Chapter 54
Chapter 54:
Across the city, in the dimly lit offices of Douglas Tech, Kieran was pacing.
Uncle Vincent was on speakerphone.
“Are you sure about this, Kieran?” Vincent asked, his voice unsteady. “If we get caught planting drugs in the hotel p>
“We won’t get caught,” Kieran snapped. “Jocelyn fired the old security team, remember? She replaced them with new hires. There’s a gap in the surveillance during the shift change p>
“But why p>
“Because,” Kieran said, his eyes fixed on the photo of Jocelyn and her pink diamond on his wall of screens, “if the Wolfe Hotel is raided for a narcotics distribution ring, the stock plummets. The Collins family hates scandal. They’ll drop her. They’ll annul the marriage to protect their reputation p>
“And then p>
𝘋o𝗐𝗻𝘭𝗼ad𝗮𝘣lе р𝗗𝖥𝘀 о𝘯 𝗴a𝗅ոо𝘷𝗲𝗅𝘴.с𝘰𝘮
“And then,” Kieran smiled — a twisted, broken thing — “she’ll have nowhere to go. No money. No husband. No family p>
He let the silence sit for a moment.
“She’ll have to come back to me p>
He picked up a small bag of white powder from his desk.
“Do it tonight, Vincent. Plant it in her new executive office — the one she just renovated. Then call the cops p>
“Consider it done,” Vincent said.
Kieran hung up. He pressed a finger to the screen, tracing Jocelyn’s face.
“I’m saving you, Jocelyn,” he whispered. “You’ll thank me later p>
The air in the private dining room of the Wolfe Hotel was thick with the scent of beeswax polish and Kieran’s anxiety. He checked his Patek Philippe watch for the third time in as many minutes. The second hand swept past the twelve, mocking him.
He looked at the two crystal glasses of Pinot Noir on the table.
With a trembling hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. Inside was a fine white powder — a potent sedative he had sourced from a sketchy contact. He didn’t want to hurt her. He told himself that repeatedly. He just needed her pliable. He needed photos of her looking compromised, looking like the addict Aspen claimed she had become.
He tipped the powder into the glass on the left. It dissolved instantly, leaving no trace.
“It’s for her own good,” Kieran whispered, his throat dry. “She needs to hit rock bottom so I can save her p>
His phone buzzed on the table. A call from Babe Vincent’s lawyer.
Kieran answered, his jaw tight. “What p>
“Mr. Douglas, my client’s nose is still throbbing, and his recovery is proving… costly,” a slick voice said. “And my legal fees for dropping the assault charges are quite steep. We’re thinking… half a million p>
“You’re delusional,” Kieran hissed. “He touched her p>
“My client maintains he didn’t lay a hand on her. He claims the damage was done by that mystery man of hers before you even arrived. Pay up, or I’ll have my client testify that you were screaming like a lunatic about a marriage that doesn’t exist. It would make for a very messy deposition p>