The Sheik’s Vow (The Billionaire’s Club #13)

Chapter 23

Ethan stomped into his office, tossing his coat over a nearby chair. It had been a long, miserable flight home from Bidar and all he wanted to do was find a woman and…! Hell, he didn’t have time for any of that! His phone buzzed with yet another message, most likely more demands for an explanation.

He yanked at his tie while he reached for his desk phone. His cell phone had been turned off due to non-payment of this month’s service fee yesterday.

He couldn’t remember ever being this angry at the world. Ethan wasn’t sure how, but he would bet money that his current financial crisis had something to do with Kaia. As far as he knew, she was still in Bidar, but she’d done this. Somehow, some way, the little bitch had gotten somebody to look into his finances.

He just needed to figure out who had spilled the beans. Then he’d call him up and remind him of the consequences of taking action against Ethan. He had incriminating pictures and videos of every law enforcement officer in the area. Gloriously clear pictures. Some of the images showed people in compromising sexual positions. Others showed illegal drug use. The best were images of people accepting envelopes that were obviously filled with cash.

Ethan had made sure that all of the images were safely stored away for just this kind of a situation.

“Ed!” Ethan called out as soon as the head of the bank answered his phone. “How are you?”

Ethan sensed the bank employee's unease before a single word passed his lips. "Hello, Ethan. I thought you were out of the country?"

"I was," Ethan replied with a malevolent chuckle, sending shivers down the unsuspecting bank employee's spine. Leaning in, he lowered his voice, unleashing the full force of his fury. "Now, I'm back. And there seems to be a problem." The weight of his words and the unspoken threat hung in the air for a long moment. "Care to explain why there is a problem when I pay you to ensure that there are no problems?" The warning in his tone was clear,.

Despite being miles away in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ed’s terror reverberated palpably all the way to Lexington, Kentucky, where Ethan commanded his business empire. Here in Lexington, Ethan lived like a king with an office, a penthouse apartment, and a fleet of luxury cars. This calculated distance from Todras ensured secrecy, a clandestine operation veiled in the shadow of a seemingly unassuming town. As Ethan waited for Ed’s response, the tension lay thick in the air.

“I can’t help you this time, Ethan,” Ed whispered in a panicked tone. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing, but the FBI are here. Right now. And they’re asking a lot of questions.”

Ethan felt icy fingers of dread dance along his spine. The FBI? What the hell was going on? And why the FBI? He’d never nurtured a contact within the FBI! He’d never thought he’d need to. “What’s going on, Ed?” he hissed.

There was a long pause and Ethan’s grip tightened around the receiver.

Ed groaned and Ethan pictured the pathetic coward running a hand through his thinning hair. “I don’t know! Two days ago, some FBI agent came into the bank with a warrant. He asked me about your bank accounts specifically. He asked where the money came from and then a bunch of documents were printed out and the agents took them.”

Ethan huffed with fury. “Ed,” he growled in a low, menacing tone, “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but one thing I can guarantee is that I’m a hell of a lot scarier than any damn FBI agent!” He paused, letting his words sink in. “Think about that while you start fixing this mess! I want access to my bank accounts by the end of today. And I want all of my credit cards reinstated!” He turned and stared out the window.“Don’t let me down, Ed. I’d hate for your wife to know about Ginger.”

There was a hiss on the other end of the line as Ethan hung up.

Before Ethan could make his next phone call, the phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but answered anyway. “Howell!” he snapped, unable to don the disguise of a gentle, church-going person at the moment.

“Ethan, it’s Jerry.” Ethan flipped through his mental rolodex, trying to place the name. “You’re never going to guess who just showed up at the club!”

Club? What club? Ethan owned a house on the outskirts of Lexington where he “entertained”.

“Who is this?”

There was a chuckle, then the man said, “It’s Jerry, Ethan. You and I partied a few months ago. You introduced me to a woman named Darla and…” he sighed dreamily, obviously savoring the memory. Then he cleared his throat. “Anyway, you asked me to be on the lookout for two dark haired sisters with green eyes. You gave me a picture of them.”

Kaia! Ethan’s body tightened as he pictured Kaia bent over his desk, her pretty ass bared for his viewing pleasure.

Kaia was close! She must have returned from Bidar at the same time he had flown back to the country. Finally, his luck was turning!

“You interested?” the guy asked .

Ethan licked his lips. “Absolutely,” he replied, picking up his pen. “Give me what you got.”

Two minutes later, he hung up on Jerry, whoever the hell he was, and dialed a new number. When the person picked up, Ethan didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Tell Dorothy that I need to speak with her in,” he glanced at his watch, “twenty minutes.”

He had a plan. An excellent plan!

After the past seventy-two hours, a time period in which he’d been out of control, out of money, and disrespected, Ethan was now smiling again.