Page 101 of Queen Of Dark Money

“Andwhat do you expect me to do here,Gatt?”

Hissigh was heavy and not unexpected. “Wecan keep the others occupied long enough for you to take her downtown and get her inside.Whathappens after that is up to you.ButIhear there’s a police escort forSinclairnow.Wouldreally be a shame if someone sabotaged the entourage while they were there.”

“I’mnot a suicide bomber, bud.”Myeyes metKenzie’sand she cocked her head to the side, watching me curiously. “I’ma fucking lawyer.”

“Whichis why you’re the guy for the job.Whoelse has unfettered access to the courthouse, city hall, and surrounding area?Nobody’sgonna question you showing up there unannounced.Andyou can open doors the others can’t.”

“Butthis puts my reputation on the line.”Ipointed toward my dresser, hoping she got the idea.Imouthed the wordshirtsto her, praying she’d put one on.Icouldn’t sit here and focus on this conversation with her naked as a fucking jaybird.Itgave me indecent thoughts, and there was no time for all that.

Imean,I’dmaketime, but still.

Shewandered over and froze with one hand in the drawer, pulling something out she studied carefully, almost reverently.Ididn’t have time to analyze the item in her hand or ask her why she was so interested in it.Gattwas back in my ear, buzzing about whether or notI’ddo it.

“EarthtoRafe.Areyou in, or are you going to puss out on me?”

Bigwords, coming from this jackal.

Isighed in resignation, groaning, dragging my hand down my face. “When?”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

KENZIE

Ididn’t expect to find myself in a car again so soon after a failed attempt on my life.ButIguess a street bike wasn’t a car, was it?

No, a bike was much more exposed and left me feeling likeIwas going to die any second.

Ishivered againstRafe’sback, clinging to him likeImight float away or fall off if even air were to get between him andI.Hischuckle rumbled through his back and into my chest, soothing the nerves that were on high alert, adrenaline racing through me.

“Ithought you said you’d rode one of these before,” he joked, his voice barely audible though he had to be shouting.Wepulled to a stop at the next light, andItook the opportunity to talk to him, hoping it would ease the anxiety building inside me.

“Ihave ridden a bike before, but never while someone was actively campaigning for my fucking life.”Iwas dressed in inconspicuous black sweats and an oversized black tee, whichRafeexplainedIwould change out of when we got to the courthouse.Hewanted me to be as immemorable as possible going in.Sothat’s what we aimed for asIraided his drawers.Thesun hadn’t been up more than an hour now, and the doors wouldbe just opening when we pulled into the courthouse parking lot, but that was all part of his plan, he told me.

Getin while it’s not busy, wait until court is in session and the media frenzy is contained inside for the press conference, and then go outside and trash as many of the cop cars as possible.KhulaCitywas a criminal wasteland, but we had connections everywhere, andSpectreassured us he would disable the weapons the cops carried.Ordisable them.Iwasn’t sure about the details, but he said there would be no gun-slinging cops coming to protest our deranged damage rampage.

Ihad to trust he was good for his word.

Whatother option didIhave, really?Iworked for them now, just like the boys.Theyknew too much about me to back out.Witha single phone call,ArthurHalecould ruin my entire life.AndIwouldn’t put it past him to do just that if he didn’t get his way.Ithought about my mother, who, at this very moment, was navigating a dangerous, risky medical diagnosis.AndifIdidn’t make it out of this alive, there would be nobody left to put the money in her account to pay those bills.Shewould die with me.

Itrusted these men to keep me safe.Butlook where trust had gotten me last time.

Rafeturned his head frontward as the light changed, and we jetted off again, zipping through morning traffic like a snake navigating a thornbush thicket.Weavingin and out of the tightly packed lanes of vehicles was nerve-wracking on a good day, but now,Iwas certain the next car would clip us, and we’d go spiraling off to the side of the road, or maybe the median, and get run over by a passing truck, pancaked to the ground like roadkill.

Geta grip, bitch.Thisisn’t the time to spiral into the darkness.Holdit together until you get to the other side.Then, you can break down.

Maybethey’ll even buy you a fucking sno-cone and call you their prized bitch.

Fuckme, the anxiety was building.

Thecourthouse came into view on the horizon, andIsucked in a breath, squeezing my eyes shut against the nausea that roiled in my gut.ThankfuckIdidn’t eat anything for breakfast, cause ifIhad,I’dbe losing it by now.Wehad no sooner jumped in the shower and hopped out than we’d been forced to take this call and do the job our bosses set upon us.

Ididn’t even have time to askRafeabout the necklaceIfound in his tee shirt drawer.Theone that was only half-there, ripped apart by a furious, drunk girl in college, whose only goal was to keep a part of the man who’d left her laying there, broken and bleeding, wanting comfort but getting nothing but thinly-veiled, half-assed promises to call.Promisesthat never panned out.

Theother half to my necklace.Or, rather, the necklaceIripped from the neck of a guy namedDannySanchezin college after a night of wild, sloppy, drunken sexIwasn’t even sureIwanted to participate in.Ipanicked after the fact, and asDannymade to run off into the night,Igrabbed hold of his necklace, the stupid engraved fucking piece of shit that should have honestly been left in the early 2000s.Hegrabbed hold of the other end, and the damn thing snapped in half, leaving me with one side of it as he fled the room where he’d dicked me down, empty promises that he’d be in touch echoing in the room asIrealizedIhad fucked up.

Iwasn’t supposed to be out that night, drinking at a frat party whereIdidn’t know anyone.Butmy roommate had pushed me to step outside my comfort zone, and soIdid.

AndafterIfell head over heels for a man who’d one-and-done me, he disappeared into the night, andIwas left holding half a necklace and no hope of ever finding him again.

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