I’d spoken to the girl for all of five minutes, made sure she had the best cocktails we did, and overheard a bit of her conversation. Because that was what I did. Know the people around you because knowledge was power.
The man with his hand on her was called Dean. He dealt in stocks and thought a lot of himself. He liked his women easy and the sex rough, too rough. One of my people had intervened one night when a woman he’d taken back to his room had been screaming. I didn’t ask what they saw when they let themselves in, but he shouldn’t have been allowed in here tonight after that. Someone had slipped up.
And I didn’t like the way he was touching her.
I made a call and ordered another drink, blending into the background. It took three minutes before security discreetly tapped him on his shoulder and asked for a word. He wouldn’t know it was security, they did well, making it look like he was important, and they had a message to pass on.
I smiled, watching.
My stare went back to Jameson as he walked away, and she was looking straight back, her drink put down on a table nearby.
I lifted my empty glass in a cheers, expecting her to head towards where her sister was holding court, but she didn’t. Bare feet walked towards me across the sand, her sandals left behind. Ocean eyes studied me and there was more knowledge in them than I’d anticipated.
“Would I be right in thinking he won’t be coming back?”
I nodded. The waiter returned with my drink and I focused my attention on that rather than Jameson, expecting her to move away.
She didn’t.
“Why did you do that?”
I looked back at her. “Do what?”
She shook her head with a smile. “Make him go away.”
“I didn’t.”
“Liar.”
“He made himself go away.” I studied her. She was holding a new drink, the waiter having taken one to her already, but I suspected it was non-alcoholic, and she held herself as if she was sober. Someone knew how to pace herself.
“How’s that? Is he a magician? Did he click his fingers and rather than go ‘poof!’ one of your minions came and took him away?” She raised her eyebrows. “I’m not crying over his departure. I’m just curious.”
“What makes you think I had something to do with it?”
“I saw you make a phone call. Quietly. Then someone turned up with a story he toppled for. Your shoulders relaxed when you saw him go.” Her smile was almost sweet.
It hadn’t just been me watching her.
“He shouldn’t have been allowed in here. I let security know there’d been a mistake.”
“Oh. He seemed like an okay guy. You know, for someone who liked themselves a hell of a lot.”
She was flirting. Her slight step towards me, the way she angled herself, the smile – she was flirting.
“He doesn’t understand the word no. Not someone wanted here. If you see him again, walk away.”
“I think he slipped something into my drink. That’s why I put it down.” Her voice had changed. It was serious. There was an edge of fragility to it that made me grip my glass too tightly.
“Where is it now?”
“The waiter took it away.”
I nodded. “Why do you think he spiked it?”
“We were standing there.” She pointed to a high table next to a palm. “I’d put it down to take my sandals off. He’s said something about how hard it must be to walk in sand, and then made a comment about my height. I glanced up while I was undoing them, and he was leaning over to my drink.”
“Did you have any of it after that?”
