Page 35 of Winter's End

Well, as much as my schedule had allowed. Shane had spent more time with my boyfriend than I had lately, but since he was now his boyfriend, too …

“And this is one of our servers, Winter Wallace.”

I snapped to attention at the mention of my name across Georgio’s lips and forced an open smile as I turned to face the two men.

“Hi,” I said brightly, making eye contact with Kellan before shifting my gaze to Georgio.

“Winter is also a singer here.” Georgio’s face was kind yet impassive, showing no sign he knew me more than at a professional glance. He was either a sociopath or a psychopath with how quickly he could turn off his emotions. I was afraid to find out which.

Kellan nodded and smiled politely. “Nice to meet you, Winter.” His face also lacked any notable emotion; I’d marvel at it, if it wasn’t so disturbing.

Georgio moved on before I could say another word, requesting neat whiskeys from Colin as I blew out a slow breath of relief. The bartender handed me my finished orders, and I hightailed it toward my last table, quickly offloading the cocktails to get away from the Carlos brothers’ watchful eyes.

Twenty-minutes later, I found the courage to re-enter the main lounge after Hillary messaged me to let me know she was here. My heart rate skyrocketed when I found her seated at a rear booth, chatting away with Georgio and Kellan.

“Hi Sweets, perfect timing.” She waved me over breezily. Tentatively, I walked toward them. “Georgio and I were just lamenting my botched wedding.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, then slid out of the booth and adjusted her jacket as she stood tall beside me.

“Logan has more enemies than I do shoes.” My Academy-award-winning actress friend laughed airily and winked at Kellan in particular. “If I wasn’t smitten, I’d hang him myself.”

Georgio raised an eyebrow at that, but he said nothing; Kellan’s booming laugh overtook the space. He eyed Hillary with undisguised interest, which we would definitely discuss later. Hillary and I—not Kellan and I.

“I’ll see you later.” She latched onto my hand and pulled me toward the front alcove with a not-so-subtle grip. “It was nice to meet you, Kellan.”

She wiggled her fingers in a girlish wave and continued to tug on me until we were out the front entrance and into the night.

I quirked a brow as we rounded the Jaguar and she unlocked the doors.

“Smitten? Really?” Despite the intense heart palpitations I kept experiencing in Georgio’s presence, Hillary’s performance had turned my fear into incredulity. Was there anything that fazed this woman?

“I know.” She cackled and ducked her head as she climbed into the luxury car. “I was lucky to keep it together—what an idiot!” She sobered quickly as I shut the door behind me, the two of us now sheltered within the silence of the vehicle. “The quicker we can take Georgio down, the quicker I can move on with my life. Daddy and Stanley are way too close to him for comfort.”

She shifted the car into gear before giving me some serious side-eye. “You could have told me how hot Kellan Carlos was, though. If he wasn’t a baddie, I’d sit on his face.” She shot me a wicked grin as I snorted.

“Well,” I said slowly, a devious grin crossing my own features, “I have.”

The rest of the drive to her condo, I regaled her with my one night of passion with Kellan Carlos years ago. The bitter-sweet memory was still a good story, even if I only now had eyes for his nephew … and his brother.

CHAPTER 10

LOGAN

Iwalked into Bourbon & Blues like I owned the place for what I hoped was the last fucking time.

It was pay-up day, and I was ready to get the monkey that was Georgio’s debt off my back and say ‘fuck you and sayonara’ to the man who’d held me in his chains for years.

Yeah, fucking right.

Still, the payment would be fucking sweet relief; one less thing to worry about in the filthy sea of fuckery I was currently swimming in.

Hill had delivered, as always. I had seriously underappreciated that woman, and one day, I’d return the favor. All the favors from the past few months.

Unfortunately, my lawyers were a little too good, and Hill couldn’t find a technical loophole out of the contract with Carson, but she’d highlighted the morality clause my legal team had put into all of my contracts.

It was a farce really – I didn’t know a single person, man or woman, who’d pass the morality clause if anyone qualified went digging into their personal life. Everyone had skeletons in the closet and bodies buried in their backyard. It was just how deep you were willing to dig for the good stuff.

I had a mountain of Carson’s bodies in my back pocket—I just had to figure out how I could leak that information without it coming back to me. It was enough I could get jail time as an accomplice after the fact, and now that I had a semi-plausible out with the FBI and an actual future to plan for, I wasn’t putting myself in that fucking position ever again.

I walked up the stairs to the admin offices, wrestling with the familiar craving that hit every time I entered the building. I wasn’t going to let it cripple me today. Today, I’d be walking out of this fucking place a free man.

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