He reached the top floor and stalked across to Yancey’s office, ignoring everyone else who stopped to stare at him. He didn’t even stop when Yancey’s assistant called out to him but headed straight inside. “Well then,” he said when he opened the door to find Diane and Yancey going at it on the desk. “Is this a bad time?”
Diane cursed and ducked down, hiding herself as Yancey yanked his pants up. “What the hell are you doing here? You don’t just barge into my office!”
“You didn’t pay me,” Mitch said, leaning against the closed door.
“Of course I did. It went in this morning.”
“No, actually, it didn’t. Don’t try to play games with me, William…you will lose. Where is my money?”
“Can’t you come back later?” Diane shrieked as she struggled to pull her top back on.
“No. I rather like it when my clients are off balance. Money, William. Now.”
He grunted as he finally got his pants re-situated and walked across the room to a small safe tucked away under the drinks cart. “This is not how gentlemen do business.”
“Never said I was a gentleman.”
“Why are you still paying him, anyway?” Diane snapped. “I thought that Baron woman was out of the picture. You said she no longer had the files, and I haven’t seen her snooping around at all.”
“Do you want her to go after Riley again?” Mitch said, as much as it pained him. He knew how attracted she’d been to the guy. Part of him was cold to such emotions, but he wasn’t a complete monster. Phoebe had really liked Riley, and he’d broken her heart. “By all means, I can disappear, and when she’s no longer distracted by me or Riley realizes I’m out of the picture…you tell me what you think might happen.”
Diane huffed, her face red—whether from anger or her latest exertions, Mitch wasn’t sure. “It was just a fleeting thing. They didn’t have anything real.”
“If you’re willing to take that risk then by all means, I’ll leave right now.”
He turned towards the door and was about to pull it open when Diane cursed. “Wait, just wait a Goddamned minute.”
She ran a hand through her messed up hair as Mitch waited patiently, watching her make up her mind. It didn’t take long before she turned back to Yancey and yelled at him to give Mitch the cash before they lost their distraction.
“You made the right choice,” Mitch said, as he tucked the envelope in his jacket pocket.
“I expect to be kept apprised of the situation,” Yancey said. “Until this can be taken care of.”
“You mean until Riley is dumb enough to marry that witch.”
“Why you—”
Mitch caught the hand she tried to slap him with. “Don’t ever try to touch me again.”
Yancey didn’t even move as Diane’s gaze flashed from Mitch’s face to his, waiting for him to intervene. The coward of a man did nothing but stand there, hands shaking. Mitch smirked and dropped her hand as he reached for the door. “I’ll be in touch, and next time, I expect my money on time, Yancey, or you’ll regret it.”
Mitch headed out the door and Diane turned around, glaring at Yancey. “You just stood there! What the hell is your problem?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t try to hit hired guns in the face,” he replied.
“He deserved it.”
“Mitch Harper deserves a lot of things, but you will not be the one to deliver them,” he said. “Once this business of taking over Cyber Vault, Inc. is over, we’ll tie up loose ends. Mitch will be one of them, don’t worry about that. I want my damn money back.”
Diane rolled her eyes as she poured herself a shot of vodka and tossed it back. “Of course you do.”
“Why do you look worried? You said it yourself, Riley will get desperate. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep his company.”
“I know…it’s just that woman—”
“If you’re that worried about it, go and take care of it. She’s downstairs, working.”
“You want me to fire her?”
Yancey shook his head. “But what else are you good at doing?”
Diane leered as she grabbed her purse from the floor, slipped her heels back on, then leaned down to kiss Yancey passionately, making sure her cleavage was visible as his hands wrapped around her rear and squeezed.
“When this is all over, remind me to do something special for you.”