Page 49 of Bourbon and Secrets

Clapping his hands, Griz straightens, reaching for a tall bottle of what I assume is bourbon.

My sister uses that moment to lean in on my other side and dump a cold bucket of water on me when she says, “Don’t make yourself comfortable here, Faye. You may have forgotten, but they’re not your family.”

“Funny,” I whisper. “Considering my only family would rather tell me to fuck off than actually talk with me.”

“Hurts, doesn’t it,” she bites back. I try not to wince at those words.

When I look around, I notice Hadley is paying attention to what’s occurring between Maggie and me and mouths,Asshole.

I snort a laugh, and Maggie flips me off as she rests her hand on her cheek.

As I glance around the table, I realize that Lily must have noticed it too. Her mouth is dropped open in surprise, looking at me wide-eyed, wordlessly asking,Did you see what your sister just did?

Yeah, kid. I did.

Laney starts talking about the private tastings that’ll kick off next month at Foxx Bourbon. Grant watches her talk with enthusiasm about the Tennessee Whiskey distillers that’ll be coming to participate. He smiles at her with so much affection that it’s obvious how much he adores her. When he glides his fingers along her back, she tilts her head back toward him, melting into it. I can’t stop myself from thinking about how nice that must feel. That affection and care. It’s not something I’ve experienced before.

Griz teases Hadley about the jazz trio she’s booked at Midnight Proof. “You call those clowns musicians,” he tuts. “You should hire some good old-fashioned country boys to come in there and play.”

“It’s not the vibe, Griz.” Hadley smiles, shrugging a shoulder.

Ace watches on quietly. His eyes connect with mine, and I give him a quick smile, an appreciative exchange for allowing me to be here among his family. He responds with the smallest nod, and it makes me feel like a real jerk for what I’m going to excuse myself to do. It doesn’t take a keen sense of intuition or much time with the Foxx family to know there’s a lot of love here. Respect. Support. It’s comforting to be inside their orbit, even for just a meal.

Lincoln talks to Hadley about something that has him animated with big hand gestures, and it gives me pause, taking in someone like him. He has such a full life—it’s so different from mine, but I feel such a connection when I’m with him.

“You have a nice smile,” Lily says while chomping on three-stacked pieces of bacon while trying to balance a half-dollar coinbetween two fingers. I can tell she’s been practicing moving it between each knuckle. I bite at my lower lip. Until she said that, I hadn’t even realized I was smiling.

I glance at Lark, who’s staring back at me with a scowl. She definitely caught me staring at her dad.

“Dad always says you can tell a lot about a person when they smile.” Lily takes the coin between two fingers. “I can make this coin disappear. Want to see?”

I reach for the syrup, but instead ask her to pass it to me. My nerves are making it so I don’t have much of an appetite, but I don’t want it to look that way. When I take it from her, I pour a bit over what remains of my French toast and say, “Sure. But what coin?”

Lily looks down, baffled by my question. “Wait, where’d it go?”

When I look across from me, Lincoln’s watching. With his focus on me, my mouth goes dry. “Check her right hand, Lily.”

Lily looks at me, confused, and then focuses on my right hand.

When I lift my fingers, I roll the clunky gray rock over to its side with the sharp purple crystals.

She looks up at me with a smile. “You have it with you.”

“I’ve needed a little extra courage lately. I keep it in one of my pockets.” Then I open my left hand where the silver coin stands slotted between my pointer and middle fingers.

Lily gasps. “How’d you do that? Oh my gosh. Please, Faye. Please, you have to teach me.”

“Sure. It’s really just practice. And paying attention to the people around you.” I look up at her father. “It’s all about creating a distraction.”

Nerves flutter around my chest as I say it because that’s what this dinner turned into tonight. A distraction.

Nothing looks glaringly suspicious.Foxx Bourbon is a big business, and while it would take a team of people to comb through this in detail—there’s nothing that’s worth sharing with the FBI. I expected Foxx Bourbon was doing well, but the kinds of numbers they have coming in and going out are incredible.

It was easy to slip into Ace’s office when I excused myself to use the bathroom. The best time to do it would always be just as dinner’s finished being served and everyone was focused on their food. It took less than two minutes to connect to their guest network, then the VPN, and then from there, Ace’s phone. The same mirroring app that I’ve been using on Lincoln’s phone I was able to upload through the cloud and now I have a full view of what the oldest Foxx does on his device. Ace’s phone is very organized. There’s a system for his files, and his emails are mostly marked read or flagged. The only communication I can see recorded between him and Blackstone is an email regarding bourbon being sold for a rather ridiculous amount of money at auction. I’ll review that in more detail later.

I’ve been straddling my attention between scrolling and listening to Hadley talk about the seasonal drink menu we’re sampling at Midnight Proof. It’s a quiet night here and not as packed as it usually is during performance nights.

“You don’t have to stay in that house if your sister is being a swashbuckling douche,” Hadley says matter-of-factly, snagging my attention back to our conversation and drinks. “You’re welcome to use the lovely one-night slam apartment upstairs.”

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