Page 11 of Exposed

I’m a rule follower.

Crashing an event is not in my wheelhouse. It’s rude and tasteless and after dealing with a few over the years, I’d never in my life consider such a thing.

But it seems desperation runs stronger than my manners at the moment.

“Five o’clock,” I echo. “Yes, that should work.”

“I can’t wait.” His tone is satisfied. Almost triumphant.

“Yes, at five you’ll be able to experience everything.” Five o’clock is my best bet. A wedding will be wrapped up and cocktailhour will be going strong, or guests will be arriving for an evening event.

“I can’t wait,” he adds.

I’d rather pull my eyelashes out one by one. “Me too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I hang up and wonder how I’m going to get myself out of this predicament. Even if I manage to get us into The Pink, the chances of Dex allowing me to book a wedding there—even one before noon—is nil.

I just need to talk Daniel into looking elsewhere for poor old Trippy.

That’s what I’ll do.

By the time we leave tomorrow night—assuming I can get us into The Pink to begin with—my newest client will hate everything about it.

Even though it is one of the most beautiful spots in Miami.

Screw Dex and The Pink.

3

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

King

Itoss the burner phone to my desk and swivel in my chair. “She took the bait. Just like that, I’ll be at The Pink tomorrow for the big event.”

Brax turns to me. “I can’t lie, I had my doubts after your shit undercover work.”

I shrug and lean back in my chair. “You don’t know charm when you see it.”

He barks a laugh and shakes his head as Micah walks in. “What’s so funny?”

Brax turns to him. “Kingston Jennings thinks he’s charming.”

“By tomorrow at this time, I’ll be waltzing my ass into The Pink,” I announce. “I can finally zero in on my number one target. Carter is about to go down.”

“I can’t believe she fell for it,” Micah says, reaching next to his desk for his backpack. He continues to talk as he stuffs his shit inside for the weekend. “She seemed smarter.”

“Desperation trumps common sense every time,” Brax says. “Whatever it takes.”

“I sent the paperwork to the judge and should have access to her phone records by Monday. We’ll see who she’s been communicating with and how often. One little cross reference after tech triangulates the party tomorrow, and I’ll be up on a wire in no time.”

“Good luck with that,” Micah mutters. “It’s never that easy.”

“As long as you don’t blow my case out of the water again,” I throw back.

Brax looks at Micah and talks about me like I’m not in the same damn room. “He’s never going to get over that.”

Micah hikes a brow and glares at me, again, carrying on like I took a hike. “That’s because he knows it’s his fault.”

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