Page 49 of The Devil's Playground

“Not surprised. Royce is so head over heels for you, he’s keeping you to himself for now. That’s okay. Once he realizes that the rest of us won’t scare you away, I’m sure he’ll bring you around more. Maybe not when I was getting ready to take my husband to bed… I’m telling you, these pregnancy hormones are no joke… but if you’re half as amazing as Royce tells Link, I’d love a friend.”

You know what? I would, too.

And because I’d like to start this budding friendship on the right foot, I say, “I’m sorry. I don’t even know why Royce brought me here?—”

“Really? He didn’t tell you?”

I shake my head.

“Oh. It’s because he’s meeting my husband at the Playground so they can figure out how to get rid of the creep who thinks you’re his.”

I blink. “What?”

“I know, I know, you probably don’t want me to know about that. I promise, it won’t get past me and Link. Well, Case, too, but he’s not listening. Right, Case?”

“Right, Ava,” he calls back.

My legs are shaky. I’m already not the best in heels, this dress was a much better idea earlier this evening, and I think the shock of seeing Kieran has finally worn off. No surprise when I stumble, then drop down on the couch.

Ava pats my hand. “Don’t worry. All of this organized crime was stuff for me to get used to in the beginning, too. But it gets better.”

Yeah.

I wish I could believe that, too.

EIGHTEEN

HEATHER VALIANT

ROYCE

The building attached to the Devil’s Playground is Sinners Syndicate property. From the outside, it looks like it could belong to an everyday, ordinary office. It has plenty of space, even a few cubicles we don’t use, and a conference room we do use for our meets.

One of the largest offices we own belongs to Tanner Fielding, our resident tech whiz. With screens everywhere, more keyboards than any guy could need, and—because this is Tanner—a hammock hanging in one corner, it’s his home away from home… and the spot where Link and I meet him.

I had to involve my boss. For one thing, I had to make sure that jumping to murder wasn’t me being hasty—because that’s what I want to do. After hearing Nicolette tell me who that bastard really was, I wanted to kill him.

But that takes me to the other thing.

Kieran Alfieri. The moment she gave me that name, it triggered something. It was familiar in a hazy sort of way, and I texted Link about it on my drive back to Springfield. He confirmed what I suspected: I’d heard that name before because Alfieri is a Dragonfly.

Abso-fucking-lutely wonderful.

That shouldn’t stop me. I mean, we’re all criminals here. But there’s being a mobster, and being a goddamn pedophile. Nineteen-year-old guys shouldn’t be molesting fourteen-year-olds, the same way as a twenty-one-year-old shouldn’t have a sixteen-year-old girlfriend. It’s as simple as that. Add that to the fact that Nicolette made it clear that he abused her in more ways than one and I should just arrange his murder.

But he’s a Dragonfly, we’re in a fucking truce, and that makes things more difficult.

That’s where Tanner comes in.

Before I hired Nicolette on at the Playground, Tanner ran her. At some level, anyone who hopes to work for the syndicate has to go through our version of a background check. We have to make sure that we know who we’re letting into our organization. It didn’t matter that she was slinging drinks at our club. If you work at one of our properties, you’re an honorary Sinner.

It’s a cursory search, though, checking for ties to other syndicates. The blood test checks for any diseases. That’s imperative when our wallets expect a certain standard for the girls who entertain them upstairs, and while Nicolette assured me she wouldn’t want to rent a bed to increase her pay, that, too, was standard.

Nothing flagged on her end, and Tanner explains why when I walk into his office to find him and Link waiting for me.

Because Nicolette told me during her interview that she used to live in Springfield, moved to Willowbrook for a handful of years, then came back, the search didn’t dig too deep. Tanner only went as far back as her mother’s most recent ex-husband—not the four others, including one David Alfieri, and his son, Kieran.

Now that we know what to look for, though, I pace around the room, listening as Tanner discovers what he’s learned about Nicolette’s smarmy ex.

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