Page 128 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

Petry looked at Sticks again. “Mr. Martin, what was his name?”

“Phillip,” Sticks said.

“What about Phillip?” Simon asked.

“I’m not a man you want to cross,” Petry said. “I figured with him around, you might try to do just that. All I did was remove a potential obstacle.”

“What does that mean?”

“Beats me. I leave those details to others. The important thing for you to know is that our deal is done. All you have to do is to turn everything over to Mr. Martin tomorrow.” He paused, then added, “Unless you’d like an up-close and personal look at those details I don’t know about.”

Simon blanched.

“So, we’re cool?” Nico asked.

Simon had no choice but to nod.

“Mr. Martin, any requests?” Petry said.

“I want ’em boxed up all together. And none of that cardboard shit. Make it out of wood.” He grinned at Petry. “Make things easier when the time comes.”

“Sounds good to me. Good by you, Simon?”

Another reluctant nod.

“Great.” Petry stood. “Nico, I feel like some pancakes.”

“I know just the place.”

As soon as the two men left, Simon leveled a glare at Sticks. “I don’t want to see your face ever again.”

“It’s not like I enjoy looking at you, either, asshole,” Sticks said. “But we still have business to finish. I’ll pick them up tomorrow afternoon. Don’t forget about the box.”

“I have no intention of doing anything for—”

“Or I can call Mr. Petry right now. Doubt they’ve left the parking lot yet.” He pulled out his phone.

“Wait.” The delay would give Rudy enough time to finish all three forgeries, meaning Simon could hand them over instead of the originals. “What time in the afternoon?”

“Now, that’s the right attitude. I’ll call you later and let you know.” Sticks glanced at Benji. “You comin’?”

“Uh, yeah. Right behind you.”

Sticks flashed Simon a toothy grin. “Forgot to tell you. Benji works for me now.”

They walked out the door, leaving Simon staring after them.

Chapter 38

Stone finished his last lap and climbed out of the pool.

“Please tell me this means we can order breakfast now,” Monica said.

When he’d come down for a swim, he’d been alone. Now, Monica was sitting at the poolside table with Viv and Dino. Viv was typing on a laptop while Dino was working his way through theNew York Times.

Stone grabbed his towel off the nearby lounge and started drying off. “You didn’t have to wait for me.”

Dino folded down the paper. “That’s what I told her.”

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