Page 52 of Bad Guys Need Love Too

“That bitch! I told her those things would be important to Neal.” She pointed a finger at him. “When you can’t find the match to your gray and black chevron dress sock, blame Isla, not me.”

He said something unintelligible, and she felt a tiny little stab of guilt. “Sorry,” she mumbled, pulling the gag out of his mouth.

The coughing fit that followed (along with a few random sobs the gag had apparently been forcing him to hold in) was pathetic and made her feel even worse. Until she remembered that this was the guy who pissed all over her toilet seat without bothering to evenpretendto clean it up and didn’t tell her he’d been using her loofa to scrub soap scum off the shower door until she wound up with a mysterious rash. Fucker.

“What the hell is going on?” he shouted when he finally found his voice again.

“ ‘Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up’,” Tenley said in a shockingly good impression of Inigo Montoya fromThe Princess Bride. She followed that up with an abbreviated version of events in the most succinct way possible. Lark was impressed by her ability to boil down everything that had happened over the past few days so well. If she’d tried to do it herself, she was sure she wouldn’t have been able to do it justice.

It was allfartoo crazy to be believable.

When Tenley was finished with her version of events, Neal blinked up at her for a moment before saying, “Iknewshe didn’t leave me for him! I knew there had to be something else going on.”

Lark pinched the bridge of her nose. “Becauseof coursethat’s your takeaway. I left you because I don’t love you, you idiot! So, can we focus on who might want to kill me and has access to your computer?”

His brow furrowed. “I mean, my office isn’t usually locked. I guess anyone could get in.”

“Your password is your birthday, isn’t it?” Ren asked.

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess,” he said dryly.

Lark sighed. “There’s a metaphor for our entire relationship in that, but I’m too tired to suss it out right now. What do we do now? The bug I planted is useless. Anyone who knows that Neal is a self-important dickwad has access to his computer.”

“Hey,” he said, aggrieved.

She threw her hands wide. “How are we supposed to find out who wants me dead now?”

“Does anyone want to know my idea?” Nico asked.

“No,” Tenley, Ren, and Lark said in stereo.

“You all are exhausting, and I’m bleeding,” the assassin muttered. “Bambina, given how easily you fell off the grid, I’m guessing your Sasquatch is good with computers, yes?”

“The best,” she agreed.

Ren puffed up proudly, making Tenley snort and Neal frown mightily. Nico pulled a phone out of his inner jacket pocket and extended it to Ren. “The person who took out the contract paid me half the money up front. They wired it into my Swiss account and left me this phone—behind a dumpster on 5thstreet, of all places. It was disgusting—for me to contact them when the job was done. Their number is pre-programmed. You can trace it, yes?”

“Probably not. I can check, but I’m guessing the whole point of this phone is that it’s untraceable. Probably bought and set up under an assumed identity, or it’s been scrubbed of anything that could identify the buyer.”

“What if you called it and demanded more money?” Lark asked. “Told the person that you had me, but that you wouldn’t kill me until they upped your payday.”

Nico frowned. “I accepted the contract. Asking for more now would be very unethical.”

Tenley gaped at him. “You accepted the contract and already decided not to kill her. And if I understood you correctly, you were going to potentially kill the person who took out the contract anyway. Isthatany more ethical than asking for more money?”

“Huh.” He rubbed the scruff on his chin. “I guess I never thought of it like that.”

“Sweet Christ, what a shit show,” Ren muttered, handing the phone back to Nico. “Call them.”

“Alright,” he mumbled. “But if this damages my reputation in the industry, it’s your fault.”

“Sue me,” Lark said at the same time Ren said, “Suck my dick, asshole.”

Tenley flipped open a switchblade that she’d seemingly produced from her cleavage and held it to Neal’s throat as Nico made the call. “Keep your mouth shut or I’m turning you into a pincushion.”

He gulped, but stayed blessedly quiet.

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