The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

Weak Link

SADIE

Watching Devin beaten up for being wrongly accused broke my heart. I wiped my face dry.

“Untie him, please?” I looked at them one by one and to my husband.

“Untie him,” he ordered Beck. “What is it that you’re not telling me, Sadie?”

“Devin is just the weak link. My brother wants to destroy him for choosing me and changing his loyalty to you. He didn’t take it lightly. Devin knows his dirty little secrets that he can use against him. I know how Jasper thinks, but Devin and I are just pawns for him—the Achilles heel. His main objective is coming after you.”

“What is that he wants for Cenric?” Beck asked.

“I heard my father once that my brother is not capable of running his business or organization, whatever it is. Of course, since I was born, I’m out of his preferences. Women can’t lead. That’s what he believed in.”

My husband snorted. “And he thinks I’m a perfect choice? I’m running my empire. I don’t need his dirty little businesses, thank you very much.”

“That’s not how my brother thinks. You’re still a great threat. And as for my father, it doesn’t matter you’re already a billionaire—”

Devin chortled. “His international organization doesn’t need a billionaire to run, but a strong and cruel who can command an order with a military background. And who do you think fits that description?”

“Fuck me,” Linden said. “You’re gonna be a—” Linden managed to stop before he could blurt out something he wanted to say.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“What do you know about my father?” I pressed my husband.

“You’re so naive, Mrs. Wollf. If you still didn’t know the line of business your family is running,” Devin answered.

“If you wouldn’t stop, I might make you stop,” Beck threatened Devin.

“Is there anything I should know about?” I gazed at all of them one by one, but none of them wanted to spill the beans.

“Nothing you don’t already know, Sadie.”

I looked at my husband. “I’ll figure it out myself.” I needed to get to the bottom of all of this madness.

“Back to this matter. Devin, clean up. No phone and no gun. You stay in my sight all the time. Linden, you take Devin’s job temporarily. Beck, I need you in my office.”

“And me?” I asked since I left no assignment.

“You come with me.”

I followed him when he went out of Beck’s room. “Thank you.” I held his hand.

He squeezed it. “Don’t ever do that stupid stunt again, or you’ll get a spank on your ass, Sadie.”

“You did not even apologize to him. It won’t make you weak in the eyes of your employees, Cenric. It makes you a very honorable man.”

“I won’t do it,” he said firmly.

“Even to me?” I looked at him. There was still a lot going on in his head.

“You’re the one who uses yourself as a shield. You should be the one who should apologize.”

“I’m sorry, okay? But he’s a good guy. And you know that because you won’t hire him if your gut is telling you he’s not trustworthy.”

“Or my instinct is just wrong to trust him.”

I sat on the chair in the library while he was talking to Theo. I looked at Beck and his knuckles.

“You should clean that up before it gets infected.”

“I’m gonna be fine.”

“I need someone who’s the best in the IT department.” My husband was still pissed at something or many things. “I understand that, Theo. That’s why ask a driver to pick him up from his house and send him here.”

“Just wash and remove the bloodstain, Beck. Don’t be a pain in the ass.” I stood up and mouthed Cenric, “I’ll be back.”

I went to take some antibiotic ointment and bandages from the medicine cabinet. When I came back, my husband stared at the phone in his hand.

“Is that Devin’s?” I sat beside Beck. “Give me your hand, grouchy.”

“The evidence,” Cenric replied.

Beck just looked at me.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared with a little ointment?”

My husband chuckled. “Just give your hand, man. She won’t break it.”

“Or I might,” I muttered under my breath.

I applied topical antibiotics on the opened skin. “They said the part of your body that is very sensitive to pain is your fingertip?” I pressed a gauze on the broken skin, then I opened a roll of bandage and started wrapping around his hand. He had a big and callous hand, just like Cenric.

“Are you planning on torturing someone?” Cenric asked.

“I know where the guy most painful part.”

He laughed while Beck just shut his thighs close.

I secured it with the clip. “You’re good to go. It looks like you didn’t break anything.”

“Thanks.”

“I get it, Beck. You’re protecting my husband like your own blood. I’m grateful that he has someone like you who would watch his back all the time. Just don’t take it personally of what I did earlier. I honestly care about all of you. I don’t wish any of you get hurt protecting Cenric or me.”

“I’ve no doubt your husband would do the same for us.” Beck examined my handiwork.

“Flex your hand.”

He did as I said. “You’re like a pro. How did you learn how to do this?”

