I gritted my back teeth. Realized my goal of having North Wainright was going to be a complicated one. I couldn’t let on that I was truly interested in her.

“I’m not a kid. What I do with my dick is my business,” I snapped, trying to redirect him.

“As long as you do North Wainright.”

“You want her to talk. You want me to get her to do that. How I accomplish it is not up for question.”

How was I going to get him the info he wanted while I got the woman?

He held up his hands as if to ward me off. “I have millions sunk into this deal which means I want updates. You can leave your dick out of the report.”

That was all the flex he was going to give.

“I was at her father’s wake,” I reminded. “It’s not like she was in the mood to talk business.”

“That woman is all business.”

I thought that too. The dress, the heels. The cold attitude. If I hadn’t gotten under her skirt, I’d have wondered if she had a set of balls.

I’d been in Marshall’s “employment” for three months. In that time, I’d gotten in front of Macon Wainright but hadn’t been able to collect proof of his dirty deeds. The guy had been an asshole and trusted no one. Not even his daughter. That was why the feds put me undercover with Marshall instead. To get to Wainright that way. It had worked, but then he’d died. It had been un-fucking-believable hearing about it. Fifty-five and a massive coronary.

I’d thought the case over, but no. My boss had only moved me toward a new source.

North.

“I need to see this deal done. I was supposed to be in and out. Wainright being dead is fucking everything up. I bought that land for him, and he has to pay me for it.” He stuck out his finger and pointed it at me like Uncle Sam. “North does.”

He’d bought up a huge parcel at the Canadian border that Wainright wanted. The deal was that Wainright was going to buy it off him—at a higher value which was Marshall’s payment for his involvement—for a nature preserve. A huge tax write off for Wainright Holdings. But from what Marshall had told me, a logging company was waiting in the wings to lease the land and raze the pristine forest that sat upon it. Strip mining and other shit once the trees were out of the way. The profit for Wainright was to be huge.

“So much for a nature preserve,” I muttered.

Marshall sputtered. “Nature preserve? Who gives a fuck about nature. I want that land sold. I want my money!” He slapped his hand on the desk.