Page 32 of Nothing to Beat

Her father wouldn’t allow two betrayers to keep breathing.At least her sister was blood, that might earn her the right to keep her life,might, that wasn’t close to guaranteed.Anyone else turning on him would get short shrift.They’d be lucky if they saw it coming.Goodbyes?Apologies?Mercy…?Ha!Not a damn chance.

“Yep,” Roxie said.“Z and your father aren’t the only ones with contacts.”Her friend crossed her legs and leaned closer.“Did you tell Breck we were leaving New York?”

“She hasn’t called him either.Not great communicators you pair.”

Mr.Tripp Know-It-All Breckenridge, she hadn’t confessed the omission, it was just coincidence he was right.Coincidence.Sigh, no, Tripp knew women.Somehow, despite growing up surrounded by males, he held the key to the female psyche.

“He’d want to be here and that’s exactly what I don’t want,” she said.“I don’t want my father anywhere near him, near anything Breckenridge.”

With her glass, Roxie gestured at their travel companion.“We’ll dress him up in disguise.He can be our groupie.”

“Not so easy to hide this magnificence, baby.”

“We’ll tell him you’re our gigolo on hand.”

“Then you better call your boyfriend, Rox Out, ‘cause the press will eat that shit up.”

“My father doesn’t like the press.”

“I bet he doesn’t,” Roxie said.“You think Breck wouldn’t support you?Is that the problem?‘Cause Tripp will kick his ass if—”

“Of course he’d support me.Which is exactly why I said the shutters were down.”She set her certainty on Tripp.“No one is to know where we are or what we’re doing.”

“Wouldn’t worry too much,” Tripp said.“Breck’s done the whole renounce his trust thing.Dude’s pauper poor and wouldn’t take a cent from the rest of us.How’s he supposed to get here with no doubloons?”

Wouldn’t matter to Breck.Even if he had to walk to get to her, he wouldn’t hesitate.

“This is a problem I’m fixing on my own.Your brother is not allowed near this tarpit.Please, I need this kept quiet.”

If for no other reason, the more people in the circle, the more people her father could hurt.

“Don’t have to tell me twice.Your secrets are my secrets.”And everyone got that courtesy, those who knew him, complete strangers too, hence why he was also known as Priest.“What’s the plan?”Tripp asked, finishing his drink and getting up to take the glass back to the bar.“Why does Trish’s testimony matter now?Didn’t matter last week, last month.”

It did, it should’ve, if she’d been more diligent.Yes, she’d been complacent but had reasons for burying her head in the sand.She knew that world, the one she’d abandoned, that life, and didn’t need anyone to deliver the grimy details.Until then.Revisiting it may not be number one on her to-do list, but lovely, wonderful Breck had forced her hand.Maybe not on purpose, man had a way of adjusting her focus without even trying.

Still, Tripp’s query was valid and he deserved an honest answer.“Because if all she plans to do is send my brother to prison for murdering Ava, there’s a chance of my father clawing his way back to the top.”Or at least regaining enough stability to return to his interfering ways.Worse than that, he’d need a major investment to do it.And who did they know with money…?Not happening.“Dad can do it without Joey.”

“There’s been a lot of scrutiny.”

“By the media and law enforcement alike.No one’s missing this chance.”

“You included,” Tripp said.“You’ve got to get in while the going’s good.”

“You love him,” Roxie said, attracting her attention.“It doesn’t matter what anyone else is saying, or where anyone else is, you love Breck.”

“Yes.”She exhaled.“But life isn’t that easy.”

“It is.”Roxie’s smile told a story of its own.“You think it was easy for me to admit that?It took me a minute, but it’s true.You just make the decision to be together and let everything else go to hell.”

“Yes, that sounds mighty similar to the speech my guy got from yours last week.”

“That’s what this is about?”Tripp asked, downing a shot of something clear.“That’s why Breck quit the company?Z told him to?”

“I doubt he said it like that, but this whole mess was prompted by some conversation they had that night.”

“Huh,” Tripp said, downing another shot.“Explains why they were stuck in their little huddle for so long.”

And if only she’d known about that at the time.Though what would she have done?Put herself between them.It probably wouldn’t be the best moment to make the point that simply by showing up, she could sway Breck.

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