The Dark Side Read Online Free PDF Page A

was running things or they were wasn’t clear. Which meant I didn’t know who was really running the show. This was just getting better and better. But I’d get to the really sticky questions after I knew the extent of the problem. “How much are we talking about?”
    “At least ten million in the last six months.”
    “Dollars?” I blurted. Very unprofessional. I dealt with big numbers all the time. But I’d never imagined the clubs were such big business. Mainly because I’d avoided thinking about them at all.
    “Yes.”
    “And you’ve only just noticed?” How big was his cash flow if a ten million drop didn’t cause a blip on the radar?
    “It wasn’t all at one club or all at one time. Business fluctuates. But I’ve been thinking of selling a few properties. That’s how we found this problem.”
    “Do you think it’s an employee or your accountant?”
    “I have not yet decided one way or the other. But my accountant has been my accountant for fifty years. He is a wealthy man.”
    Didn’t mean much. In my experience, wealthy men could—and did—commit fraud just as easily as poor ones. Sometimes more easily. So far, the situation sounded fairly straightforward if you ignored the vampire element. Lucky me. “So you want me to investigate the fraud for you?”
    “Yes. You find the culprit and I will deal with them.”
    I didn’t think he meant going to the police. But I could deal with that issue once I’d found the perpetrator. “It sounds doable.”
    “You’ll have to work at the clubs. I don’t want the financial information being taken off the premises.”
    I’d half expected that but my stomach still churned. I didn’t want to hang out in dark clubs. “I’ll need to take some data for analysis.”
    “Can’t that be done on site?”
    “Some of the programs and routines I run take a long time. I’m sure you don’t want us in the way any longer than necessary.” Truth but not the whole truth. I could do the analysis at the clubs if I had to. Hopefully Esteban wouldn’t know that much about how forensic accountants actually worked.
    Esteban frowned. “Anything you need to copy, you will run past me.”
    That much I could live with. “I’ll also need to work during the day, outside operating hours is easiest.”
    He shook his head. “Some clubs operate twenty-four hours, but most don’t. I don’t want anyone getting curious about why there’s an accountant poking around out of hours.”
    Crap. “Won’t sending in an accountant raise suspicions anyway?”
    “There have already been accountants doing due diligence for the sales. You can be one of them. Or we’ll come up with some other story. But you will have to work during the hours of operation, just like the others do.”
    Luckily I was good at juggling. My schedule was starting to approach seriously crowded territory but I would make it work. I had to make it work. And hope none of the balls in the air were chainsaws in disguise. “I’ll need staff. At least one assistant. Someone I choose.” Backup was not negotiable.
    “Anyone but the FBI agent. Or any other FBI agent.”
    I wanted Dan. And I didn’t want Esteban to think I was a pushover. “My employees are my business.”
    He straightened. “And this is
my
business.”
    I gripped the arms of the chair. “I can’t help you if I don’t have the necessary resources.”
    “Ms. Keenan, do not make the mistake of thinking I am Lord Marco. I am not so...lenient.” He stared at me and the wolf bristled at the challenge.
    Wolves don’t always have great survival instincts. But my human side knew a threat when it heard one. Both sides of me knew better than to show weakness to a predator so I had to say something. “I—”
    I didn’t finish the sentence. Esteban lifted one finger and lust engulfed me. Fire blazed along my nerve endings, branding them with need. My heartbeat sped and I moaned as quivers started to roll through me—the first tremors of an