The Billionaire’s Bargain Bride

Game Plan

CENRIC

“I’m sorry. I was just protecting Zhuri. It’s not her fault.”

“Babe, I know.” I squeezed her hand. I was pissed off but not for not telling me something was going on with her friend. And that her brother was already using Zhuri to get information from her. I understood why Zhuri had to give him what he’d asked. “I wish you just that tell me right away.”

“I was also trying to figure out how to tell you and how to solve it without getting too complicated. What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry. No one is gonna touch Zhuri. Your brother might have leverage against her. I need to talk to her in person.”

“Okay. We’ll do that. Don’t get mad.” When she looked at me like that, and she used that tone at me, how could I?

I kissed her forehead. “We’re in this together. And I’m not mad at you. I’m pissed off at your brother, yes. And beyond. Why won’t he just leave us alone?”

“We’re here,” Beck announced. “Let me first sweep the perimeters.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“You geek guy, stay in my ass all the time.” Linden jumped down the car as soon it parked in front of the four-story brick building.

“We’ll wait until the apartment is clear,” I announced.

“Maybe I should talk to my brother once and for all.” Her suggestion made me growl in anger.

“Not a fucking chance.”

“I want to know what he wants from me.”

“No, Sadie.” I looked at my phone when I received a text. “It’s clear. We’re good to go.”

“Geek guy, in my ass.” Linden gestured at him.

Beck opened the door for us.

“It’s William.”

“Whatever, Harry.”

“Is he always like this, Mr. Wollf?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Thanks for picking me, boss. This is awesome.”

“I never doubted you, William,” I told him the truth to boost his confidence. “Now, let’s go.”

Toby’s apartment was on the second floor.

“Pizza delivery?” Beck knocked, pretending to be a pizza guy.

“I didn’t order pizza,” someone answered from inside the apartment.

Beck dictated the address, “And this is Toby Torres’s apartment, right? It’s pepperoni.”

I heard the bolt unlock. Then he peeked from the gaping door. “I didn’t order pizza, man, but how much?”

“Just open the door, man. I have other boxes to deliver before they decided not to give me a tip.” Beck was very convincing.

“Fine.” He opened the door wide. Now I remembered him. He was dancing and drinking with Zhuri. His eyes bulged as soon as he recognized me. The color drained from his face. “Mr. Wollf, what are you doing here?” He sounded horrified.

Linden and Beck were already scanning his apartment.

“Clear,” Beck announced.

“Do we have to scan for bugs?” Linden asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” I answered before I focused back my attention on Toby. “Pay you a little visit.” My sarcasm did not go unnoticed as I looked around the apartment. His apartment was decent. He was paid well.

“Sit,” I ordered.

“William, why are you with Mr. Wollf?”

“Don’t answer,” I demanded as I sat on his couch. “Who forced you to hack into my man’s phone?”

“Who?” He started trembling.

“Is he listening to us right now?”

“Who’s listening?”

“Answer me!”

He jumped at my voice and started sweating.

“Talk!”

“Okay.” His fingers tremored. “I was with this woman named Zhuri at the launching party. She’s hot—”

“Jesus,” Linden said irritably.

“I thought who’s hot would ever want me. She asked me later if we could go to my apartment.”

“You did not suspect that?” Devin asked.

“I was just trying to get laid,” at least, he answered truthfully. “When we got here, we were in bed when some guys just knocked on my door, wearing masks, and asked me to hack into someone’s phone or he would hurt Zhuri.”

“Oh, boy. You got played. They’re working together. For a genius, you’re too dumb,” Linden remarked.

I looked at Linden, irritated. He mouthed his apology.

“What did he ask you to do? Did he also ask you to hack our HQ?”

“T-tomorrow,” he said guilty before he shook to cry.

“What’s he got on you?”

“He said he knows where my family lives, and if I call the cops or tell anyone, they will hurt them, including my little sister.”

“Beck?”

“Got it, boss. The address of your family, Mr. Torres?”

Beck made a call after Toby told him the address.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Wollf. They threatened my family. It’s okay if he hurt me, but not them.”

“What did he want you to hack?”

“I can’t.” He cried again. “He will hurt my family.”

“I have guys on the way to your house to take your family somewhere safe. If I were in your shoe, I would do the same, protect my family and the people that I love. Trust me, or your family gets hurt, you lose the job and go to jail—your choice. I will sure no one is gonna get hurt, but I won’t let you hack my company unless you have someone else inside who will do it if you can’t.”

“No. I work alone. He told me not to tell anyone.”

I studied him for a moment. He looked so innocent—poor guy.

“Of course, he would tell that to you.” Linden started to get in my skin.

