Page 105 of Dangerous Rhythm

Lina took only five seconds to think before she stepped out from behind the curtains and walked across the stage to Connor.

“Lina!” Kate hissed from behind the curtain. “Fuck.”

“Mr. Murphy,” Lina said in a calm voice with her hands out in the open.

The man startled into a stand like a jack-in-the-box and looked up at Lina on the stage. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m here in peace. My name is Lina. I need a moment of your time, if you please,” Lina said.

“Make a goddamn appointment,” he snapped as he glanced back toward the lobby where his bodyguard was supposed to be.

In her peripheral vision, Lina saw a shadow moving fast along the side wall of the theater floor.

“Brock!” Connor shouted.

“Please, Mr. Murphy. I might be able to help you with this situation between the Stilettos and your family.”

“There’s nothing between our families,” he said flatly.

“Not from that conversation you had with Miss Stiletto,” Lina said as she walked down to the audience floor.

Brock finally appeared at the lobby door. “Mr. Murphy?”

“Where the hell have you been? You let this woman get past you?” Connor demanded.

Lina smiled and, with her hands out in the open, approached closer, but stopped at a safe distance. Brock charged down the aisle, but he stumbled on something, fell face forward, and knocked himself out.

“Oops,” Kate said with a grin as she stepped into the aisle. She checked on the guard. “He’s just sleeping.”

Connor looked from Kate and back to Lina as he backed into a row of seats. “Who the fuck are you?”

“We’re just concerned citizens of the city.”

“What do you want from me?” Connor asked.

“I think we both want the same thing.”

“What do you know about what I want?”

“I know the person you want just walked out of your life. And if what Sofia said was right, you’ll never have a peaceful day in your life again until Serafina Stiletto is out of the picture or dead. She may even ruin everything you’ve been working on. Your business, your family’s name and standing in this city.

“I heard you donated a million dollars to a hospital here in Brooklyn. A ward will be named after your father,” Lina said, pulling out her hasty research into the Murphy family. “Such a commendable act, and a strategic one. Nothing says respectable more than your name on a hospital’s wall.”

Connor narrowed his eyes at her. Now that he saw Lina closer in a clearer light, his stance eased up. Perhaps he was the type of man who underestimated women, or maybe his curiosity was now piqued.

“You seem to know a lot about me, Miss…?” he said.

“Lina.” She nodded. “I know enough to see we share a problem. And I’d like to propose a solution to this problem.”

Connor studied Lina with curious, intelligent blue eyes. Lina could see him calculating the benefits of listening to her. Calculating was a quality she could respect. At least, she didn’t sense savagery in him.

“And what is your problem, Lina?” he asked.

“Let’s just say we are in Serafina’s crosshairs as well. This baseless call for revenge is laughable since it was Serafina’s own son who started the killing. If what you told Sofia was true, we might be able to turn the situation to our advantage.”

“How?” he asked.

Lina smiled and treaded carefully. She couldn’t risk Connor going over her and leaving her and Curtis out of the equation.

---