Page 196 of Chandelier Sin
“You’re putting A.J. in even more danger.”
That made him flinch. “He came to me.”
“I get that.”
“What kind of danger?”
“Look, I work for his sister. That’s all you need to know.”
“And where’s she?”
“Off the grid.”
“What else do you know?”
“You’re wondering why you haven’t heard from A.J., right?”
“How do I know you’re not the threat?”
I tried to reason with him. “If I were the enemy, I’d be more guarded.”
“Go on.”
“We’ll help you with your story. When the time is right.”
“We?”
He squinted at something over my shoulder. I pivoted to see a black town car approaching.
The vehicle parked at the side of the road.
Lance Merrill climbed out of the backseat and walked fast along the boardwalk, heading toward his yacht, I assumed.
Asshole.
The thought of him hurting A.J. made my skin crawl. I wasn’t made for this kind of work at all. I could be dialed in when things became intense, but covert operations weren’t my thing.
Dean stepped forward, clearly intrigued. “I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to find that guy.”
I remained where I stood, feeling pissed that I’d failed to dissuade Dean from making contact.
He was already striding toward Lance.
There came an exchange—the unfriendly kind.
Lance made a one-eighty and walked back toward his car with Dean in tow, keeping pace and firing off questions. Dean looked like a man with no fucks left to give, harassing Lance relentlessly.
Then I saw it. Another town car was gliding toward them like a shark in the water.
Walking quickly, I made my way toward them with no real plan, just hoping to somehow warn him they had company.
“Hey,” I called over.
The last time I’d been in the same room as Lance, I’d stolenhis chance to be with Eve. I’m sure he was still peeved about that, despite the reward offered. The fucker had me driven off the road. Nothing was good about us meeting outside of Pendulum—or inside it, for that matter.
“Sinclair?” Lance looked surprised to see me. “That Board seat isn’t yours to give away.”
“Ah,” I said. “My bad.”
