42. Ethan
I take out two beers from the fridge, uncork a bottle of red wine, and set down a bottle of twenty-five-year-old Dalmore single malt and a tumbler on the kitchen island. Cassidy looks at all the alcohol with the same dazed look on her face as she had when she was examining the painting.
I can’t even bear to think about that right now.
“What’s this about a favor?” Myles asks as I pour him a glass of wine.
Smith Hutchinson, in his dark suit, accepts the tumbler of whiskey with a silent nod and goes to stand by the window. With his tall, slim body and dark suit, he could have been an emperor ruling over his land.
Rich takes a beer and goes to stare at the painting before taking a slow tour of the living area. He’s never been one to sit or stand still for long, especially after a line or two of coke.
Troy thanks me quietly for the beer and goes to stand with his back against the wall, keeping all exits in sight. With his military background, it’s second nature to him.
The Balmont Boys love scattering like this. Then it’s impossible monitoring all of them at once.
I grab Cassidy’s wrist and drag her to my side, slipping an arm around her waist to keep her close. “We need you to find someone for us.”
The moment Myles’s smile widens, I realize I chose the wrong words.
“Male? Female? Non-binary? Trans?”
Cassidy’s grip is a little tighter than before.
Myles chuckles. “Who am I kidding? I know what you like. Question is, do you want a trained professional, or someone you can break in? And is this an overnight thing, or a live-in situation?”
I quickly hold up a hand to cut off his delighted rambling.
“Cassidy’s mother is missing. Police ran out of leads months ago. Was practically a cold case until a few days ago when Cassidy found a new lead.”
Balmont’s smile fades. “You’re breaking my heart, Ethan. What’s going to take to bring you back into the fold, huh?” His voice drops. “I have this double-jointed little minx that just signed on. Most delectable ass you’ve ever?—”
Richards cuts in. “Disappeared as in ran away? Or disappeared as in snatched?”
Cassidy flinches against my side, but when I glance down at her, she has her face buried in her glass of wine. “That’s what we need your help with.”
He stares at Cassidy for a moment. “How’d you two meet?”
“I was the new lead.”
“You were involved with her mother?” Myles cocks an eyebrow. “Spill the tea.”
Cassidy is listening intently to our conversation, but she seems too nervous to speak. “Apparently, Rebecca Monroe had an appointment with me the night she disappeared.”
“What kind of appointment?” Myles asks snidely.
Cassidy looks up at me, frowning, and I have to force myself not to look at her.
There are things about me Cassidy doesn’t know, and I’m not about to give her a history lesson here in front of the Balmont Boys. They’d pull out the popcorn and be giant asses about it.
So I simply say, “I wasn’t even aware we had an appointment.”
“Can’t expect to keep track of every woman that crosses your path,” Rich says. He’s only trying to defend me, but I swear to God I’ve never wanted to punch someone so badly in my entire fucking life.
Cassidy frowns at Rich, but thankfully Myles picks up on the sudden tension in the room. He slides his arms onto the marble counter we’re clustered around, tapping a nail against the stem of his wineglass.
“When was this?” he asks.
“Six months ago,” Cassidy pipes up before I can speak.
He smiles at her and then turns that same smile on me. “We’ll look for Rebecca…but it’s going to cost you.”
“I know.”
Cassidy glances up at me, but I move the conversation along before she can ask questions. “It was good seeing you again, Myles.”
“Wait,” Cassidy says, tilting her head back to look up at me. “That’s it? Don’t you need more information?”
Myles waves away her concern. “Don’t worry, peaches, we’re the best there is. We’ll find everything we need to track down your mother. Although I’m not promising you’ll be spending Christmas morning opening presents with mommy, or anything like that.”
He glances over at me, mouth pursing for a moment.
“Sometimes people leave, and they don’t want to be found.”
There shouldn’t be anything left of my heart to break, but I swear his words shatter whatever measly crumbs Beck’s disappearance left behind. He swore to me he’d find her.
They all did.
And fuck, I believed them. Who knows? They might succeed with Rebecca where they failed with Becks.
Myles claps his hands, and both Cassidy and I flinch as we’re torn out of our dark thoughts. “Right! My turn.”
“Go to my room,” I tell Cassidy.
“What?” Her indignant bleat makes my face set like concrete.
“Now, Cassidy.”
Myles watches us like he hasn’t seen something this entertaining for weeks, sipping casually at his wine as his eyes sparkle with amusement.
He’s such a fucking psycho. They all are.
I reach down and grab Cassidy’s ass, squeezing her so hard that she gasps and shoots onto her toes to get away from my touch. Wine sloshes over her hand and splashes down onto the marble countertop before she hastily sets down her glass.
She flicks wine off her hand, gaping up at me with shock. “What the hell?”
“My room. Now,” I growl.
She lets out a petulant, “Ugh!” and storms off, throwing me a glare over her shoulder as she wipes the wine off on my white cable-knit sweater. I swear I hear her mutter, “Asshole!” just before she disappears from sight.
But she’s out of sight and earshot, and that’s all that matters right now. I’ll address her attitude later.
In private.
“Cute and feisty,” Rich says as he ambles back toward the island. “Can see why you like her.” I can never tell when he’s being sarcastic, not with that scar pulling up the side of his mouth.
I drag out a kitchen stool and position it so my back is against the wall, and I have a clear view of the hallway leading to the bedroom. I won’t put it past any of them to slip past and go pay Cassidy a visit while the others distract me. I saw the way they looked at her—like she was a little lamb that had wandered off from the rest of the flock.
“She’s mine.”
Rich lifts his hands. “Way too high maintenance for me.”
“We have a job for you,” Myles says. I open my mouth, but his hand is already up to cut me off. “Not only will we look for Cassidy’s mommy, but this one will net you a cool five hundred kay.”
My throat goes dry.
The most Myles ever paid me for a job was a hundred thousand.
“Jesus, what the hell are they expecting for that much?”
“Thought you weren’t interested,” Smith says from his place by the window.
“I’m not.” My eyes are still on Myles as he sips at his wine, looking annoyingly pleased with himself.
“How I see it, you don’t really have a choice,” he says.
Fuck. I knew I wouldn’t like the price he’d charge for Cassidy’s favor.
“A new client, or one of your regulars?”
Troy grunts like I said something funny, and I spare him a glare before facing Myles again. He takes his time answering, toying with his wineglass, adjusting the white silk handkerchief peeking from his breast pocket.
“Myles…” I growl.
“You remember Cordelia, don’t you?”
I exhale slowly through my nose.
Shit.
“Your favorite heiress got married a few months ago,” Myles continues.
“Again,” Troy adds.
Smith stalks closer, voice low, always reading the room. “She asked for you.”
“Of course she did,” I answer with a growl. “I’m not available.”
Myles rolls his eyes toward Rich, and they smile like they’re sharing some private joke. “What about your friend?” He moves his eyes to the hallway.
My hands are in fists, my stomach just as tightly clenched. “Be very careful, Myles.”
He raises an eyebrow. “It’s a two-person job,” he says, shrugging. “Your friendcould earn a little something on the side. The IRS doesn’t have to know.”
His mouth curls slowly into a smile.
“It’ll be our little secret…”