Page 63 of Seduction in Spades

“I thought you had an alert on your phone.”

“Since she was with me, I hadn’t thought about her not being safe. I fucked up, Trey. I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t fuck up,” Drake says. “There was no reason to be concerned about anything happening with her not there.”

“How is she?” Ryder asks. He’s the only one not emotionally invested in this case. For Drake, it’s still fresh from Nora’s attack. For Trey, it’s his sister. For me,fuck. Trey and I are one and the same. We’d risk our lives for her without a second thought.

“Pissed. Annoyed. Trying to put on a brave face. I let her throw some stuff in a bag and drove her straight here. Put her up in the penthouse and told her to stay. She insists on going to work on Monday, so we gotta act fast.”

“No way in fuck is she going to work.”

“Good luck with that, man. I had a hell of a time keeping Nora up in the penthouse and she works from her computer. Your sister isn’t going to stay put.”

“We need to talk to Martin. Show him the footage and see if he recognizes the perp. At least then, we’ll be able to pin it on Micky.” I download the videos from her front door and window and AirDrop to the guys’ phones.

“There hasn’t been any suspicious activity before this?” Ryder asks, playing the video on his phone.

“None.” And I’ve watched. Watched more closely than anyone could imagine. Maybe not for the right reasons. Still, I’d been looking.

Drake takes out his phone and dials. “Martin. We need to talk. Now... yeah, about your brother.” He tosses his cell on the conference table. “He’ll be here in twenty minutes.”

“I’m gonna go check on Avery. Text me when he gets here.” Trey leaves and we all sit in silence.

“Well, fuck.” Ryder stands. “Shit just got fucking real.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

This is all my fault. I pace the glamorous living room, too stressed to appreciate the luxuries of the penthouse. I screwed up. Royally. Those guys who hit on me last night must have been part of that Irish mobster group my brother and Nolan have been trying to keep me from.

They didn’t seem gangster in their jeans and flannel. I figured them to be local city guys who picked up women at dance clubs and had threesomes. They were inseparable and tried too many times to sandwich me between them on the dance floor.

Thankfully, Nora had been at my side to push the men away. The rock on her left hand was enough to hold most men at arm’s length, otherwise they’d be swarming all over her as well.

I shouldn’t have been so mouthy, so confident Nolan would have my back. I figured he’d be close by, either up in the lounge looking down, or in the shadows watching over me. Asking about him would have only tipped off Nora, so I played it cool and even a little dangerously by flirting, dancing, and drinking with just about anyone.

I drop to the couch and curl into a ball. I ruined everything last night. Nolan hadn’t come to my rescue until after I’d had one too many drinks. I don’t normally get drunk, but I was having so much fun with Nora.

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