Page 73 of Lush

“I don’t like this,” he said, his voice lower than I’d ever heard it.

Blair’s tilted head caught the candlelight, highlighting hersmirk. “You never do. And yet…” She stopped talking, gently smoothing his jacket collar. A soft, loving touch. “Here we are.”

Harold let out a sharp breath, his shoulders tightening up. His wedding ring sparkled in the firelight as his hands rested near her waist.

“This is the last time.”

Blair hummed, unconvinced.

I pressed a hand over my mouth, nausea rolling in my stomach. Holy shit.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.

This was an affair.

Blair let out a quiet laugh. “Don’t look so guilty,” she teased, her fingers brushing his chest.

I spun around and raced down the hall.How do I tell Reese?I was heading downstairs when I heard shouting below.

Suddenly the hall door burst open, startling everyone in the vicinity. Toby came hurtling out, his face flushed with panic.

When did Toby get here?

He glanced back, eyes wide, like something—or someone—was on his tail. Then Reese ran out of the hall.

“Reese!”

Guests followed hoping to catch more drama. I had to weave through the clusters of people. Toby darted into a waiting car, his movements sharp and urgent. He slammed the door shut just as Reese reached him.

“Damn it!” Reese shouted, pounding his fists on the car’s window as it sped away.

I stumbled to a halt beside him, breathless and wide-eyed. “What just happened?” I gasped, the chill of the night seeping into my bones.

Reese turned to me, jaw clenched, frustration almost palpable.

“I almost had his ass!” he seethed, eyes glimmering with anger. “He knows something.”

I took a step closer, feeling the tension crackling between us. “What do you mean?”

Reese ran a hand through his hair. “Toby said—” He cut himself off. “He said, ‘You’re looking in the wrong places.’”

Wrong places—but what the hell did that mean?

CHAPTER 16

Laurene

“If it were me,I’d have just beat her ass right there,” Gigi called from the fitting room. “Party was already ruined after what you said about Reese and his daddy. What’s one more fight?”

We’d been at it for hours. Next to me, Noelle was just scrolling through work emails on her phone.

“I can have some of my boys run up on her. I know where she likes to shop too. Couple quick shanks to the gut, twist it so the wound doesn’t close.No onewould know,” Gigi continued.

Why was Toby even there? He doesn’t justhappento be places—heplaceshimself there. Was it a warning? A taunt? Or just Toby playing his little games again?

“We’re not killing Blair.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “And for the last time,whatboys? The ones you know who drive Teslas and buy craft kombucha in bulk?”

Gigi huffed. “I know people. Movers and shakers who are not afraid to get dirty.”

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