Page 13 of Blue Moon

“Are you worried or not?”

Yes, he was. The Vegas team confirmed they’d send an agent to do a welfare check right away, but Ryder couldn’t settle. He leaned on the counter as Khatia started questioning Hill, ignoring the way Ana glared when he tapped his foot.

After half an hour of back and forth, Hill turned to him. “Luna’s a survivor. You shouldn’t worry about her.”

The gall of the man. “The way you didn’t when you stole her money?”

“It was Amethyst who liked to spend the money, not Luna.”

“And that makes it okay? Because one person took advantage of Luna, it was fine for you to do it too?”

“She was due to get another seven-figure sum from her record label in May. It wasn’t as if I planned to leave her bankrupt. Amethyst would only have wasted everything on clothes and shoes, and Irina’s grandma was going to die if she didn’t get experimental immunotherapy.”

“Did you ever even meet her grandma?”

Hill looked at the table. “Irina said she had to stay in isolation due to the risk of infection.”

Khatia’s response was scathing. “If her grandma is still alive, she’s probably living in a beach house in Batumi.”

Finally, Ryder’s phone lit up, and he answered before it had a chance to ring.

“Is she okay?”

“This is Lance from the executive protection team. She’s fine. Just tired, is all.”

“What about the message she left me?”

“She seemed embarrassed when I mentioned it. Said someone sent her takeout, and she overreacted.”

“Someone sent her takeout?” The pasta she’d mentioned in her message? “Who?”

“She didn’t elaborate on that.”

“Didn’t you ask?”

“Uh, no? The office said I needed to do a welfare check, nothing more, and Ms. Maara wasn’t real talkative.”

Ryder gave a heavy sigh. He couldn’t ask a colleague to get involved in his issues with Luna; it wasn’t their place to do so.

“Thanks for your help, buddy.”

“No problem.”

“She’s okay?” Ana asked when he hung up.

“Physically, yeah.”

“But you’re still worried about her?”

He nodded. “She’s had a hard time these past few months.”

“Then go to her. The plane is still at the airport.”

“What about Irina?”

Khatia rolled her eyes. “You don’t speak Georgian, you don’t speak Russian; you’ll just get in the way.”

Ryder sucked in a breath and voiced the bigger issue. “And what about the boss?”

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