Page 422 of Lodestar

He chuckled. “I think she can cope with that. If not, Aidan can.”

"Agreed,” I said with a grin.

“How’s it going with Lyra? Is she opening up?”

“Not really. It’s only been a short while since we met, though, so I’m not rushing anything.”

“That’s for the best. She’ll just get used to you hanging around.”

“Like a bad smell?”

“You said it. Not me.”

“Oh, by the way, I’m dealing with Temper.”

His head swiveled to the side. “You don’t have a temper. Actually, you’re pretty zen for?—”

I snorted. “I appreciate the upvote but nah, I meant Temper Black.”

He grunted. “I don’t like her.”

“We’re in agreement there. I’m making sure she knows how I feel about her being a double agent.”

A chuckle escaped him. “What have you done?”

“Set Eagle Eyes on her.”

His chuckle morphed into a belly laugh. “You set a sniper on her?”

“Yup. Anyway, I told him to make it obvious that he’s hunting her too. Let’s skewer the bitch’s nerves.”

“You’re gaslighting her? Or is the endgame to shoot her?”

“I would if she weren’t Dead To Me’s cousin. But she is, so I have to dial it down a touch.”

“‘Dial it down,’” he repeated softly. “Not sure if I’m bewildered or impressed that that’s your idea of dialing it down.”

My lips twitched. “I’ll settle for a mixture of both. Especially as the bitch is the shoo-in for the deputy director’s job. You watch her soar to the top of the food chain over the next few years.”

“It’s not what you know, it’swhoyou know,” he said gruffly.

I sniffed. “I fucking hate how true that is.”

When we finally breached the traffic and made it outside ofRussuand a valet popped up to park Conor’s SUV/tank, he murmured in my ear, “What did you offer as payment for controlling the playlist?”

“Nothing. She was being nice.”

“Why?”

“We were trying to be kind to each other for Savannah’s sake.”

“You’re more than Savannah’s best friend.”

“I know. We don’t have that kind of relationship. We’re more like sisters, I guess, but Jennifer wanted to make a good impression and so did I.”

“Curious.”

“What is?” I queried as we made it down the long red carpet toward the club’s entrance.

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