Page 33 of Falcon's Prey

“I’ll send someone for the Maybach later.”

Nodding, I followed after him, letting him guide me home. The cab ride was quiet and cold.

When the cab arrived at Hill Hotel, I took out my black card to pay. The machine in the back gave me the answer I should have been prepared to receive since my little outburst. Denied.

Ignoring Ren, I started to take off the snake necklace from my shoes.

“Here, this are real diamo—”

I didn’t finish my sentence because Ren took the diamonds away. He handed the cabbie a hundred and pulled me out.

Great. He was pissed now. Probably because he had to pay.

My long strideswere too fast for Ember to keep up at a comfortable pace, but I didn’t give a fuck. There were a lot of things about today that pissed me off. None of them had to do with the way Ember had acted toward me.

“The car is at headquarters; make sure someone picks it up,” I told one of the guys who guarded the lower level.

“Look at you, bossing around.”

“Shut up,” I snapped.

Ember rolled her eyes at me but didn’t say more. When we got to the elevator, she went to the phone, where she pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She put the carton to her mouth, grabbing a stick with her lips. Then she proceeded to try and light it. All she got were sparks, not enough to make it burn. I took the cigarette from her, put it in my mouth, then snatched the lighter up. Once it was lit, I took a drag, trying to calm myself down. These feelings were unwanted. Once I was done, I put the cigarette to Ember’s lips.

“Does that happen often?” I asked, keeping my voice calm.

“What? The paps? Yeah, my—”

“No. Cutting off your cards.”

The elevator door opened, and Ember walked out. She didn’t talk until she got to the living room. She took off her jacket, grabbed a blanket, and wrapped herself.

“It’s the oldest trick in the gold-spoon book. Cut off the money, make them fall in line.”

I took a seat at the table in front of her. I cocked my head and stared at her. I could tell it made her uncomfortable because she started to fidget.

“How many times?” I wondered.

“I don’t know…more than I can count with my fingers. I mean, they did it because once after a meeting, I stormed out and threw my cards around and told people to have fun with them.”

I snickered. Of course she did. When I noticed she was shivering, I told her to go shower and change into clean clothes. I went up to my room and did the same. Grabbing my burner phone from under the bed, I brought it to the bathroom with me and waited until I turned on the water before making a call.

“I was starting to get worried about you. When’s your day off?”

“Soon,” I lied. “Listen, I need your help.”

I got straight to the point. Pam let out a bunch of Spanish curses.

“What is it?”

“I need you to dig deep into this family. I want everything. Something isn’t adding up.”

“You want me to go dark?” she asked.

“Pitch-black,” I told her before I hung up.

Jumping in the shower, I tried to figure out the easiest way to get what I wanted, but the easiest way involved Ember, and she got to me like no other. She was like lava under my skin, waiting to erupt. Once out of the shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist and stepped out of the bathroom. I was starting to feel restless. This job had its perks, but I didn’t like to feel caged.

When I heard my door opening, I grabbed the Glock from my nightstand, ready to shoot.

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