“I might have left it at work,” Davy lied on autopilot as he assessed his options. “I dropped by there this morning to pick something up before the party.”
Hill’s mom raised her eyebrows at him.
“You’re coming to the party?” she said suspiciously. “That’s new.”
“You invited me.”
“I invite you every year,” she pointed out. “And every year you say no. What’s changed? And where was the last place you saw your phone?”
She started across the room toward him, with the clear intent of helping him look. Davy cursed to himself and quickly met herhalfway to intercept. He put a hand on her waist and dropped a kiss on her cold, damp cheek as he turned to keep his body between her and a good view of the coffee table.
“It’s somewhere,” he dismissed the phone. “Do you want to go and get breakfast with me?”
She looked surprised, and then, in quick succession, delighted. Her smile crinkled the corners of her eyes and made her look…if Davy was being a dick, “her age,” and if he wasn’t, “more approachable.”
“Of course,” she said as she reached to touch his cheek affectionately. Her neatly arched eyebrows pinched slightly together as she then turned her hand to check her watch. “Although we might have to make it brunch?”
Davy shrugged. “As long as I get something to eat.”
She continued to look bewildered. Davy had a feeling he wasnotknocking his Hill impersonation out of the park. Since she didn’t want to look the gift horse in the mouth, though, it worked in his favor.
“Thenthat’swhy I’m here, I guess,” she said with airy good humor. Then she stepped back from him and lifted a “just a minute” finger as she said, “Just let me use your bathroom first.”
She headed in that direction, a cloud of soft floral scent left in her wake.
Davy put his hands behind his back and stayed where he was until he heard the door click shut. Then he let his breath hiss out between his teeth as he turned on his heel and headed over toward the table. He swept the money and IDs off the table and into the duffel bag they’d come from. Then he reached for the gun, but hesitated with his fingers on the cool metal.
If he wanted to destabilize Fraser, that would work.
Whatever his little brother could feel these days, he’d be on edge that anyone could get that close to him. It would put him onthe back foot even before the rest of the dominoes that Davy had set up started to topple.
It was a solid move…and he’d done worse.
So why not? He picked up the gun and hefted it briefly. His body wasn’t familiar with the weight of it, buthewas.
Hill wouldn’t be happy, but by the time he found out he wouldn’t be Davy’s problem anymore.
That thought made something big and ungainly move behind the paywall in Davy’s brain.
The toilet flushed. Davy tightened his grip on the gun and then dropped it in on top of the money. He shoved the bag under the couch…along with any emotions attached to it.
Davy straightened up just as Hill’s mom came back into the main room.
“So?” she said with a bright smile. “Where do you want to go? Oh, what about that cafe down by Riverside? They had some good vegan options, didn’t they?”
Huh. Davy forced a smile and nod that slipped from his face as he helped Hill’s mom put her coat back on.
Shit. He grabbed a hoodie from the chair to shrug it on.
He’d forgotten about the vegan thing.
Trudy.
That was Hill’s mom’s name, courtesy of her calling ahead to book a table. Trudy Jones, Davy supposed. His sister-in-law.
That was still a weird idea to wrap his head around. Fraser had never liked people much. Although being a family man did convey a certain respectability in some circles. Politicians andcriminals alike preferred their contractors to have something to lose.
“How are your eggs?” Trudy asked as she came back to the table from greeting her third random acquaintance of the meal. She pulled the chair back from the table to sit back down.
