Page 18 of Hard Wired

The subject of money irked Dominic even more. “Do I have to remind you what—”

“Yeah, yeah, what I owe you. I was only kidding. I’ll send Sylvie out again to look at the system.”

Dominic felt his jaw tighten. “Not Sylvie. Someone else.”

“You’re not a fan of my Sylvie? But she’s my—”

“Your best. Yeah, I’ve got it. But she’s the one who screwed up the install.”

“I highly doubt that. Whatever the problem is, Sylvie will sort it out.”

He thought of Sylvie’s soft mouth. How much he’d wanted to feel those lips against his. Then her sharp voice repeated the accusation in his head: murderer.

“Maybe I just want to save her some embarrassment. She’s into me, and I turned her down.”

Max didn’t hide his laughter, though he didn’t specify which part he found so funny. “Right. I’ll tell her to swing by.” He seemed like he was about to end the call.

“Wait, there’s more.” Dominic paced across the room, passing by his mom’s grand piano. “I was wondering about hiring a bodyguard for someone. My younger brother.”

“Oh?” Max’s tone was all seriousness. “What’s going on?”

Dominic considered how much he should reveal. Max was not actually his friend. The man disliked him and hadn’t made any secret of the fact.

Yet Max Bennett was one of the few people in the world willing to help him right now, even begrudgingly. Dominic had a feeling he and Max might have a few things in common, if they could ever get past the roles they’d been assigned.

“You’ll probably hear about this from your law enforcement contacts soon enough. The Syndicate has a new leader: Charles Traynor. My uncle.”

“And I’m guessing from your tone this is bad?”

“That depends on your perspective. But this might be one of the few times you and I will agree on something.”

“What does that have to do with your brother?”

“I’d rather not spell it out. I don’t even know who might be listening to this phone call or who might repeat what I say. But my kid brother, Raymond, he’s in college right now. He has nothing to do with any of this. And I’d like it to stay that way.”

“I can send you over some details on our personal protection services. Things can get a little complicated if your brother doesn’t actually want protection, though. Believe me, I’ve been through that sort of thing before.”

“I’m not sure yet.” Dominic figured he needed to have a serious conversation with Raymond. But he also didn’t want to freak his brother out. “But there’s another issue. My finances are tight at the moment. Very tight.”

“I’m sure we can work something out. Just look over the info I send you and have a chat with your brother. Then let me know what you have in mind.”

“Thank you, Bennett.” Dominic didn’t speak with utter sincerity to someone like Max very often. But this, he truly meant.

“Don’t mention it.”

The rest of the day, Dominic kept listening for the door, wondering when Sylvie might arrive. But she didn’t show.

By the time night rolled around, he was so wired he couldn’t even lie down, much less fall asleep. Dominic just kept staring at the security panels, sometimes the one by the front door, sometimes the one upstairs. Watching the status shift from off to on and back again. Wondering if Sandford would keep his word and give him time. Or if Uncle Charles was plotting, even now, to finally take him out.

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