Marauder's Inc.

Chapter 6

Elise

She felt like pulling her hair out as she stared at the email from Kalani. It was simple. Two words, actually:

"We're out."

Well, Elise supposed that would actually be three words if Kalani hadn't used a contraction, but that wasn't what mattered. What mattered was that Elise had entered into an agreement with Reid Brenna.

Reid Brennan.

The designer clothing-clad enemy who'd coerced her into agreeing to solve this mystery when she wasn't even completely convinced he was oblivious to what was going on. But, Elise had agreed, and now she was left staring at the brief email from her informant, Elise's personal eyes on the ground, telling her that she would no longer be her "eyes."

Feeling a knot of apprehension settle in her stomach, Elise pulled out her cellphone, tapping the cracked screen a couple times before the device would spring to life. Biting her lip in nervousness, she dialed Kalani, not even taking into account the time difference between here and there. After the fifth ring, Elise was about to lose hope until she heard Kalani answer.

"No."

"Wait!" Elise barked out, accidentally knocking over a stack of folders. "Don't hang up."

Kalani sighed. "I'm sorry, Elise. We can't do this anymore. It's not worth the danger."

"Danger?"

"I'm not saying anything else," Kalani's voice was terse, causing Elise to grow even more curious.

"I've got money now."

That caused the woman on the other end of the line to pause before speaking carefully.

"Bullshit. You never have money, Elise."

"It's true," Elise pleaded standing and going over to her purse where she fished around for the white envelope Reid had given her. There was a small flutter of panic when she couldn't find it within all the mess, but then she located the package filled with cash and beamed.

"I've got it in my hand right now, Kalani. Enough money to pay everything I owe you and then some."

Another pause. "Where'd you get it?"

Elise smirked, plopping down into her chair and dumping the cash onto the desk in front of her. Well, she dumped it onto the part of the desk not covered by clutter. "I've got an investor. Someone interested in this case. That's all I can say."

"Prove it." The skepticism in Kalani's voice was palpable.

Still smiling, Elise counted out how much she owed Kalani and the informant, piling it into a neat stack then holding it up close to her face and taking a selfie with it then swiftly sending it. When she heard Kalani gasp, Elise knew the other woman had gotten the image.

"Swear to me that's real and that you didn't do any shady shit to get that, Elise."

"Pinky swear. On both accounts," Elise nodded vigorously as if Kalani could see her gesturing through the phone. "Now tell me what you got. You mentioned danger?"

Kalani sighed before whispering. "There's been rumors going around. A foreigner digging into dirt he shouldn't have been digging into. Something happened to him. That's all I know."

Even though it wasn't much, Elise grabbed a pen and a random piece of paper and jotted down notes as Kalani talked. "That's all?"

"Yeah. All I know."

"Think you can find out more? Discretely, of course."

"Once that money hits my bank account so I can pay my people and myself, yeah."

"Perfect. I'm sending the money today. Keep me posted and... stay safe."

"You too, Elise."

With that, Kalani hung up, leaving Elise to stare at the money on her desk in thought before she sighed and opened up a text thread with the name she'd saved as 'Lord Dickwad' in her phone.

Hey. Maybe caught wind about something to do with our discussion. Too early to tell. Will share later... maybe.

Not long after she'd pressed 'send' she got phone call. When she looked down to see that 'Lord Dickwad' was requesting a video chat, she scowled but accepted. She'd expected the arrogant CEO to be sitting at his desk, hair perfectly coiffed and makeup more perfect than a runway model's.

What she hadn't expected was to see him sans-makeup, sweaty, and shirtless in a private gym. The sight caused her to start choking on air, and she grabbed her now-cold tea latte and took a swig to try and clear her throat suddenly dry.

"So, was that an asthmatic fit or are you just really happy to see me?"

"Shut up, asshole. Where's your makeup?"

"Do you miss it?"

"No. I just don't recognize you without it. You look almost normal. I don't like it. Feels suspect to me."

He snorted and rolled his eyes before using a small towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. "I wear makeup to enhance my natural beauty. But I hate when sweat makes it drip into my eyes, so I don't wear it when I work out."

Elise snorted, ignoring the sight of him dripping all over the gym. "Strange. Who the hell actually 'works out' nowadays? Just do like me. Live without a car or any fancy drivers. You'll get all the workout you need by walking everywhere."

Reid's eyes narrowed as he stared at her. "Did you just reach out to me because you wanted to insult me or—"

"Oh!" As she spoke, Elise picked up her paper with her hastily scrawled notes and explained, "No. My people may have found something out about your... researcher. Well, rumors."

"Tell me." The desperation in the man's voice led Elise to smirk when she realized she held the upper hand against him. Information he wanted but didn't have.

"Not yet, hot stuff. First, I'm not sure I believe you yet, and second, no phone stuff. Only in-person convos."

Reid gave her a scowl that she was sure would scare the most seasoned reporter, but it only made her chuckle because she realized she'd gotten under his skin. "Fine. Dinner. Tonight. I'll pick you up at seven. Wear something clean and ironed."

Elise smirked. "I'll wear whatever the hell I want, Reid."

The two of them then got into a staring match before the man sighed and broke eye contact first.

"See you at seven. Be ready when I get there."

With that, he hung up, leaving Elise to grin into the cluttered closet that was her office. What did one wear to a business dinner date with Reid Brennan?