Suits & Aces (#3)

18 // Secret Ties

Fear had become her new companion, day in day out her mind was plucked with terrible thoughts.

She thought accepting MJ Billings' offer would solve all her problems, it sounded sensible at the time, but now it was affecting her family life.

She was running out of excuses for leaving early in the morning and coming home late, she was starting to miss out on her children's lives and she was growing distant from her husband.

She was always jumpy, wondering when Javier would finally catch on to her rendezvouses. She remembered how she barely escaped him the last time he was having her followed, and now he had every reason to stalk her, especially after the attack.

She felt like a criminal, all the lying and sneaking around, she had to arrive early at work to avoid running into people, she did not want anyone to catch on to who she was.

Sometimes she wished she could just be herself and live without fear, but being herself would only put her family in danger.

Javier was back from Ireland, he would definitely come looking for her. His latest attempt failed after his wife organised a family dinner, to which he never showed up.

Brianna would be lying if she said she was not relieved, she was nervous before the dinner could even happen. However, the dinner would have to happen now that he was back.

She needed to get him off her back, and she knew just how to do it. Everyone had a weakness, everyone had a secret life at some point in their life, and Javier was no exception. She knew exactly what to do.

Better yet, she was going to host the dinner this time and send out a special invitation to Javier and his wife.

She smirked proudly as everything started to fall into place in her head. She arrived at the office and set up her equipment, and her team joined her.

"Joey, I need you to help me track someone," Brianna instructed one of the IT specialists.

"Sure, who is it?" The girl asked, getting ready to capture the details.

"She's an old friend of mine, her name is Sienna Ortiz. She's the one who introduced me to the real estate industry. The last time I checked, she was based in the USA, but I heard that she was planning on moving back to Mexico since her business is not doing well. Her company name is Ortiz Family Estates."

Joey captured the information and seconds later, the woman's recent pictures cropped up on the screen. "Sienna Ortiz, mother of two, based in Georgia, USA."

Brianna nodded approvingly and sipped her coffee. "That's her," she said.

Joey rotated her seat in Brianna's direction. "It says her company is shutting down."

"Yeah, she shifted all her focus to her children and forgot about her business, she did not have a good team like we did. See if you can get me her contact details."

"Sure thing, but what are you planning?" Joey asked.

Brianna sighed in predicament. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she would never admit it to her team, they counted on her, she could not afford to let them down. "Finding her contacts shouldn't be that difficult, I'm pretty sure she uses the same number she used in her business. Let me try it first." She placed her cup down and took out her phone, and then she copied the number displayed on the screen.

She left the room and went to the bathroom, checking the stalls to see if there was anyone else, but she was all alone. She locked the main door and went to one of the stalls before dialling the phone.

She held her breath as the phone rang a few times, and then the person answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, may I please speak to Ms Sienna Ortiz?" She asked, biting her thumb nervously.

"Give me a second," the person said, Brianna heard chatter in the background, and a second later, a different person spoke on the phone. "Sienna Ortiz, who am I speaking to?" Brianna placed her hand on her chest in relief as the woman's heavy accent hit her ears.

"Sienna, esta é Brianna falando, nos conhecemos alguns anos atrás no México (Sienna, this is Brianna speaking, we met a few years back in Mexico)."

There was a pregnant pause, followed by a loud gasp on the other side. "Brianna? A barbie mexicana baixinha, fofa e sexy? Oh, minha palavra! Eu não posso acreditar no que estou ouvindo. É realmente você?" (Brianna? The short and cute, sexy Mexican barbie? Oh, my word! I can't believe my ears. Is it really you?) Brianna cringed, glad that she was alone in the bathroom.

She had forgotten how outspoken the woman was. "Yeah, it is me!" She chuckled and rolled her eyes, wondering if this really was a good idea.

"Oh my goodness! So, what do I owe this pleasure?"

Brianna sighed, grateful for the change of language, she would die if she had to spend another second biting her tongue and trying to find the words to piece together in her head. "Actually, I was wondering if you would be able to get to London as soon as possible?"

There was a pause before the woman spoke again. "Wow, that's a bold request. How soon is soon exactly?" She asked.

"How does tomorrow sound?" Brianna asked hastily. "I'll take care of everything, just say yes. It is about a great business opportunity, it is quite urgent."

"Okay, uhm... I'll arrange with the nanny, then we can take it from there."

"I promise, you won't regret this," she said and hung up. She got out of the bathroom and rushed back to her office, her heart pumping in excitement. "Joey, please book a plane ticket from Georgia to London in Sienna Ortiz's name immediately!"

"Okay, sure! For when?" Joey asked.

"Tomorrow. And please make sure to book her into a nice hotel."

"Yes, Bree."

Javier had no idea what was in store for him, if he thought she was going to allow him to push her around, he was in for a nasty surprise.