Read Online Deadly Odds by Adrienne Giordano - Free Book Online

know that. Ms. Daniels is a precaution. We’ve been open a short time, let’s get her in early to tweak. She does her report and we move on any action items. Questions?”
    Once again, he scanned their faces. By now, Ross might have cracked a few teeth with how hard he clenched. And why not? From the time she’d stepped into Fortuna, Samuels had been tossing grenades.
    But the reality, Kate’s reality, was that her boss would be a very happy man. She kept her features neutral, completely composed, while doing a little inward jig.
    Rock star status, here I come.
    She swiveled her chair to face Samuels. “Thank you, sir. I’m assuming you’ve spoken to Dev about this and he’s cleared my schedule.”
    “Not yet. He’ll work it out though. Anything else?”
    Huh. The arrogance. Simply astonishing. Robert Samuels. A bully. Clearly he’d been getting his way for a long time.
    But Dev wanted the contract and, truth be told, so did she.
    Ross finally moved. He sat straight in his chair, tucked his pen back into the sleeve of his leather portfolio with precision care and flipped the cover closed. “I’m good.”
    Don shrugged. “I got no issues with this. She’s young and she’s smart. Always got room for that.”
    He winked at Kate. Unbelievable. For a short, round, balding man, he had enormous charm and confidence.
    “All right then,” Samuels said, “I’m heading to Dominion for another meeting. You three work out whatever needs to happen here. Ms. Daniels, I expect daily updates.”
    Daily? “Of course, sir.”
    “Also, before I walked in here, I received a call from a Vegas detective. One of the Dominion dealers was found in an alley this morning. He’s dead.”
    * * *
    “Dead?”
    Ross repeated the word, forced his mind to absorb it while he brought his manic thoughts in order. Who? How? Why? The silence in the room roared at him, caught him off guard and left a whooshing in its wake. “Who…” He cleared his throat. “Which dealer?”
    Having worked at Dominion since graduating from business school, he knew most of the dealers. Within certain limits, considering he was their boss, he’d even befriended some.
    And now one of them was dead.
    “Dale Cousins,” Samuels said. “Murdered.”
    Jesus . Conflicting emotions—relief, surprise, horror—all stormed and his head drooped forward. He’d known Dale, but wouldn’t consider him a friend. Still, he’d known him. That alone left a weird mix of shock and grief.
    “He was married,” Ross said. “Couple of kids.”
    Samuels shrugged. How would he know about the personal lives of his employees? He didn’t request that much detail and never sought it out. That was Ross’s job.
    “My God,” Kate said. “How awful.”
    Don wrapped his fingers around the edge of the table, gripping so hard the veins in his hands popped. Slowly, he pushed his chair back and sat for a few more seconds before he walked to the window to stare out at the foothills. He might be hard-nosed, but when it came to families, to children , his heart was the size of the Grand Canyon. Eventually he gave up on the view and faced them again. “Do they know what happened?”
    “Apparently he was strangled. I didn’t get details. The detective said he’d question some of the employees. I need to get back there and monitor that situation. I’ll keep you all posted.”
    Samuels hauled ass out of the room and the minute the door closed Kate let out a breath.
    Still near the window, Don spoke up. “We need to get with HR and our PR people. See how they want to handle communicating this to staff. Let’s get ahead of it before everyone and their goddamn grandmother starts talking to the press.”
    Ross nodded. “I’ll take care of that.” He turned to Kate. “Helluva day for you around here, but I guess we should welcome you to the team.”
    She set her palms on the table, fingers splayed wide. “I want you both to know I’m as surprised as you. I was told this project had