“I’m not selling.”
He didn’t flinch. The corner of his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. “Not yet,” he replied. “But that may change. When it does, I hope you’ll call me first.”
He slid a business card across her desk, sleek, matte cardstock with raised gold lettering.
Then he stood, smoothed the front of his shirt, and smiled like they were best friends.
Lainey didn’t touch the card.
“Have a good afternoon,” Keller said.
The door clicked shut behind him. She watched him out the window get into his too-pricey car and drive away before she picked up the card, her fingers trembling.
Hartwell Redevelopment Group.
She didn’t know the name. But she understood the message loud and clear.
He came to rattle her. Remind her that she wasn’t untouchable.
She stared at the card. Thought about Finn.
He’d want to know about it—demand to know. Push until she told him everything. Until there was nothing left to hide.
But telling him about Charleston meant dredging up her failures. And beyond that, the one truth she’d buried so deep and learned to live with. Their son.
And once that door opened, there would be no shutting it. No pretending it didn’t change everything.
She tucked the card into the drawer and shut it. She wasn’t ready to deal with that truth yet.
CHAPTER 23
A day later,Finn had a free moment, so he slid into his chair in the back office of command central and fired up the security feed. The Brotherhood hadn’t been able to account for the missing thirteen minutes. Dex was still researching that.
Finn wasn’t waiting.
He pulled up the footage from the exterior cameras. Nothing new. Then he clicked into the stream from Lainey’s office. He saw Gus, Travis and George, then himself.
The screen flickered and yesterday showed up.
A strange man entered Lainey’s office and sat across from her. Polished, slick.
She looked angry. Frightened. Cornered. He unmuted the audio.
Fuck. Who was this man? What did he want?
“Not yet,” the man said. “But that may change. When it does, I hope you’ll call me first.”
Finn’s stomach turned.
He went back to when the man entered.
Bryce Keller. Hartwell Redevelopment Group.
Finn watched him slide a card across the desk. Watched Lainey sit there looking like she wanted to disappear. She didn’ttouch the card. The man smiled like they were old friends, then walked out.
Finn stared at the screen, his jaw clenched. Why hadn’t she told him?
He took a deep breath, let it out, took another.
