Page 45 of A Forbidden Arrangement

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Bash:

You’ll know how that feels soon enough. winky face

I already do. My thumb hovers over the keyboard a second, and then I type it out and hit Send anyway. I’ve been down there since the first time she looked at me, and the hurt staring back mirrored mine.

Bash:

So, what’s your plan?

Me:

I’m working on it.

The screen dims, reflecting my cold eyes back at me.

Another message pops up. I switch over to the brothers’ thread.

Matthias:

They found Calder’s body.

My jaw locks as my thumbs hit the screen.

Me:

What the fuck do you mean, body?

The last I heard from him, he was backing out of our deal, leaving me to work with that asshole Elliot. Calder showing up dead now? That’s a problem. I didn’t give a shit about him personally, but the man was a Saint, and the Lords of the Order of Saints protect our own. Always.

Damon:

What do we know?

Matthias:

Not much. They left him in a barrel and tossed him into the harbor. A fishing boat found it and called the cops.

Matthias:

My contact figured I’d want to know after his driver’s license was found tucked into his sock. Clearly, he knew something was about to go down.

I refill my glass, nearly to the rim.

Me:

So is this an isolated incident, or are we looking at a bigger attack here?

Matthias:

Unclear. As of now, he’s the only Saint unaccounted for. Could be isolated.

Bash:

Why does that feel so unlikely?

Damon:

Doesn’t matter. Dig into what he was into before the hit. Give the word to the men. We’ll be on alert until we know more.

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