RaineyWith one glance at Michael, my entire body shivered. Nerves twisted in my stomach and at that moment I wanted more than anything to crawl under the bar and stay there the rest of the night.Tessa dragged me onto the dance floor, and I turned away from the VIP rooms in case he looked down. I pushed my hair down to shade my face from view.I waited a few seconds and then glanced over my shoulder. I was on high alert and ready to whip back around if he saw me.Instead, his focus was on his brother and Natalia.He shook hands with his brother, and he embraced her. Then she backed away and gave him two air kisses. Then they burst out laughing.I narrowed my eyes. What was that about?They went further back into the room and sat. From that angle, I could only make out the tops of their heads. I wondered what kind of business was going on. Michael clearly hadn’t been lying about meeting his brother. But why was she there all of a sudden? It seemed too coincidental to me. She arrived i
MichaelI spotted Rainey by the bar the moment I arrived. I had a feeling she’d be at the club tonight, especially because she feigned interest in the conversation I’d had with Frederick earlier. I knew she was still suspicious of me, so I wanted nothing more than to prove her wrong when I got the chance.I forced myself not to look down at the dance floor. I wanted Rainey to see me first, then think she had the upper hand. I’d make my move after I got the information from Frederick.Natalia was already there when I arrived. Frederick had a sixth sense about her ever since we were kids. The two of them flirted incessantly, and I frequently felt uncomfortable around them, feeling as if I were a third wheel most of the time. I had been in the brief time they dated in their twenties. Thankfully the breakup was mutual, and we all remained good friends.Natalia and Fredrick were speaking to each other; their faces were close together. I hoped I wasn’t interrupting anything.“Fredrick,” I s
Michael“Shit, Fredrick! This was supposed to be taken care of,” I said. “What did Demetri say?”“Nothing.”“Nothing?”“I told him everything my contacts told me, everything I just told you. He said he’d get back to me.”I stood up and tugged my fingers through my hair. It must be nice for Demetri being in Chicago when we were here dealing with this shit storm. It was only a matter of time before those men came to me for some clarity. I could deter them but then they’d come for Frederick, and as much as I loved him, he wasn’t great under pressure. And if any of us left town, that would be a clear indicator of our involvement.“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I said, trying to wrap my head around this. We’d never been this close to getting caught before. And it wasn’t the police. It was some rogue investor who was out for blood because of his dealings.“I know, man,” Frederick said in an attempt to calm me down.I wanted to wallow in this for a little while. For some reason, I had a c
RaineyThe next morning, the sound of Tanner calling for me woke me from a dead sleep. Years after he was born, I always swore I heard him calling me in the middle of the night even when he was in his bed, fast asleep.I sat up, and my heart was racing. Then I felt it. A throbbing pain radiated in the front of my forehead, deep inside my brain.I glanced at the clock. It was a few minutes before my alarm.I groaned and pressed the heels of my hands against my head. I was never drinking again. The beers should have been enough, but Tessa insisted we had shots too.“Mommy!” Tanner cried.“Coming!” I called back. I rolled off the bed and realized I was still wearing the shirt from last night. My pants were crumpled pile on the floor. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with Tanner, so I threw on my robe and jogged out to the hallway toward his room.“What’s going on, honey?” I asked, coming into his room. The walls tilted at a strange angle, and I grabbed onto the dresser to steady myself. It w
RaineyI pulled off my robe and let it fall to the floor. My headache was still there, but the aspirin had taken the edge off. I wanted to be clear and present to take care of Tanner, so I went into the bathroom and downed several Dixie cups worth of water, drowning my hangover and hoping it helped with my dehydration.I settled into bed, pulling my comforter around me in a little cocoon when my cell phone rang. I might have blamed Killian for his tendency to interrupt me at the worse moments, but it wasn’t his ring tone.I grabbed my phone and saw Michael’s name on the screen.I groaned. Was he going to berate me again about pretending to be sick?“Hello?” I said into the phone with the sickest voice I could muster.“Rainey, I hope I didn’t wake you,” Michael said.I tried to determine if he was teasing or being serious. “No, you didn’t.” He’d only called ten minutes ago. I supposed if I was as sick as I sounded then I might have flopped back over into bed. Why was he checking up on
MichaelAfter getting off the phone with Rainey, I was unable to complete any tasks while waiting for her to get to the office. My mind was distracted with questions about the night before. Who was that guy she was with? Had she pulled an all-nighter at the guy’s place and had to miss work because he wanted round two? I’d seen the punk around the club before since he used to work the bar. She deserved better than trash like that. She deserved a real man who could take care of her with all the money in the world.I pushed the half-eaten bagel sandwich across my desk. I wasn’t hungry anymore. In fact, my stomach churned thinking about her with anyone else.The food stared back at me, so I removed the waste basket from under my desk and threw everything inside. I sipped on my coffee, which was now cold. I threw that in the basket too.I drummed my fingers on my desk and watched each second tick down on the clock.It wasn’t until I heard Rainey’s voice outside my office that I snapped ba
Michael“Do you often golf in the winter?” Harper asked.“I don’t make it a habit, but if my client suggests it, then I aim to please.”Willis nodded and wrote something down on the tablet.“Were we trespassing?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. I wanted them to hurry along so I could get on with my day. And I needed to warn Frederick and Demetri that the cops were now involved in their investigation. Had someone alerted the police to foul play? Was it the same guy that sent his thugs to Natalia’s?“No,” Harper said. “We’re creating a timeline of the whereabouts of Sal Rossi over the last few weeks.”“Did you see anyone suspicious at the country club?” Willis asked.I shrugged. “It was early in the morning. I didn't see anyone on the course except for us.”Willis didn’t skip a beat with his next question. “And where else did you meet him since then?”I went to my calendar and listed off the lunches and meetings Sal and I had shared together. There weren’t many, so I hoped the d
RaineyI stared at the closed door in front of my face. Did Michael think he could get rid of me that easily? By avoiding me, he was confirming his guilt. At least in my eyes.I opened the door to his office and pushed through. I would get answers from him. I needed to know who I was working for, especially if it would involve my son at some point. If I was in any danger, I wanted out as soon as possible. I’d find another job.“I don’t like the way you're pushing me away,” I said. “We’re supposed to be a team, and ever since I started working for you, you’ve been hiding things from me.”Michael stood by the windows. “I figured you wanted to get back home as soon as you could since you aren’t feeling well. Anyway, this doesn’t concern you.”“I do want to get home,” I said, holding onto the excuse that I was sick. I wanted to get home to Tanner and take care of him like a good mother did. “But I also don’t think it’s right to keep me in the dark about all of this. I was involved with Sa