Page 488 of The Sinner: James

“Hey, baby,” I say, crashing into a chair in my hotel room.

Silently, I scoop out a cigarette and slide it between my lips. The flame licks the tip as I keep the lighter close to it.

“Where are you?”

“London,” I say, tearing my cigarette away from my lips. “With business,” I add before taking a drag.

“How are things?” Rain asks.

“Busy. Crazy. I can’t wait to be done and go back to Monte Carlo. How are things over there?”

She sighs at the other end of the phone line.

“It’s been busy here too. I’ve spent some time with Thea, and the more I talk to her, the better I understand why Ed has fallen for her. I think she’s going to be a great mom. And he is completely smitten with her.”

She keeps talking, her words becoming a distant hum as I shift my focus to the events of the last twenty-four hours.

Mechanically, I bring my cigarette to my lips.

A few moments pass, and I don’t even realize she’s gone quiet.

“James...?”

Her voice jolts me back to reality.

“Yes?”

“Do you have any idea?”

“What?”

“When can I fly to Monaco? I want to plan my trip.”

“I’ll know by the end of the week,” I say, tense.

A few seconds go by.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Why?”

“You sound... I don’t know. Preoccupied?”

“It’s been a long day. That’s all,” I say just as a call flashes across my phone screen.

It’s a local phone number.

“I gotta go, baby. I’ll call you in the morning. Morning over there,” I clarify before hanging up.

I answer the call.

“Yes?”

I hear a few broken words and then a clear voice speaking.

“The meeting is at the Cabana Club. Eight o’clock. Tonight.”

The line goes dead.

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