She says it’s because it’s sentimental to her, but now I’m not so sure that’s true.
“I’ll be at warehouse six today,” I tell her, even though she has no idea what that means. “I have a smaller shipment coming in at around nine, and I want to be there for it personally.”
There’s no shipment. I’m testing out this pendant of hers.
“Please be careful.” She leans her forehead to my chest. “I’m going to meet with Scarlett and Lulu for breakfast. I guess it’s at a diner in Carson’s building. The one with the casino?”
“You’ll like it there,” I tell her and brush my hand down her hair. Christ, I’ve been falling in love with this woman, and all the while, has she been fucking spying on me? “You’ll take your detail.”
“Of course.” She smiles again, and then her face falls as she watches me. “You’re not okay, Julian.”
No, Angel, I’m not in the same vicinity as okay.
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you want me to skip breakfast with them, I can, and?—”
“No, you should go. Enjoy yourself. I’m glad that the three of you are becoming close.”
But if you do something to hurt them, I’ll make your life a living hell.
Christ, I’m all fucked up. I need to set this plan of mine into place to test my theory.
And pray that I’m wrong because if I’m not, my wife is my goddamn mole. And I don’t think my heart can take that.
Twenty-Three
NATASHA
“Something bad happened last night,you guys,” I say to my friends after we order our breakfasts. Julian was right, I do like it here. The diner is old-fashioned, like something from the 1950s, with rock and roll memorabilia all over the place. It’s bright and fun, and even the waitstaff is wearing old-timey uniforms. The three of us are sipping coffees and leaning forward so I can speak lower. “Like, bad.”
“Our guys left in the middle of the night,” Lulu says, and Scarlett nods. “They must have gone to help Julian.”
“Julian didn’t say what it was, but he scanned my electronics and stuff to make sure that I wasn’t responsible for anything.”
“What?” Scarlett scowls over at me. “Why the fuck would he think that?”
“That’s ridiculous,” Lulu adds.
“I think he’s being paranoid and just wants to make sure. I mean, I guess someone could have planted something in my stuff without me knowing. He said that I’m the newest member of the circle, so he had to eliminate me first. But he checked, and there was nothing to find, like I knew there wouldn’t be. I didn’t like it, though. I don’t like feeling like he doesn’t trust me.”
“He trusts you,” Lulu says with a frown. “Julian’s crazy about you. Whatever it was that went down, it must have just really rattled him.”
Nodding, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, so I pull it out and find a text from my father.
He hasn’t reached out to me since I got married.
Not a phone call, not one message.
So, what does he want now?
I open it and read his text.
Papa: You will come to lunch tomorrow. Noon at Tolstoy’s Lounge. Do not be late.
Yep, that’s my father. He’s not asking, he’sdemanding. And because I want to keep the peace, I’ll go. Conveniently, Tolstoy’s is in the same shopping center as the store where I bought the Chanel bag, and I can pick it up at the same time.
I quickly reply.
