Page 66 of Seduction in Spades

“I have men in the area who will have our six.” I called in favors when Nora’s life was on the line, and I’ll do it again with Avery. Only this time, I’ll be leading the charge. No one will touch a hair on her head.

No one.

Martin nods. “Owen’s working on it.”

“Working on it isn’t good enough. We need names, locations, details. Now,” I grumble.

“Nolan,” Drake warns.

“The fuck with the nice guy routine, Drake.” Trey spits out. “Nolan is right. We don’t have time to sit with our thumbs up our fucking asses. Someone broke into my sister’s apartment with the intent to kill.”

“With all due respect, Trey,” Martin clears his throat, “I don’t believe the intent was to kill.”

I hate that he’s right. “He’s sending a message,” I say.

Martin lifts his chin to me and sighs. “I believe so.”

“Because I wouldn’t let his goons into my fucking nightclub? That’s too far-fetched, even for Donahue.”

Ryder’s been sitting quietly and finally speaks. “Unless there’s more to it than that.”

I swear I can feel his eyes bore into me. I don’t look Ryder’s way, keeping my glare on Martin. I didn’t survive twelve years as a SEAL by trusting people or by revealing my cards.

“He believes your casino is involved in Eddie’s overdose.”

Smart man. We were. At least, I was. There’s no way Micky could trace the tainted drugs back to us. To me. My guy is still undercover, and there haven’t been any red flags alerting Micky to his involvement. He had my six overseas, and he’s one of the few outside the four aces I trust to have my back, no questions asked.

“The casino had nothing to do with his overdose, and neither did I,” Drake says honestly. I never gave him the details so he could keep his nose clean. He’s a mathematician, not a man used to guns and crime.

We go around in circles for another hour, getting nowhere. In the end, we agree to wait while Owen gathers intel.

“Trey, you’ve gotta give him his space,” Drake warns after Martin leaves. “Pushing Owen will only alert Donahue’s people that we're after them.”

Drake doesn’t give me the same warning. Either he thinks I’m not as emotionally invested in Avery’s safety as Trey is, or he knows I’m going to do my own thing regardless. Either way, I leave the meeting feeling more frustrated than when we started.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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