Page 28 of High Stakes

“My God, you look like shit. What happened to your face?” she exclaims and stops just in front of me to look me over. My right eye is black, my lip is busted in two places, and there’s a gnarly deep purple bruise on my left cheekbone. But my nose is still straight and perfect. At least I’ve still got that going for me. “No Man’s Land?” she asks as she takes my hand and presses the frozen bag back to my eye.

“How do you know about No Man’s Land?” I ask and eye her curiously. So many secrets for such a tiny person.

She shrugs and drops down onto the cushion beside me. “Hector goes there a lot. Well, not a lot, but he’s been there enough times for it to be noticed.” She picks at a loose string on the cushion and avoids my curious stare.

Hector goes there, huh? I lean back and sort through the hazy memory of my last fight, but I can’t place his face among the crowd. “What do you want to eat, Princess?” I ask instead of unleashing the barrage of questions burning my tongue.

Emelia finally looks up at me with a glint in her eyes. “I want breakfast.”

“What kind of psychopath eats breakfast for dinner?” I ask in mock horror.

“What kind of psychopath doesn’t like breakfast for dinner?” Hayden’s voice comes from the kitchen. I roll my eyes as hestarts pulling out pans and utensils. “Come on, Angel, let me take care of you since this uncultured swine doesn’t like waffles.”

“I didn’t say I don’t like waffles!” I protest as we both stand and I follow Emelia into the kitchen. “I love waffles,” I mutter under my breath and lean back against the counter.

The three of us work together to make a breakfast spread that would make any southern woman proud. There are waffles, fried eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, sausage and sausage gravy, and fluffy biscuits. Everything is spread out on the counter.

“How many people are we feeding tonight?” Emelia asks with a giggle, and pops a piece of bacon into her mouth.

Hayden and I exchange a brief glance before grabbing plates from the cabinet. We want this dinner to be near perfect so that we can enjoy a few more moments of sweet bliss before we rip our own hearts out and watch her walk away with them. “I’m just really hungry and I couldn’t decide,” Hayden jokes as he loads his plate full of food.

Emelia and I follow suit and fill up our plates before sitting down at the table. She drizzles syrup over her waffle and bacon before tossing a piece of egg into her mouth. “I love breakfast foods. I think breakfast as a whole is one of my favorite types of food.”

I nod around my own bite of waffles and tuck that detail away for a rainy day. Hayden looks at me and nods once. Fuck, I’m not ready for this. My anxiety causes my heart to go full-on sprint mode in my chest as I clear my throat.

“You guys are acting weird,” Emelia says and chews another piece of bacon. “Did someone else die?”

I blink at her in shock. “What?”

She waves her hand between the three of us. “Hayden hasn’t even tried to fuck me yet and you look like someone hit your dog with a car.”

I scrunch up my nose and shake my head slowly.

“We have something we need to talk to you about,” Hayden cuts me off before I can even begin to speak.

Emelia sits back in her chair and crosses her arms across her chest, already on the defense. “Okay. I’m listening.” She picks up another strip of bacon and chews slowly, her eyes sliding from Hayden’s face to mine.

“I’m not sure how much you know about us,” I begin slowly and my shoulders tense when she holds up her hand. Damn it, I haven’t even started yet. Cold dread settles into the pit of my stomach like a brick.

“I know enough. I don’t need a history lesson,” she says calmly and continues to chew on her bacon.

“Fair enough,” I concede with a nod, and take a deep breath. “About ten years ago we took a heist job. We were supposed to go in, secure the intel and money, and get out. At least, that’s what we were told by whoever hired us.” My eyes meet Hayden’s and he nods once for me to continue. “The three of us spent a few days just canvassing and gathering intel on the security detail before the other men arrived to execute the actual heist.”

My voice trails off and I’m lost in the memory for a moment. I can almost feel the heat of the flames as they dance in the darkness. Hayden leans forward and continues for me. “They came in and destroyed everything. Silas managed to hack into the safe but as we were leaving with our spoils, the other men set off explosions. We had no idea that was part of the plan and when we threatened to abandon the job… Well, let’s just say that whoever hired us has big friends in high places.”

Emelia narrows her eyes and purses her lips as she stares silently at her empty plate. “Who hired you?” she asks after a few moments of silence.

“We never figured it out,” Hayden says and his voice betrays the emotion he’s trying so desperately to hide.

She nods slowly, still digesting this new information. I watch her face closely, trying to figure out the moment that everything clicks into place for her, but her expression remains impassive. Her eyes meet mine and it feels like she’s staring straight into my soul. I shift in my seat, but don’t break eye contact. “Who hired you?” she repeats and clenches her jaw.

Fuck.

She knows.

Hayden shakes his head and braces his palms on the table. “We don’t know who hired us, Emelia. It was all digital transactions and untraceable wires.”

I sigh and close my eyes, and then I just shake my head. I never told Silas and Hayden who hired us because I knew they would throw a fit. It was a huge payout and we needed the money, and I wasn’t above cashing an enemy’s check.

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