Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(76)

His threats about Greenwich unnerve me. How he connected me to the Dillinger name. But it’s the unknown that worries me even more. It’s not like Samantha was exactly forthcoming with me about what happened that last night.

But I remember the snippets from my dream the other night. The bag of jewelry and cash that she said was his payoff. The speckles of blood on her shirt that she later told me was from a nosebleed she’d gotten after he’d slapped her while in a drunken state.

And then I remember the details that have always been there. Stealing away in the dead of night to the Greyhound station and the promise she forced me to make: to never look back at Greenwich or him. That if I searched anywhere for him on technology, he’d find us.

Are the Dillingers looking for us now? Did Samantha lie to me? Did she steal the valuables, and the police have been looking for us since that night?

Or is it something more nefarious than that?

A chill chases down my spine, and all the while I know damn well that whatever Samantha did that night, she had to. Knowing what I know now, she had to.

Is that what Carter Preston is alluding to?

But if that’s the case—if we’re technically fugitives—then why haven’t the authorities found us? It’s not like we’ve been in hiding.

I sigh and just sit in the silence as I try to rationalize my way through each and every scenario.

The tears fall without me ever realizing it. Salt on my lips, wetness on my eyelashes, fear in my heart.

It takes everything I have not to call Ryker. Carter’s threat is more real to me now than it has ever been. I pick up the phone and begin to dial him more times than I care to count during the hour I sit numb to everything.

It takes even more to get ready for work, one methodical step at a time.

And even more so, it takes everything I have not to want to pick up and leave without a trace.

But there’s Lucy.

And Ryker.

The only two people I have ever loved in my life besides my mom and Samantha.

The only two people I’ve ever needed and allowed to need me in return.

I can’t leave them.





CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Vaughn

I put the finishing touches on my makeup and wig. It’s weird to don these clothes, this personality, when it feels like I’ve become such a different person over the past few months.

Madam Vee feels like a ruse more than ever before. Sure, the money is coming in faster now, but it’s like I’m selling my soul for it.

That’s not a good place to be.

Add to that Carter tonight. His ultimatums owned my thoughts during my entire shift. Ahmed even noticed something was off, and I let him assume I’d had a tiff with Ryker.

And when I stare in the mirror of the hotel room I rented after work to make my transformation to Vee, I see everything I hope my potential client, Noah, doesn’t. Uncertainty instead of resolve. Fear where there should be strength. A lack of identity when I should own the red lipstick and perfectly stylish ensemble, complete with sky-high heels.

My phone alerts a text, and I force myself to ignore it. I can’t talk to Ryker right now. I need to get through this appointment—the man I’ve blown off more times than is professional—and then I can break down.

And then I can be weak.

And then I can ask Ryker what I should do.

“Get it together, Vaughn,” I mutter to myself as I check for lipstick on my teeth before lifting my head high and walking from the room.

The lobby bar isn’t crowded, but it’s New York City at ten o’clock on a Thursday night, so it isn’t exactly dead either. I’m not immune to the glances that shift my way, the nudges between men as they debate whether to approach me or not, but I make sure to stare at them with my resting bitch face to let them know I’m nowhere near interested.

A man slides next to me at the bar on my left. A few moments later another on my right. I catch the eye of the man to my right and offer a smile. His hair is reddish brown, his freckles prevalent.

“A gin and tonic, please. Bombay Sapphire,” the man to my left says, pulling my attention to the phrase we’d agreed upon over the phone. The one that lets me know he is the man I am supposed to be meeting.

“Noah?” My voice is throaty, my smile warm as I turn to face him. He has dark hair with a subtle wave to it and killer gray eyes highlighted by his light-brown skin tone.

His eyes flicker to the other patrons of the bar, and his fingers fidget on the glass that is pushed in front of him before he finally turns to face me. “Vee?”

“Mmm.” I in turn take my own sweep of the bar crowd, looking for anyone who gives me bad vibes, fooling myself into believing that I’d know a cop or a setup if I saw one. “Would you like to head somewhere a little more private to discuss what needs to be discussed?”

He takes a sip of his drink and nods slowly. “Yes, I would.” He slides two twenties across the bar to pay our tab without ever asking the total. “There’s a sitting area in the lobby, just to the other side of the elevator banks. It’s private. We can talk there.”

I lick my lips and nod. I’d prefer to stay where we are, but he’s explained to me how crowds unnerve him, so I oblige.

We move from our spot at the bar, and Noah places his hand on the inside of my elbow as if we’re a couple and he’s escorting me on our date. Nothing out of the ordinary. Laughter echoes across the lobby and accompanies the click of my heels on the tiles.