Page 29 of Resurrection

“Not everyone is frivolous.” She slides her glasses back onto her face.

“Guy was cash-strapped enough to grab me out of a warehouse overrun with agents. The money was for something imperative to him. Guaranteed.”

Carys mutters an agreement as Jay opens her door. I slide out behind her, happy with my view of her ass. The bright-pink skirt she has on stretches and clings to the right places. I slide my gaze up her, over the loose black shirt fluttering in the wind to her hair in a tight bun at her nape. The combination of buttoned-up and wild has always appealed to me. I enjoy watching her come undone.

We pause at the door, Jay tense, alert.

Carys checks on me over her shoulder. “You gonna be cool?”

“Like a deep lake at the start of spring.” I wink.

She sighs and raps her knuckles on the steel. I take my position on the other side of Carys so Jay and I are flanking her. Anyone answers who is bad news, she’s getting shoved behind me. Her lovely ass is better off hitting the cracked concrete than anything more violent.

“Who is it?” A deep male voice calls from inside the house.

“Carys Van de Berg and her associates.” She drags her purse higher onto her shoulder.

The door inches open, and a pair of brown eyes peer out. Once he’s scanned us and the landscape behind, he creates enough space for Jay to slip in. I shoulder past Carys so she brings up the rear. People who sell their loyalty set me on edge.

“Why are you in such a shithole?” I say.

The question is more instinct than curiosity. Carys paid him a ton of money, and the furniture in the living room could have come from Goodwill. There are takeout wrappers scattered across everywhere. The guy’s been existing on cheap burgers.

“Finn.” Carys shoots me a warning glare.

My jaw hardens. Easy to forget I don’t run the show. We will have to talk about this collar and leash business. It’s a choke collar instead of something kinky and fun.

I raise my eyebrows. “You don’t want to understand why the guy who accepted so much of your money is living in the pit of despair?” I pick up a wrapper from a chair. “You can’t even afford a garbage can?”

FBI guy crosses his arms. “I rent. And what the fuck is it to you how I live?” He scans me. “Jesus. I can’t believe you lived, and you’re already walking around.”

I smirk. “Knock me down, and I come back twice as hard.”

He shakes his head. “So much goddamned blood all over me. I had to go get tested to make sure I didn’t catch anything off you—guys like you, you just never know.”

I growl and step toward him.

Carys throws out an arm to pin me in place. “You don’t speak to him like that.” She presses her arm into my chest when I push against it. “Finn’s question is valid. I paid you a fortune. Why are you living here?”

“Told ya. I rent. Also, you’ve only paid me half my money. I’ve been trying to figure out how the hell to sort that out.”

Out of the corner of my eye, her mouth tightens, and her arm drops from my chest.

“I paid you the full amount. Half the morning of the raid, half when Finn made it to Switzerland alive.”

“First half came, second half never appeared.”

With a frown, she examines Jay. “Explain this to me.”

Jay is focused on his phone. “Working on an answer now, boss. Doesn’t add up to me.” He sizes up the FBI guy. “You screwing with us, Ricardo?”

“You want bank statements?” He grabs his phone from the greasy table.

I’m not the cleanest person in the world, but I’ve had a maid service for long enough this level of filth is repulsive. “What are you doing with the money?” I cross my arms.

“Not your business.” He concentrates on his phone, swiping through screens. “I need the second half of the transfer next week or I’m fucked.” He stares at Carys, ignoring me. “I get fucked? I find ways to fuck other people.”

I take a step forward. “You the person sending her the alarm clocks?”

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