Without Warning: A Billionaire Romance (Playboys of New York Book 5) JA Low (e textbook reader .TXT) 📖

face pales at my mother’s request. “Mom, I’m sorry, okay? I’m really, really, sorry,” Stanford pleads.

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” She looks up at him. “Why would you ever do that to your brother?” She shakes her head in disbelief and closes her eyes for a brief second.

“She drugged me. She raped me, Mom.”

Stirling reaches out and grabs my arm, knowing I’m seconds away from punching him the fuck out.

“Please, Sandy. Just go.”

And with that, my brother turns on his heel and leaves the dining room.

My mother breaks down and makes her excuses to leave as Patrice wraps a consoling arm around her shoulder.

“Well, that didn’t go so well,” Audrey states, taking a sip of her champagne.

“I’m sorry about all that,” I apologize to Ariana.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Your brother is a dick.”

“Thanks for sticking with me through all this drama,” I tell her.

“Nowhere else I would rather be.”

I then bend down and kiss her.

“Ew,” Audrey hollers from the dining table as a bread roll hits me on the temple, which makes us all laugh, breaking through some of the tension in the room.

32

Rhys

“Jackson, please tell me you have some information?” Picking up my phone, I’m about to head up to Connecticut for Chloe and Noah’s wedding this weekend. Ariana went up last night for bridesmaid’s stuff, and I’m heading up later today to Anderson’s place to chill with the rest of the guys. It’s great of them to invite me.

“I’ve got something!” He sounds excited.

My heart begins to race, thinking of the possibility that this could all be over.

“The Romano family is paid and squared away. Your father is safe now.” That’s a relief. As much as I hate him, I don’t want to see him swimming with the fishes anytime soon. “We asked them if they knew who Madison Barlow was.” My heart is thundering, my hands begin to sweat, waiting for the next piece of information. “We showed them a picture of her, of her ex who worked for the law office, and a photo of her brother.” Jackson’s voice turns serious for a moment.

“What?” A sense of foreboding hits me in the chest.

“They recognize her and her brother.”

My stomach sinks.

Fuck.

Raking my hand through my hair, I ask, “Who is she?”

“Her name is Madlina Ivanov.”

Hang on. What the hell? Madison isn’t even her real name?

It takes me a couple of moments to compute what is going on.

“And it’s not her brother who’s in jail. It’s her husband.” Her husband? “His name is Michail Ivanov, and he’s a brigadier in the Bratva, so he’s lower level. He was picked up for unpaid fines, and that’s why he’s in jail.” I just shake my head in confusion, not being able to vocalize anything. “From what I’ve found out, his forte is extortion and blackmail. His brother, Oleg, is a hacker and hacks into people’s accounts to get the dirt on them.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Confused by the situation because I haven’t wronged anyone.

“From what we gather from hacking into Oleg’s computer, there was an article in a magazine about you being one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. We found more information regarding you, your family, your businesses, etc.”

How the hell did I get sucked in by these people?

“What’s their plan?”

“They’re hoping to shake you down enough that you just pay them what they want,” Jackson explains.

“They aren’t after my business?”

“No. These people want cash, but I don’t think they’re going to be fussy if they can get their hands on some luxury homes, too.”

Well, shit!

“Okay, how do we stop them?”

Will this nightmare ever end?

“Luckily, I know some people in the NYPD who are incredibly interested in these people. I’ve forwarded the details of what’s happened to a contact of mine, and they’re going to be in touch,” Jackson replies.

“How long do you think this will take?”

“This will be over soon. They need to get all their ducks in a row before pulling the trigger on the investigation,” Jackson explains the next course of action.

“Am I in danger?” Because if Madison is part of the Russian mafia, then I can’t imagine I’m safe. I mean, I’ve seen movies.

“Yes. As far as they’re concerned, you know nothing, and that’s how we are going to keep it,” he reassures me.

“When’s your next meeting with Madison?” Jackson asks.

“Next week. We will have mediation.”

“Right. Well, I’ll make sure we have everything in place before that meeting. I’ll let them know about the sense of urgency,” Jackson tells me.

Okay. This is good. This is something.

“So, go have fun this weekend at Chloe and Noah’s wedding, and don’t worry about what you’ve heard. I promise you this will all be over soon.”

I guess I need to hold tight. There is light at the end of a really long tunnel. I click ‘end call’ and hang my head in my hands, taking a couple of deep breaths to try and center myself.

“You okay?” Stirling’s voice makes me jump. I clutch at my chest as my heart practically jumps out of it. “Rhys?” Stirling looks at me with concern.

“Yeah, just got off the phone with Jackson. It’s all going to be over soon.”

“Really?” He sounds surprised. “That’s awesome. Did they find something they can use on Madison?”

I nod my head. “She’s in on it all.” Stirling’s eyes widen with surprise. “She planned it all.”

“How?” he questions. I explain to him everything Jackson told me while he listens intently. “Wow.” He shakes his head in astonishment. “That is fucked-up.” I nod my head in agreement. “Do you think they’re going to be able to catch them? Are you safe?”

“Jackson said that he’s speaking to NYPD and that I’m perfectly safe. That they will have this all under control.” I shrug my shoulders because I have to have faith in Jackson and his team that they know what they’re doing. I don’t have much of a choice.

“Maybe you need to go back to London for a