“If you think my brother broke my arms and I’m in and out of the hospital, nope. My mom was a medical doctor. She was good at what she did.” I smiled as I remembered her devotion to her work. “As a kid, I watched and learned a few things from her. That’s why I didn’t go to the hospital when I had bruises. “Apply a bag of frozen peas on that. I wanted to be like Mom, but my father forbids another doctor in the family. Either I would finish college in business management, or I wouldn’t go to college if I would take biology.”

“He’s a controlling tyrant.”

“Do tell, and a selfish son of bitch who only loves nothing but himself.”

The door swung open. It was Linden. “The geek guy is here.”

“The geek guy has a name, and it’s William.” He entered with his sling bag, mesmerized, combing his unruly curly hair with his fingers. “Wow! Cool library, Mr. Wollf. And you have a very sophisticated home.”

“You signed a tight NDA, geek guy.” Linden just terrified the poor guy. “So you better never disclose this address, or you will lose your job and never touch a keyboard again.”

“Don’t you think I did not read it? I have a 4. 0 GPA.”

“He’s just messing you, William.” I smiled to make him less frightened. “But it would be great if you would not mention it to anyone.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

“Do you think you can help us out with that phone?”

“I’m your guy, Mrs. Wollf.” He paused. “I mean not your guy, your guy because your guy is Mr. Wollf.”

“Can someone please make him stop?”

I glared at Linden before I looked back at William. “You’re making me look old, but let’s get this job done, shall we?”

“Of course. I brought my laptop with me.”

“What’s wrong with this laptop?” Beck asked the obvious.

“I have installed—”

“We don’t wanna know so long as long as it’s not Wollf Corp. property,” Cenric said.

“No, sir.”

“Great. You can sit on my chair.”

“Should you have like thick glasses?” I knew Linden was messing up with him, and he was definitely amused.

“Why do you all think we all wear glasses?”

“I don’t,” Cenric answered.

“So did I,” I seconded.

“This is so cool. You should purchase the latest gaming chair, Mr. Wollf—”

“Start doing your thing,” Linden ordered. “If you want to take your laptop home in one piece.

“Stop it.” I elbowed him.

The door swung open. It was Devin. “You don’t mind?” he asked Cenric.

“Come in.”

I understood he wanted to figure himself who framed him as well.

William connected the phone to his laptop. I stayed on the chair while the four men took an interest in watching as he typed on the keyboard.

“Damn, he’s good,” Beck said.

“Mr. Wollf picked me up from the college. I guess he saw my potential, and I was over the moon—”

“Work.” Linden groaned. “Your job depends on the result of your work, geek guy.”

“I work well when I’m talking.”

“Too bad. You have to make—”

“Done,” he proudly announced.

“Tell me about it,” my husband asked.

“Your phone is hacked.”

“Not mine. You know you’ve installed security on my phone, right? It’s technically unhackable.”

“Oh yeah. Then who’s this?”

“Mine.” Devin raised his hand.

“The file is around 4Mb remotely transferred to your phone. You don’t even realize when someone is sending messages from your phone or vice versa.”

“Well, that’s creepy. You mean, Devin can send the picture of his junk even if he didn’t do it?”

“Perfect sample, scary guy,” William agreed. He started typing again. “And this is the IP address used. “What the…hell?”

“Care to share to the technological moron class here, William?” Cenric said.

“The file was sent from the coffee shop, but the IP address where the hacked done was so sophisticated protected by layered of encryption it’s nearly impossible to decrypt.

“Hey, genius. Did you forget you’re in front of your boss, boss, boss?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Jeez, creepy dude. Didn’t I just say nearly impossible?”

I was fascinated watching him, his eyes focused on the screen, and his fingers had never gotten off the keys. “Did you ever mistype anything?”

“No, ma’am.”

“I’m impressed. I could barely type twenty words in one minute.”

My husband looked at me, amused.

“This guy knows what he’s doing?” William declared.

“You have something in common then,” Beck said.

“Yeah. He’s a geek like me. Here’s the IP address. I managed to triangulate before he managed to kick me out—”

“Don’t explain. All I need is a name. My brain can’t process your explanation, geek guy.”

“I’ll give the address then. It’s on Hanson Street, corner of Jefferson’s. Four-story building—” He stopped. His eyes widened as if he had just figured out something big, like a conspiracy big kind of a deal. “What. The. Hell?”

“What the hell what, geeky?”

“This is impossible.”

“Why?” Cenric asked.

“It’s Toby’s apartment.”

“I know.”

Pairs of eyes had on me.

“Care to explain, babe?”