Page 30 of Spin the Damn Bottle

I grab my phone and tell Mel to stand close to those bathrooms. Through the camera, I see her take her drink and move into place. Now that she's removed the biking overpants and jacket she had on while riding from Cross, she's wearing a tight glittery jumpsuit that dips so low between her tits it makes her average rack look indecent. Her platinum-blonde wig almost seems natural—as well it should. It cost me a thousand bucks.

She did well. I should be nicer to her. Too bad I've run out of nice for the time being.

I should most definitely tip Lucas Astrella, because after the spider ass-tattooed guy nuts, Judith indeed slips something in his jacket, and he puts his hands between her tits, no doubt shoving her drugs in her bra.

I text Mel to stand at the ready.

Judith moves from the urinal to the sinks, certainly aching after staying on her knees for so long. She sits and waves her next john forward. I ignore her, following the red jacket as he walks out of the bathroom.

I watch Mel bump into him, biting her lips and playing with her hair. She gets to her tiptoes and whisper in his ears. If she followed the plan, she told him Judith recommended him.

He glances back toward the bathroom suspiciously. Then she takes another step forward, pushing her tits to his chest.

"She got him. The locator's on his jacket. Damn, the girl is good. If she's looking for a job, tell her to come to me."

"Her trust fund's worth more than your father's entire company, punk."

I'm grinning, relieved the encounter went as planned.

I've tried to catch this snake for months, and failed. My next stop would have been asking my father for help, and I was determined to avoid that. Our parents want us to prove we can take care of our own shit. He would have fixed it for me, I’m sure, but he would also have made me pay for it.

Mel pays for her drugs and retreats toward the bar, not before sending an air kiss to her mark.

One problem fixed—or at least, it will be, as soon as Lucas contacts his more unsavory acquaintances to ensure that the gang stays the hell away from my club. And the threat of releasing that recording will be enough to keep Judith in check under my roof moving forward.

Now, if only all my issues could be as easily sorted out.

I hesitate, shooting a glance to Lucas. He's too close to this. But without him, I would never have noticed that there was something different about the latest guy to fuck Judith. Asking him to help me figure out who wants to hurt Nadia makes sense. If anything, he'll be even more motivated to get to the bottom of this.

"How would you feel about doing another job for me?"

"This one off the books, too?"

"Completely off the books."I consider my approach. Tilting my head, I invite him to follow me out of the room. We don’t need an audience for this. “Someone’s targeting your sister.”

That gets his undivided attention.

“What, am I still supposed to pretend Nadia’s just your cousin? That Lucius’s gay-as-fuck brother impregnated the bombshell ballerina?” I shrug. “It’s obvious.”

“If you’ve guessed as much, you probably know why she’s legally my cousin, and why she should continue to believe it.”

Yeah, right. “Because your family’s inherently sexist and your father believes she can’t handle having a target on her back—though he’s more than happy to let you shoulder the burden.” I chuckle. “It’s honestly not my problem, but if she asks, she’ll get nothing but the truth from me. Thankfully for you, she doesn’t suspect a thing.”

Lucas doesn’t seem bothered one way or another. “You said she was targeted. The fire wasn’t accidental, was it?”

I nod my agreement. “She used to play with the cat that was beheaded right before.”

Something flashes in his dark eyes, and for one moment, he looks exactly like his father. “And since then?”

I wrinkle my nose. “Nothing. But whoever did that, they’re not afraid to punch hard. The next time they could hit the mark.”

Lucas shakes his head. “Not gonna happen. I’ll tell Dad to get her out of Cross.”

I don’t fucking think so.

I know threats aren’t likely to work on Lucas or his father, so I appeal to his reason instead. “Whoever did that to her has a serious boner against her. We know they’re part of the school. We can contain, observe, and control the environment before they get to her again. If she’s in the city, or in college later, what are the chances we’ll be able to catch them?”

Lucas doesn’t like any of this, I can tell. Still, he considers it, because he knows I’m right. “All right, what have you tried so far?”