Page 2 of A Smooth Operator

Echo showed no emotion at that rude remark. She kept her tight smile in place. "You're right. Well, then, goodnight. This is a great club, Remi."

"Is this your first time here?" I asked, surprised. I opened the club two years ago.

She nodded.

"Really?" Granted, she wasn't my target clientele, but I expected Lani to have dragged her along earlier.

Tommy, who didn't know when to shut up, swayed a little, a cruel smile on his face. "Come on, man. Remi, who'll let her into a fancy nightclub like this?"

"Tommy, why don't you go check on Lani?" I snapped.

My friend gave me a bland look and then smirked and winked at me as he walked away.

"I'm sorry about Tommy."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because he was rude," I explained, a little taken aback by her blunt question.

"Are you responsible for how Tommy behaves?"

What in the fuck? Usually, people would just say, "It doesn't matter," or something along those lines and move on. Echo Devlin was as weird as all get out.

"No, I'm not," I admitted.

"Then why are you apologizing?" She demanded pleasantly and didn't even bother to wait for me to respond. "It was nice seeing you again, Remi. Have a lovely evening."

I didn't know why, but I walked with her. "Hey, you don't have to go, you know?"

She shrugged. "I came to wish Lani a happy birthday and drop her present off."

She looked at her watch. A Rolex. Wow! I wondered how she could afford something so expensive. How the fuck much was my father paying her?

Maybe she had a boyfriend, some rich guy who gave it to her? Now, that was a thought. I'd never known Echo to date, but then, I didn't know much about her since she'd gone to Vanderbilt to do a combined bachelor's and master's degree. She came back to Memphis to do her PhD. That's when I started to see her around again. According to Dad, she finished her PhD in record time—and was some kind of gene therapy wunderkind. I had trouble believing that when I looked at her. DUFF, certainly. Smart nerd? I didn't think so.

"Nice watch," I murmured, curious how she got it.

She smiled shyly. "It was a present from your father after I got awarded my PhD."

My father? I knew he liked her, but that was easily a ten-thousand-dollar plus watch. Why on earth would he give a random kid that?

Lani had gotten a Hermes bag when she graduated because she'd nagged him to death about it. I got my Ducati—and I didn't even have to nag. But then I was valedictorian, unlike Lani, who barely graduated.

A Rolex for Echo? Was my father sleeping with this bitch? Was that why my parents were having problems?

"What the fuck, Echo? Why is my dad givin' you such expensive gifts?" I growled.

We were out of the nightclub now and she gaped at me. I could see the confusion in her eyes in the dim light of the outdoors. "What?"

"Yeah, what is my father? Your sugar daddy or somethin'?"

She just kept staring at me, shock on her face. Was that because I was way off or because I had found her out?

"Damn it, Echo, are you fuckin' my father?"

Her eyes went saucer-wide. "What?"

"Stop saying what?" I barked, and the line of people and the bouncer outside the club looked at us. I grabbed her arm and hauled her out of the fray toward the parking area.

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