“Linden, ask someone to pick up Zhuri from her apartment.”

“What?” my wife reacted.

“Babe, it’s for her own safety. You have my word. He’ll come after her and suspect she tells someone.”

“Okay. Where are you gonna take Zhuri?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I assured her.

I went back to scared Toby. “I’m waiting, Mr. Torres.”

“I wanna make sure my family is safe first.”

I changed my tactic. “You know what? This is not a negotiation. Whether you tell me or not, I will figure it out, but you might lose one or two fingernails. Look at Devin here. My guy over there with a bandaged hand—his name is Beck Corbins, and he beat the hell out of Devin until he got the truth out of him. And Devin is a big guy but still got a broken nose, cracked ribs, busted eyes—for a guy who does MMA. Beck still has a bandage-free hand. Linden as well is trained to squeeze the truth out of a person. He’s a sniper with a record of a 400-yard. My men are good at what they do. That’s why I handpicked them to protect my wife and me. And you just did something terrible to one of them, and you’re about to destroy one of my most valuable achievements. And I’ve known to be brutal when someone touched what’s mine. I’m giving you one last chance, Mr. Torres, and I’m not known to have long patience.”

He shook to cry, repeatedly apologizing. “I swear I would never do this to you if they did not threaten my family. I admire you, Mr. Wollf, and you’re the last person I wanna disappoint.” He even made pig sounds with hiccups.

Linden shook hard, not burst out laughing, receiving a warning look from me.

Beck showed him his family in the video. “Talk to your family.”

I felt terrible, but I also had to protect what was mine. Toby was about to do something terrible that would make him regret for the rest of his life to protect his family—a good choice, but there was always a better one.

“Mom, Dad, are you okay?”

“Yes, Toby. What’s going on? This man said we have to go somewhere safe because someone threatened you.” His mom looked terrified, but this had to be done. I was tired and fed up with playing cat and mouse with Jasper.

“Just go with them. Everything’s going to be okay soon, Mom.”

“How about you? You look like your crying?”

“I am because I’m glad you’re safe now. I got to go, Mom, Dad. Take care of Jenny.”

My wife walked away to the corner. This must be so heartbreaking for her.

When the call ended up, I faced Toby. “Now it’s time for you to hold up your end.”

“Promise me you won’t hurt him.”

“I don’t promise to someone who broke my trust, Toby, but I’m not a killer, and I don’t use families as my leverage. Either you do your part, or I will let your family go, and you will end up at the four feet thick wall of the solitary confinement.”

“He asked me to destroy The Travelers.”

Beck and Linden swore in grunts.

“Un-fucking-believable.”

“What else?” Sadie asked.

“That’s all, I swear.”

“How would you do that?” I taught myself and learned from my developers. I knew a few how to destroy a program or a game.

“He’s gonna deploy worms online—”

I turned and glared at William to shut him.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Toby agreed.

“And the game would be completely gone?” I asked nonchalantly.

“It would take months up to years to fix, but you’d rather create a new game once it’s destroyed.”

I understood. For me, it wasn’t about fixing the destroyed game, but the investors, the game reputations, and the gamers would be disappointed knowing their accounts were not safe like how we pledged.

“Don’t you have a backup file?” Sadie asked.

“It’s not about the backup files, but it’s the integrity and the accountability and credibility of the developers.” I looked at my wife before I focused back on Toby. “You can do it on your own laptop in this room?”

“No. I have to access the server by installing my drive.”

I looked at William. He nodded.

“So technically, everyone has a key access to the server can destroy it?” Linden glared at Toby.

“Yes, sir, with the kind of knowledge like mine and Toby.”

“This is terrifying.” My wife looked horrified as she rubbed her arms.

I agreed with my wife. “Add another security. Hired private security you trust, Beck.” He knew what I meant.

“Consider it done.”

“And you, you will stay with your family until this is over. You are suspended with pay.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Pack your bag. If you ever touch a computer or access the internet. You are over!”

“Noted, sir.”

“Linden, you will babysit William.”

“Fuck no!”

I glared at him.

“I’ll babysit Mrs. Wollf.”

“I dislike you, too. Why can’t I go home?” William asked.

“You wanna get kidnapped? Go ahead,” Linden said without a filter.

“By who? By the guy who threatened Toby?”

“Ding ding ding. A nasty one. No remorse. He enjoys pulling out nails and eyeballs.”

“Enough.” I darted at Linden. “What are you doing? I still need his brain and fingers.”

“You’re not helping, Mr. Wollf.”

“So you’d rather find it yourself?” I looked around, and I couldn’t find my wife anywhere. “Where’s Sadie?”