Page 149 of Ricochet

“I told you,” Deacon said. “I had a proposition for Miss Adelia.”

“Ah, that’s right.” Colin snorted. “Baby. Do you want to work for him?”

“What the hell?” Javier stepped to Colin’s side. “No. She doesn’t. Stay away from her.”

“The other choices aren’t as pretty,” Deacon added. “I’m not such a bad. Don’tbe a dick.”

“Meaning what?” Hawke inched closer as well. “You think you could touch her right now? Do you know how many of my guys are crawling in this hotel? This lobby?” Hawke snapped, and seemingly out of nowhere, men ranging from in suit-and-ties to ready-to-rumble stepped from their shadows.

Brock grumbled, motioning to his ear piece. “Astor’s security just flagged a problem. They’re exitingbravo-one.”

Hawke shrugged. “What can I say?”

The sweep team pushing Gloria out faltered when she stopped. “You’re still here!”

Adelia sidestepped Colin. “You’re still here!”

“What got everyone riled up earlier?” Colin asked.

Javier chuckled. “Adelia got her on tape, and it’s ugly.”

“No shit?” Colin grinned and stepped from their group to see the televisions lining the hotel walls. The onesthat weren’t live covering the event rolled transcripts of Gloria’s words, and Javier was correct. It was awful.”

Disgusted, Colin looked at the woman who gaped at the screens, too. Her face had gone pale and she beat away any urging to continue on, as if she couldn’t stop watching what she’d said.

Gloria turned toward them, a semi-circle of cameras held back at a distance, and she seethed.“What have you done!”

“Told everyone what you had to say,” Adelia said.

“You know nothing.” She ran her hands over the corset of the dress, raging, and put a hand over her chest. “Nothing!”

Colin focused on her motions, how she moved—then Gloria stopped her fidgeting, falling to her knees. She blinked wide, as though uncertain, and her security rushed around, only to yell for more room. Sirenswailed.

Who knew why they were coming. To arrest Gloria? To arrest Mayhem? That was too quick to come for medical reasons.

Amid calls for help and doctors, Colin turned Adelia away and Hawke stepped forward.

“Not to add on to the day’s excitement,” he said. “But, I had a talk with Deacon and Cullen. Consider your slate wiped clean.”

Deacon smiled behind Mayhem.

“But,don’twork for the bastard,”Hawke added.

“What the hell, man?”

Brock shook his head, and Javier nodded to the television screens. Several reported the Gloria Astor had a heart attack and died in the hotel lobby.

Colin turned to Adelia. Her wide eyes and mouth gaped, and he had no idea what might be running through her head. “You okay, baby?”

“I did it,” she whispered.

“You did what?”

“That was me. I killed the monster.”

---