Page 98 of The Mastermind

“There’s a price for everything. You want answers, you pay up.”

I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because my concentration was on the photograph flying out of the alley to land near my feet. I crouched and reached for it.

The photo showed Remi sitting side-by-side with an attractive female with blonde hair at a coffee shop. She was smiling as she showed him her arm, or was it her hand? From the gesture, it appeared like she was reveling in a piece of jewelry. Did he buy it for her?

I thought my heart had already died, but apparently, it had one last breath until this photo. It swooshed out of me in a painful spurt.

Who was she? How many more women had he been with while he was with me? Had I been living a lie? Anger and sadness spiked like thorns on a rose. I shoved the photo into my pant pocket.

“You’re wasting my time, Brian.”

“I have information you want.”

“What information?” Remi spat out.

“I heard your girlfriend was attacked in Newport. I know who it is. The name will cost you five million dollars.”

My body jerked at the memory of that day. Remi didn’t respond to Brian. Did he already know who had attacked me? He said he’d look into it. Why hadn’t he said anything to me?

I shoved the pieces of my broken heart aside as I leaned in closer against the brick wall, careful not to make any noise. A car honked somewhere close and echoed.

“Let me repeat myself. You arenotgetting a dime from me.”

“Don’t you want to know what could’ve happened to your girlfriend? She wasn’t supposed to survive that day, you know. I know who wants your girlfriend dead.”

Remi said nothing. Why didn’t he say anything?

He doesn’t care about me.I’m just one of many women he slept with.

“She’s not worth five million dollars?”

“No one is worth five million dollars to me.” Remi let out a laugh that stabbed my soul. The pain pierced so deeply, the blade severing my muscles and bones, exiting through my back. My body caved in. I didn’t know it was possible to feel like this. Why was I still standing there, listening to how unworthy I was? He had used me.

“You don’t love her?”

“I don’t love anyone. Just like you, I live for myself. We share some of the same qualities.”

“This seems like a different narrative from the charity event. So I can pursue her now?”

“When I’m done with her.”

The arctic words sliced into me. Why couldn’t I move my damn feet? I had to get out of here.

“Why do you need money, Brian? Just tell me the truth. We both know you’ve been doing illegal things since high school.”

“You . . . Fuck it. Like you’ve done nothing horrendous.”

I heard Brian pacing, then kicking a can that clanked loudly in the alley.

“I trusted someone I shouldn’t have, and now my life is in danger. I need money so I can leave the country.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you hired someone to kill me when I was at Yale.”

I clamped a hand over my mouth. Why hadn’t Remi mentioned that to me? I had shared my deepest wounds with him, yet he kept this detail from me. What else was he hiding?

“H-How . . . I told Mom not to do it, but she kept pushing. She wanted to ensure I’d get the company and the house.”

Holy shit.

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