“Not a chance.” I open the door and get in. When Ulysses slides in into the passenger seat, I start the engine. “I knew him too well.”
“Do you think Naomi Foster was going to shoot you with that lighter?”
“I don’t know.” I turn the car toward the exit. “What I do know, is that Kent shot her to shut her up.”
“You think he was involved with the Russians.”
“I have no idea who the fuck he got mixed up with, but it’s time we pay the pakhan a visit.”
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Tatiana
* * *
I hug Jazz when I meet her outside the Italian restaurant. “I missed you. How are you doing?”
She glances at Dante’s men who keep a short distance.
I follow her gaze. “They’re just here for protection. Pretend they don’t exist.”
She frowns.
Taking her arm, I lead her inside. “Don’t worry. Reino isn’t with them.”
She stiffens at the sound of his name.
The men trickle in behind us, which makes it difficult to ignore them.
The owner comes over when he spots me from the open kitchen. Dante introduced me to him when he brought me and Noah here for lunch.
“Tatiana.” He air kisses me, knowing better than to touch me. “And who is your lovely friend?”
While I make the introduction, Jazz remains distant and barely smiles, which isn’t like her.
“My best table for you,” he says, installing us next to the window.
After I’ve thanked him, he hands us menus and scurries off to show Dante’s men to two tables at the back.
I study my friend as she bows her head over the menu. Her face is pale, and her eyes are red-rimmed. Concern tightens my chest.
Leaning over the table, I touch her arm. “What’s the matter. Have you been crying?”
She shakes her head and bites her lip.
“Jasper Everson,” I chastise. “I know you. You can’t lie to your best friend.”
She drops the menu and looks at me with haunted eyes. “I’m out of the musical.”
Startled, I withdraw my hand and sit back. “What do you mean you’re out? The auditions haven’t even started.”
“I quit.” Her bottom lip quivers. “I’m not going to audition.”
“What? Oh, Jazz. Why? I thought this was your dream.”
She wrings her hands on the tabletop. “It was.”
