Are Darius Holt and Owen Mitchell back together?
Connections revealed between Fernone and EX Tradings. Neither business has offered any explanation for their collaboration.
It was another late night in the office. Darius should have taken Owen home, but he had insisted on staying with Darius, so he was dozing on the couch while Darius reviewed the final version of the equal rights proposal he had spent the last month putting together with the help of an omega and a beta lawyer from the association he had joined in Owen's absence. Darius scrolled through to the end of the document and then replied to the group email saying that it looked good. He closed the tabs and collapsed the browser, a yawn splitting his face. He closed his tired eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, people were filing silently into his office. He stood up, tense and confused. "Who are you?"
The man in front, an alpha with slick black hair and an even slicker smile, stepped right up to Darius' desk. "Good evening, Mr. Holt." His tone was condescending even though the words he spoke were polite. "How are you?"
Darius silently counted the forces this alpha had brought. Twenty. How had they even gotten through the front door? He braced his hands on the desk and leaned slightly toward the other alpha. "I will repeat my question. Who are you?"
The alpha chuckled. "I'm surprised you don't recognize me. Oh, well. I suppose introductions must be made." He held out his hand to Darius. "I am Tyler Ellis, CEO of EX Tradings. Could I trouble you for a little chat?"
Darius felt his breath get caught somewhere between his mouth and lungs. "Tyler Ellis?" he repeated, not quite believing his ears.
"Yes," the alpha confirmed with a wolfish grin. "Heard of me before?"
"Yes," Darius replied, slowly straightening to his full height. "I have. And not in the way you might expect."
Tyler Ellis grabbed a chair and seated himself in front of Darius' desk, an eager expression on his face. "Oh? Do tell." Was this man a psychopath or something?
Darius scowled. "One of my men found out that you've been systematically dismantling rival companies from the inside for years."
Tyler's smirk deepened. "Oh, really?" He motioned to one of his people. "Find that man."
Shock smacked the breath out of Darius' lungs. Shit. He had just put Marlowe in danger. Now he could only hope and pray that Marlowe had covered his digging well enough that Tyler's people would not find anything.
Tyler turned his smile back on Darius as the man he had told to find Marlowe left the office on his mission. "You were saying?"
Darius clenched his fists on top of the desk. "You think you can threaten me and just get away with it?"
Tyler shrugged, crossing his legs at the knee in a casual position. "Why not?" Why not, indeed. He had gotten away with this six other times, so of course he thought that this time would not be any different. He lifted a hand and examined his nails like a germaphobe looking for a single speck of dust. "I don't have anything to fear from you. All your shares have been transferred to me, so you have no power anymore." He glanced up almost coyly. "What do you think of that, Mr. Holt?"
Darius stared into Tyler's face, determined to find a lie in his expression. "I didn't transfer my shares to anyone, you psycho. What are you talking about?"
Tyler held out his phone to Darius. "Then how would you like to explain the fact that I now own 62 percent of Holt Enterprises?"
Darius gripped the edge of his desk. It was real. He knew a scam website or email when he saw one, and what Tyler was showing him was no scam. "How?" he whispered, part of his mind still in denial.
Tyler slid his phone back into his pocket with that horrible grin. "You had someone investigate me, Mr. Holt. How do you think I did it?" His eyes were not quite focused on Darius. It was like he was watching someone behind Darius.
A circle of cold metal pressed into Darius' neck. A gun.
Darius turned his head just enough to see who it was. His heart stopped.
It was Owen who held the gun.
Tyler chuckled. "Mr. Holt, may I introduce you to my son Rowan Ellis?"