Page 61 of Wicked Oath
“Come on, boss,” some other guy says. “Let the lady look. She’s too pretty to turn away.”
My stomach coils at the smarmy way the man talks. Lucy, hurry up and stay safe.
“Fine,” James mutters after a few seconds go by. “You can look. But be quick about it. And you. Leave the lady alone.” He must have said that to one of his men because the other guy grumbles.
Whew. I let out a breath. I know James is a good man, despite his keeping secrets. He won’t let Lucy get hurt even if he doesn’t know she’s my friend.
I can hear Lucy’s footsteps as she hurries over to the booth, and the sound of scrambling against the leather seats fills my ear. Finally, Lucy says, “Oh, found it! Thanks.” I hear her footsteps recede, which means she must have dropped the phone in the booth. Now, all I can do is pray that James doesn’t find it.
Lucy comes out of the door a moment later and hurries to the car. The minute she’s inside, I drive away down the street in case James comes outside.
“You did good,” I tell her.
She beams. “I aim to please.”
I pull my phone closer to listen as the men begin speaking, their voices coming through the phone’s speaker.
“Girl was hot. I’ll give her that,” some guy says. Lucy smiles wide, and I just shake my head.
“Gentleman, we need to focus,” James snaps. “Since this was your idea to continue, I’d appreciate it if you could give me your full attention.”
“Sure thing, boss. So, when’s it all going down?”
“Tomorrow night. Patrick is sending Owen to pick up the biggest drug shipment they’ve ever had, but we’ll get to it first. Jacob, despite how fucking annoying you are, it’s up to you to grab the stash and get out of there without being seen. I don’t want Patrick to know how this happened. He cannot know this is tied to me, understand? And once we’re done with this, we’re finished for good. Understand?”
A series of agreements echoes through the room.
I look at Lucy in confusion. Why is James targeting my dad’s supplies? Then it all comes back to me. The day we visited his mom, she mentioned that my dad screwed over James’ dad. James brushed it off, but now I can see maybe it wasn’t all blasé like James tried to make it out to be. He wants revenge on my dad by hurting his business.
But could it be more? Will he try to kill my dad?
I can barely stomach the thought. I thought I knew James, but now, I’m wondering if he’s been keeping secrets from the beginning of our marriage. Just the thought makes me want to curl into a ball and cry my eyes out for the rest of my life.
“We don’t want a repeat of the fire incident,” James continues. “Do not get caught on camera. And wear a damn mask, for fuck’s sake.”
And there is it. Confirmation that he was a part of the fire at my father’s warehouse.
Even though it hurts that James backstabbed my dad, it hurts even more to know that Owen was right. My brother doubted James from the get-go. Maybe I should have listened.
But then I think about all the good times James and I shared and how none of that could have been a lie … could it? Did James fake his feelings for me to get close to my dad and hurt his business?
Lucy places a hand on my arm. “Are you ok?” she whispers.
I shake my head as tears begin to slip down my eyes and cheeks.
I strain my ears to listen for more, but the men turn to talking about how hot Lucy is, and I don’t hear anything more from James.
I snap the phone shut. “So James is planning something. The only problem is I don’t know where.”
“He said it was tomorrow night. I’m sure your dad knows where the shipment is coming in. You should tell him, so he can stop James from attacking it.”
“But then my dad could get harmed!”
“Your dad has been in this business all his life. He’s led other men for years. He can handle himself, and you know it. Olivia, you need to tell him.”
“But then James could die,” I whisper.
Lucy clucks her tongue in sympathy. “I know you care for him.”
