Page 124 of House of Lies

“We…uh…had a bit of a…falling out,” I manage.

“About your mother, or about the play session we want to schedule with Cordelia and her husband?” Smith asks.

Play session?

I throttle my irritation, though, realizing how hypocritical it is of me. I can’t exactly get annoyed if they want to know more about me when I was the one who accepted their help. In fact…maybe I can use it to my advantage.

It’s a long shot, but if I can prove Ethan lied to me about Becks, I might convince these men that he lied about meeting with Rebecca too.

Angelo said only three people knew about Becks, but that’s not entirely true.

Ethan asked Myles to help find her, too.

“It was about Becks, actually.”

Smith nods. “Hmm. That was a troubling time for Ethan. Still a triggering subject, I’m sure.”

“Is it true she just disappeared? Because from what he told me, it sounds a hell of a lot like what happened to my mother. Plucked from the headlines, kind of thing.”

“A coincidence, I’m sure,” Smith says smoothly.

Too smoothly.

He knows what I’m insinuating. Ethan used details from my mother’s case to add some flesh to his story about Becks. But it seems he’s ready to die on this damn hill.

I glare at him. “Yeah, I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Fuck this guy.

Fuck him, and fuck his friends, too.

“Do you have Angelo’s number? I want to call him. Maybe he can find a few more stones to turn over.”

“Maybe he can.” Smith’s lips twitch into something approaching a sympathetic smile. “I’ll get you his number. This time of night, he might still be at his office.”

I drop my head, glancing circumspectly at Myles and Richmond through my lashes as Smith saunters up to the desk and starts flipping through an old-fashioned Rolodex. I guess with the people they deal with, they don’t want their contacts floating around in the cloud.

Smith comes back to me and holds out a business card exactly like the one Angelo gave me at Ethan’s open house. I reach for it, but he pulls it away before I can touch it.

“Don’t go see him alone. Take a friend with.”

As if I have any of those.

“Thanks for the concern, but I’m a big girl. I can look after myself.”

I can handle a perv like Angelo. I know what he expects, but he sure as hell won’t get it from me.

Smith’s eyebrows rise at the frosty tone in my voice. “As you wish. But I insist you tell Ethan where you’re going. The world is a dangerous place, Cassidy.”

I try to take the card, but he holds on.

“Promise me.”

I grit my teeth. “Yes, Sir.”

There’s the tiniest flicker of amusement in his dark eyes as he releases the card. “Good girl.”

Chapter 50

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