Page 91 of The Hangman's Rope

He chuckled and tilted his head, saying, “Name of the game when you’re rubbing elbows with the ultra-rich.”

“I suppose,” I said with a smirk. “You make it sound like you’re not one of the elites.” I looked around, trying to gauge in what capacity he might be here. He was certainly dressed the part, but he was talking like he wasn’t the one holding the reins. Still, if he was just the staff? Well, insert a low whistle here…

“I’m not,” he said with a bit of a shrug. “If I had to hazard a guess, you aren’t either.”

“Oh?” I asked smoothly. “Why would you say that?”

The door opened to the restroom and a gent stepped out and, with a polite nod, went past us. Dude looked past me at whoever had walked up on my six and said, “Ladies first.”

I glanced and Lainey smiled brightly and said, “Thank you!” before giving me a polite nod and slipping past both me and the mystery man and closing the door.

“Mm.” He gave his head a little shake and looked after Lainey like she was a prime cut of meat. “I was saying?” he asked.

I chuckled, on cue, just another red-blooded American male – locker room style, like he hadn’t just disrespected one of my brother’s girls by looking at her the way he just had and I kept alid on things. “You were just about to tell me what gave me away as not being one of the rich fucks wandering through this house,” I reminded him.

He laughed mirthlessly. “I would say you’re on my level. A foot soldier,” he said, raking me with his gaze. “You carry yourself like prior military.”

“Guilty,” I said. He nodded.

“I thought so…” the conversation turned to the typical bullshit – what branch? How many tours? MOS, that type of shit.

Turns out he was Army at one point, and he was here with the Mancini family – protection detail.

Interesting.

Lainey came out of the restroom and said, “Thank you again, so much!”

“Of course,” he said, taking her hand and kissing the back while she blushed furiously. He let her go and went into the pisser, closing the door and Lainey’s face dropped – customer service and polite smile vanishing in an instant. She made significant eye contact with me and then looked across the room. I followed her eye to my Lorelai, standing by Reaper who was trying to pry her hand open around the shattered champagne flute in it. Blood dripped down her arm and her eyes were both wide and haunted. Terrified and far away with that thousand-yard stare that had become so familiar for me.

I looked from Lore to Lainey, from Lainey to Lore and as I looked back to Lainey realized Lainey stared fixedly at the bathroom door where my new friend had just disappeared into.

A calm settled over me. The kind of calm where all sound just dropped, ceased to exist, and I went into that place deep inside myself where nothing lived. Where it was quiet and still in a way that for anyone on the outside meant trouble.

My target had just been locked.

“Get me any one of the boys and then go see to Lorelai,” I ordered her. She didn’t hesitate, just gave me a crisp nod and off she went, beelining to Lorelai to turn her away and lead her into the kitchen jerking her head in my direction at Reaper.

Reaper made eye contact with me and started moving in my direction through the crowd, like a shark gliding through the currents. The vibe suddenly changing around him, people subtly moving out of his way without knowing the reason why or that they even did it.

I saw Grim catch Reap moving with purpose this way and he broke off from the knot of people he’d been standing with and made his way this way. Reaper got to me and I said, “The dick in the shitter. Keep him busy.”

Reaper nodded just in time for the door lock to sound as it was thrown back and we both got our game faces on in the nick of time, just before the door opened.

“…Army he was telling me,” I said and the man of the hour stepped out.

“Oh yeah?” Reaper smiled and it was an infectious thing.

I smiled back and said, “Yeah. Speak of the devil – sorry, man. I didn’t get your name, but I’d like you to meet Sam here.”

“Hey, Sam. Cal, Cal Pierce,” the man said and stuck out his hand to shake Reaper’s. “You on protection detail too?”

Reaper’s smile grew. “Absolutely,” he said. “We’re all just living that body guard life…”

I stepped into the bathroom and threw the lock, bracing my hands on the edges of the pedestal sink as my body both sagged with relief and tensed with a fiery and incendiaryrage.

Game, set, match, motherfucker…I thought venomously at my reflection. Taking a moment to get it together and myself under control.

Chapter Twenty-Six

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