Chapter 31

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Cyrus's eyes lit up with excitement, intense as they penetrated mine. His muscles flexed as he rubbed his hands together. 

"I think the best place to start is what information you have, Kayla."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You can trust us." Santiago spoke for him, looking slightly amused at my skepticism. I eyed them for a minute, before sighing, slipping my hand into my pocket and retrieving a phone. Their eyes followed my movements curiously.

"Alright, you trust me, and I'll trust you." I chucked the phone towards Hatrov, which he caught with ease. His face scrunched up in confusion as he turned it over, before his eyes widened.

"When did you take this?" He asked incredulously. The corner of my lips quirked up.

"Remember when I knocked you unconscious in the boxing centre's toilets? I took your phone while you were in dreamland." My tone amused, I glanced around at the men. They all turned to Hatrov, looking incredibly smug and exasperated at the same time. Cyrus sent a ferocious glare his way.

"You tried to harm Kayla?" He seethed. The others spoke at the same time, their questions tempting me to smile.

"Didn't feel like mentioning this, Hatrov?"

"I said no screw-ups!"

"Not so big after all, are you mate?"

The 'man' himself sent me a glare, letting out an irritated huff.

"You just had to mention it, didn't you?" He snapped, shoving the phone in his pocket. I gave him a non-committal shrug, my lips threatening to twist into a smirk. He muttered something under his breath, batting off Alejandro's condescending hand, which ruffled his hair.

"Dear of him," Alejandro cooed. "We shouldn't have left him to fend for himself."

Hatrov scowled, grabbing Alejandro's wrist and twisting it viciously. His opponent simply let out a deep chuckle, flicking his wrist around and tugging Hatrov along with it.

Within seconds the pair were in a hand-to-hand war, each one trying to take the other down. I concealed my amused expression and cleared my throat pointedly, hand on my hip.

Alejandro socked his cousin one more time before straightening up, adjusting his suit and running a hand through his hair.

"Yes?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, casting Hatrov a glance as he heaved himself up off the floor, wiping off the trickle of blood on his cheek with the back of his hand.

"Have you finished playing games?" I asked patronisingly, betrayed by my amused tone. Alejandro shrugged.

"For now."

I rolled my eyes, before retrieving my own phone. I took out the memory stick I had downloaded the files from Mexico on, and plugged it in, my brows furrowing in concentration as I scanned through the contents.

"Right," I started, turning the phone around and holding it out to the group of men. "This is the information I downloaded from one of Dereck's computers."

Their eyes flicked from the phone in my hand to me in surprise, Cyrus's gaze sharpening as he studied my expression. Santiago stepped forward and took it, his large, rough, worn hands enveloping the phone.

I avoided Cyrus's eyes and cleared my throat, taking a small step forward.

"You want to know what I've discovered? The man involved in your father's next...'business venture', is called Alan Stefano. He is a wealthy business man, with multiple properties and sites around the world. What did I find on him?" I paused, glancing around the faces of concentration.

"Schedules. Times he traveled. Employee documentation. And more interestingly, bank transfers from Dereck to Alan. Now, I've looked at these, and I've done my research. You know what's interesting?" My eyes flicked to Cyrus.

"What?" Hatrov asked, his eyes scanning the contents of my phone over Santiago's shoulder.

"Dereck's transfer numbers aren't from Mexico. They aren't from America - or anywhere conceivable. The transfers are all from an offshore account. That got me thinking...where else is he situated? I mean, he's wanted in all countries except from Mexico, right?"

"Right." Santiago repeated slowly, his gaze fixed on mine. Cyrus continued to stare at me, deep in thought.

"Where else could the account be?" I continued. "Where else could he be situated? I think..." I paused, thinking through my words carefully. "I think that Dereck might have other companies. Other plans. And they're all linked to this guy - Alan. This isn't just a simple bank wipe-out; this is something big. I feel like Dereck's not just going to screw him over - he's going to screw everyone over - big time. But I don't really know how."

There was a silence for a few moments, as they digested my information. Santiago silently handed the phone to Cyrus, who scanned through it quickly before passing it over to me. Our fingers brushed, making me shiver. I quickly stashed the phone, taking a step back.

"That, Kayla." Cyrus paused, his dark eyes sparkling blue - fixed on mine. My breath caught in my throat as he said my name, his Mexican accent prominent. "That, is exactly what I was wanting to hear."

I felt a warm blush spread in my cheeks; much to my irritation. I tightened my ponytail, trying to conceal my excitement.

"Of course, I'm sure you've seen all this information before - I've simply put a few pieces together." I said casually instead, trying to fight the urge inside of me. Cyrus's lip twitched up, his head shaking slightly.

"Sure, I've seen these documents. But the way you picked it up within a couple of days?" He let out a low whistle. "Kayla, my men - and the mafia - have been working on this for eight months. You have no idea how good you are."

*~*~*~*~*

Hey y'all! *waves*

How are you all doing? Thanks for all your votes and comments on the last chapter! I made sure to squeeze in some time to write for you all! I've actually got a test tomorrow which I should have revised for, but I spent my time writing this instead XD

Also BIG THANK YOU FOR 37K READS!!!! YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME!!!!

What did you think of this chapter? Do you find the explanation alright?

Sneak peak: plots, plans and Arizona...

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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