Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(36)

“Us meeting in private like two lovers? I agree. It has to stop.” He smiles like a picture of innocence, and my hand tightens on my glass in reaction.

“Leave Vaughn alone.”

Carter takes his time sipping his bourbon, rolls it around on his tongue, and then sets his glass down before leaning back and staring at me. “Ah, so you are falling for the whore. How cute is that? The elusive Ryker Lockhart falling for the indiscriminate Vaughn Sanders.” He shakes his head after a beat and laughs. “I knew she couldn’t keep a secret. Loose lips in both places, apparently.”

I fist my hands and clench my teeth and refuse to take the bait he’s throwing out for me. “Just a personal PSA is all.” I shrug.

Carter part smiles, part laughs. “She has no idea you’re here talking to me, does she? What? Did she threaten to hold out if you did? Such a rebel, Lockhart. Risking the pussy to defend her honor. No worries—your secret is safe with me.”

“My secret? Nah, more like I’m trying to make sure both of our asses are protected. She does have shit on you, Carter. I get being a politician and all you’re used to people having dirt, but hers . . . ,” I say with a lift of my eyebrows that tells him to figure out how bad it is for himself.

“The log she has means shit,” he says dismissively. “The pictures will burn themselves out.”

The log? Pictures? I slide a look at him over the rim of the glass when I take a drink.

“That’s your business. Not mine,” I say with a shrug. “If what she has on you is meaningless, then why are you still pursuing her?”

The slight stall of his glass to his lips tells me he’s bluffing.

“She must be one magical paid fuck for you to risk losing your career over,” Carter murmurs, stare unrelenting, smirk taunting. “Screwing a woman—defending her—when you don’t know the truth about her isn’t exactly the smartest thing, now is it? You’d think a lawyer such as yourself would be a little more careful with his reputation.”

“And you’d think a senator would have stronger morals,” I counter with a lift of my brows, but I have no fucking clue what he’s talking about other than her owning Wicked Ways.

His laugh carries over the rest of the chatter in the bar, and a few people glance our way. “I see what you did here. Trendy place on the opposite side of town. A little crowded. A spot up front at the bar. Public but private. No one will think twice about the two executives in suits having a tense conversation.”

“Stop with the bullshit. The standing in front of her house in the middle of the night. The threats about risking Lucy’s adoption. The intimidation. That might work in your fights on the Senate floor, but it doesn’t play well here.”

“Stop or else what? You’re going to make sure my wife takes me to the cleaners? Oh, I’m scared.”

“This has nothing to do with your wife.”

“You’re fucking her too, then?”

“I don’t sleep with clients.”

“Apparently Vaughn does,” he says and then tsks when I shift in my chair, my fist clenched as I bite my tongue. In our last conversation, I basically confirmed that Vaughn is Vee. There’s not a chance in hell I’m going to make that mistake again. Stupid, because Carter already knows it, but I’ve learned my lesson. “It’d be a shame for you to take a swing at me right now. My security detail is a little bored as of late and might be a little too eager to take care of you. Besides, there are too many connections between us right now, so you don’t want to risk being noticed.”

“It just might be worth it.” I meet his glare and lift an eyebrow in a taunt. The tension thickens as I wait for him to make the next move.

It’s his call. Ramp this down, or take the hit my fist is begging to throw.

“You know what, Lockhart? I’ll tell you the same thing I told your hired help.” He shakes his glass so the ice rattles.

“What’s that?”

“I’m not the best guy to threaten. While I’m sure your ego is large enough to think that a part of this has to do with me pursuing Vaughn to get back at you for screwing me over with Bianca, you’d be wrong. While I normally wouldn’t put it past me to be that vindictive, don’t think so highly of yourself that I care anything about you one way or another. If I want to get back at you, sure, I’d fuck her and take every ounce of pleasure hearing her cry out my name . . . but it’s easier than that. All I have to do is let Roxanne talk. Offer to pay my old friend what she’d stand to lose if that divorce settlement of hers is overturned due to her attorney’s misconduct. She’d be more than willing to throw you under the bus for that with the whole woman-scorned bit she’s playing. A few gossip mills later and your reputation will take a big hit over how you sleep with your clients’ wives and then go soft during negotiations against their favor. That would be payment enough.”

And Roxanne resurfaces once again . . . fucking cocksucker. If he’s trying to hit every please-break-my-nose-with-a-punch button, he’s more than succeeded. I shift in my seat to abate the urge and take in a deep breath.

Keep your focus, Ryk. While punching the hell out of him will make you feel better, it does nothing to get him to back the fuck off of Vaughn. De-escalate the situation.

“Vaughn’s off limits,” I grit out. “Not because you want to get back at me, but because she’s not someone you want to get tangled with. She goes down, you go down.”