Page 61 of Bourbon and Secrets

“Rosie, Rosie,” he taunts. “You are a naughty girl. I have a room filled with very important people and you want me to play with you, is that it?”

Fuck. I don’t know how I’m getting out of this.

I play the part and offer a coy smile. “I know your auction is just about to start, but I was feeling”—I let out a sigh—“like it might be fun to play.” Giving him a teasing look I’ve mastered, I move to step around him, but he steps in front of me, stopping me.

He draws his finger up my arm as he says, “Did you see all of those men salivating over you out there? Does that turn you on?”

Normally, yes. When I’m on stage and in control. But not while I’m doing this job. Not right now.

“You’re mine, aren’t you, Rosie?” he says as his hand moves to my waist.

I swallow and nod as his fingers skate up my arm, along my shoulder, and across my collarbone. My skin crawls everywhere he touches, and I’m mentally preparing myself to either kiss or punch this man if it comes down to it.

“Sir?” one of the security guards interrupts from the doorway.

“Not now,” Blackstone calls back as he stares blatantly at my cleavage. Gross.

When I glance at the security guard and look at his perfectly coiffed hair and mutton chops, I pause. It’s the same tight-faced scowl that greeted me at the Fiasco police station the morning I bailed out Maggie. A sense of relief watches over me. I didn’t think he was FBI.

The “security guard” removes a toothpick from his mouth when he says, “Sir, the auction room is filling up, and I was told your assistance was needed for a misunderstanding on a silent bid.”

Blackstone looks at me and tips up my chin. “You stay right here. I’d like to play before the night really begins.”

I smile and nod, trying to keep my body from recoiling at the promise.

He turns and brushes past the undercover security officer. “Let’s go, then. Where exactly am I being requested?”

The security guard glances at me again, without saying anything more, before he follows Blackstone down the hall. It looks like Cortez had my back, after all. But I have no interest in waiting for him to return. I need to get out of here. I’ll deal with the fallout of this decision later.

I didn’t find anything in that office except an almost sexual assault. I’m done. Whatever Blackstone is curating for his clients and these private auctions isn’t what the FBI wants. He’s not the target, one of his guests is. They’re going to use him as a source. Or as a pawn, at the very least, to hit someone more important.

As I turn back down the hall for the double doors that lead to what looks like a terrace, I try to guess how far the valet parking is from here. I don’t register the click of a zippo lighter closingand clipped notes of a low whistle, until the eerie tune of it catches my attention, and my head whips in that direction.

“You went in an interesting direction, girlie. Burlesque?”

I stop short at the unexpected voice. Its southern drawl is so similar to one that had tricked my mother into believing he’d loved her. Yet the timbre of Waz King’s voice is slightly more grating on my nerves than his brother Tullis’s was.

Straightening my shoulders back, I ignore the question and move along the walkway, heading directly to the front of the estate, where the black car service that brought me here awaits. He follows me in a slow shuffle that’s as irritating as his sly smile.

“Where ya goin’? Thought you were one of the goodies up for auction tonight.”

I shudder at the thought.

“Just need some fresh air,” I say as a sweep of cold air pricks at my skin and flutters my already short dress even higher. I hold it down with one hand, the other already full with my small bag and phone. There’s no time to stop and get my coat. In the front pocket, there’s a small knife disguised as a house key. And with a jolt, I realize my karambit is still on Blackstone’s desk.Fuck. I feel around the side of my glittered clutch. In its hidden pocket is a palm-sized stun-gun with just enough charge. I let out a small breath of relief. It won’t do much, but it’ll buy me some time to run if I need it.

“Faye, Faye, Faye,” he tsks, unrelenting. “This is a very...interesting place to find you.” Walking alongside me, he peers behind me to look at my ass.

A shiver of disgust runs through me when I stop mid-step, and with as much attitude as I can muster, tell him, “I’m simply existing here, Waz. Just like you.”

But he ignores my words and drags his eyes down my front. “Heard you were back in town. Maggie mentioned you weredancing at Midnight Proof. I’d wanted to see it for myself, but Hadley doesn’t like her father’s associates near her place of business. Might need to find a way to sneak in and catch a show...”

“I doubt my sister would be talking about me at all, never mind telling you details about what I’m doing back in Fiasco.”

He hums to himself, like he’s got a secret he’s just dying to share. “There’s plenty you don’t know about your sister. Starting with the fact that she owes me a bit of money...among other things. And I’m expecting her to deliver.”

When I left, Waz had been training horses. It was Tullis who had shifted focus from training to overseeing the entire team and logistics for Finch & Kings. They’d apparently dropped the ‘s’ once Tullis was out of the picture. But after hearing this, confirming that he speaks with my sister and she has been working with him, I have a gut-wrenching feeling I’m talking to the person who beat her up before she was arrested. Suppressing a shiver, I clear my throat. “You should take that up with her, then. Not me.”

“Already have. Made sure she heard me loud and clear.”

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