Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(68)

I snort because I don’t trust myself to speak in response. “What do you mean?”

“I was at an event. Lots of bigwigs. Lots of money. Lots of politicians. There was an ol’ boys’ conversation. Services like ours came up. The senator asked if I knew any good ones—kind of a lead-in, since later my date told me he’d already told Carter the company I work for. I wasn’t aware there was any history between you, or I wouldn’t have said anything to him about Wicked Ways.”

“What’d he say?” I ask.

“Just that you’re not what you seem. That you sleep with clients and steal them from your girls.” She’s guarded when she speaks, and I can tell she’s trying to feel me out from my answer alone.

“So in other words, he’s trying to cause trouble for me. Trying to rile up my troops with lies and turn them against me?”

Christ. I roll my shoulders and have to tell myself to relax the clench of my jaw.

“Either that or he’s forcing your hand to confront him. Some men get off on the power play of shit like this.”

“Lucky me,” I murmur, but I know she’s right. He’s playing a game right now. One I can’t afford to engage in—or lose.

“Sorry to be the one to tell you, but I thought you should know.”

Silence hangs on the line, and then I realize I never officially answered the question for her.

“I met with a client to discuss a replacement girl for him when the one he chose couldn’t meet his needs. The client and I hit it off. We’ve gone on a few dates. I can see how it could be perceived as stealing clients from my girls without all the facts,” I lie, omitting the money he transferred to my account in the early days. “But it wasn’t anything like that.”

“Thank you for telling me,” she says, and I can only hope she believes me. Otherwise, the shitstorm that Carter is trying to stir up will be working.

“Anytime. What else? You said there were a few things.”

“I have a nervous Nellie,” she says, our term for a client who keeps scheduling and then canceling. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Name?”

“Noah B.”

“Shit,” I groan. “That’s my fault. I had to cancel our meeting the other night at the last minute.”

The other night? That was over a week ago. And of course my mind veers back to the town car ride. To Ryker’s mouth between my thighs and the magic of his tongue. To the emotion in his eyes as he looked up at me, face framed by my thighs.

I think of Noah’s voice mail that I forgot to respond to because I was preoccupied with everything else.

You’re dropping balls left and right here, Vaughn.

“I’ll handle it. I’ll call him the minute we hang up.”

The quickest way for a girl to turn on you is if you mess with her ability to make money. My lack of response to Noah did just that.

“Thanks, Vee. He’s willing to pay. He just needs to show up.”

“I hear you. Like I said, I’ll get on it right now.”

I end the call and click on my computer to get his contact information. In less than a few minutes, I have a meeting set up with Noah and have offered numerous reassurances to him.

The rest of the day flies by, and as I do my weekly check-ins with my girls, I’m not surprised to find a few of them have heard the same gist from either the senator himself or another girl asking about it.

My first line of defense is to give the same explanation I gave to Ivy.

My second is to worry how Carter was able to get in touch with so many of my girls. One is too many.

The safety net I thought I’d built around this business seems not to be as secure as I once thought it was. Either that or he’s digging through my electronic footprint somehow so that he knows how to contact them.

All of it is troubling.

Then I think of my day planner on my desk. Of my thoughts a few weeks before that someone had been going through my office.

You’re drawing conclusions out of fear, Vaughn. Get a grip.

With my head in my hands and a deep sigh, I look up when I get a new email.

“It’s almost as if she knew,” I murmur to myself when I look at the message I just received from Ella. Yet another check-in to see if I’m ready and willing to discuss selling my book of business to her.

I stare at the screen until my eyes blur. Tell her yes. Tell her no. Financial security versus insecurity. Keeping myself vulnerable to the illegalities of this business versus stepping away from the constant worry of being caught.

I sigh with a shake of my head. The offer to sell is so tempting, but the price she’d pay for my book of clients isn’t nearly enough to cover my outlying debts. The plan was to sell in a year’s time. To build and bolster and grow my reputation so this is all worth more.

If I sell now, I won’t completely pay off my debts. Will paying off a large chunk be enough for Priscilla? Because the tips at Apropos simply aren’t enough to live off while repaying the remaining balances.

But selling it would make you safer. It would give you a chance to have a future where you’re not constantly looking over your shoulder.

For the first time since she began contacting me, I reply back with a message other than no.

Hi Ella,

Thank you for your message and persistence. I think I’m closer to talking than I’ve ever been. I need to figure out a few details and have a bit of time to wrap my head around it all, though. I’ll be in touch in the next few weeks to set up a meeting with you.