman rejected the 1st 4 candidates.
None prepared his coffee correctly.
None understood silence.
Inside the chief executive’s office, the arrangement had changed.
Roman sat behind the large oak desk.
Amber Scotch rested beside his right hand.
The bandages were gone.
Deep pink scars crossed the knuckles.
He examined a physical ledger containing the quarterly shipping routes.
Approximately 10 ft away, near the windows, stood another desk.
It was smaller than Roman’s but constructed from the same dark oak.
Tessa sat behind it, working rapidly over an encrypted computer and changing the security procedures protecting the warehouses.
Barnaby, the orange cat, slept inside a velvet bed placed over the central heating vent.
The Sullivan syndicate had quietly returned $2 million in stolen merchandise.
A polite and nervous letter of apology accompanied it.
The city’s criminal world understood the message.
Valorie Logistics no longer possessed blind spots.
“Carmine says the new Pier 41 foreman requested an advance against his 1st month’s salary.”
Roman continued examining the ledger.
“His mother requires bypass surgery.”
Tessa stopped typing and opened the personnel record.
“Marcus Vance.”
She reviewed the file.
“Clean history.”
“Twenty years of dock employment.”
“Good credit.”
Her eyes moved over the screen.
“No gambling liabilities.”
“No foreign accounts.”
Roman raised his attention.
“Do we approve it?”
He deferred to her.
It was not a test.
The organization had changed.
Roman managed the streets, violence, and fear.
Tessa managed finances, transportation, and internal controls.
They had become 2 halves of an efficient machine.
“Approve it.”
Tessa closed the record.
“Use the legitimate payroll account.”
Her voice remained practical.
“Carmine should deliver the payment personally to the hospital.”
She looked toward Roman.
“Purchase loyalty through grace rather than fear.”
Roman closed the ledger.
He lifted the Scotch and drank slowly.
His dark eyes remained over her.
The same expression from the night she bandaged his hands rested there.
Absolute possession without doubt.
“You are ruthless, Tessa.”
“I am practical.”
She corrected him while rising.
Tessa crossed toward the large desk.
Her heels sank slightly into the Persian rug.
Roman placed down the glass and turned the chair.
He held her hips and drew her between his knees.
His arms closed around her waist.
Roman rested his face against her stomach.
It was a vulnerable position for the man who controlled the city through force.
Beyond the secured office, no armor remained necessary.
Tessa passed her fingers through his hair.
“The final review is clean.”
Her gaze moved toward the scarred hands holding her.
“The weaknesses have been corrected.”
“The money has been processed.”
“Good.”
Roman’s voice moved against her body.
He withdrew slightly and reached inside his jacket.
Roman placed a small, heavy object over the desk.
It was a black encrypted burner telephone, identical to his own.
“Only 3 people possess this number.”
Roman looked up.
“Carmine.”
“The foreign accountant.”
“And me.”
Tessa stared at the device.
It was not a ring.
It was not a traditional declaration.
Inside their world, it was more intimate than either.
It represented absolute authority.
It was access to the organization.
Tessa lifted the telephone.
It felt heavy inside her hand.
“If this device rings, I require you.”
Roman’s voice became a dark and solemn promise.
Tessa looked toward the man who removed her from the warehouse.
He killed for her and destroyed corruption inside his own organization to protect her.
She no longer wanted the ordinary world.
She did not want the illusion of safety.
She wanted the reality of Roman.
Tessa placed the encrypted telephone inside her skirt pocket.
May you like
“If you call,” she whispered, repeating the promise he made inside the bloodstained vehicle, “I will always come.”
Disclaimer: This story is fictional and created for entertainment purposes only. Any names, characters, places, or events are fictitious or used fictitiously. No real person or organization is intended to be portrayed.
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