“Take your time,” I respond. “It was a pleasure. Caleb will see to you.” I step back, mask back in place.
The way she returns to McCarter without another glance my way tells me we are both wearing masks tonight.
I dial my sister as I step outside.
Niko follows me out the door, where Luca is waiting by the car.
Eva picks up on the third ring, as I settle inside the backseat. “Hey bro, heading home?”
“Yeah, I finished up with the governor and I’m heading home now. I need you to do your magic and get me a file on someone.”
“Of course. What’s the name?” she asks.
“Last name Saint James. She was here tonight with Speaker McCarter. She said she was a DC staffer.”
The clicking of Eva typing at a keyboard filters through the other end of the line. “Have anything else for me to go on?”
“I don’t know if she works in the Speaker’s office, or somewhere else. She’s either late twenties or early thirties. Tall, bright red hair, green eyes.”
“Wait… Is this for work? Or is this some woman you’re trying to pick up?” Eva teases.
“Oh, come on. When have I ever had to do such a thing?”
Eva laughs. ”Oh right, I forgot, women justthrowthemselves at you.”
My sister likes to tease me about how little I date. I try to play it off like I’m just a typical thirty-something billionaire, not looking for anything serious. The truth is a little more complicated than that.
Eva is right that women do throw themselves at me. And I have taken some to bed, but in the decade since my parents died, I’ve carried an anvil-sized weight on my chest that rarely goes away. The anxiety and stress make it hard for me to let go and sex has never been the release I need it to be. It has never been as pleasurable for me as everyone else claims. The truth is, after afew years of trying to feel “normal,” it stopped being worth the hassle. I have too much to do anyway.
Maybe if women made my body spark like Miss Saint James just did, I’d feel differently. Is this what attraction feels like? Is it lust? No doubt about that. She’s easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in real life.
“No, this isn’t for personal reasons, E. Let’s just call it a hunch. Think you can find out who she is?”
“Don’t insult me. I’ll see you when you get home.” Eva hangs up.
I immediately call Hudson. My best friend answers on the first ring. “Hey. I just left The Vault. I’m heading home. I’m calling because I may need FBI eyes on someone I asked Eva to track.”
“Big fish?” he asks.
“Hard to tell. Could be nothing, but seems like something.”
“Sounds vague and illegal. I like it. Have E send me what she finds.”
“Of course. Thanks. What are you up to tonight?”
Hudson and I catch up on my drive home. He plans to go to one of my underground casinos. I accuse him of only going there in hopes of running into this woman he’s been hooking up with, a “smoke show” he’s been talking about for the better part of a year now. He admits I’m right.
He’s always asking me to join him, but it’s not my idea of a good time. I’m in the casino business for the money, and it’s my house that always wins.
Hudson and I have been best friends since we were kids. He’s more like a brother to Eva and me than a friend. He had a single mom who wasn’t around a lot. My parents took him under their wing when it became clear he and I were attached at the hip. He fit into our family seamlessly.
It was my dad’s idea for him to go into the FBI. Hudsonwanted to work for our family’s business, but Dad decided that he wanted a man inside the Bureau. Hudson was honored my dad wanted it to be him, and that was that.
Dad wasn’t wrong—having an inside man with family loyalty has kept us out of a lot of trouble. It just means Hudson has to live a double life and I’m constantly worried about his safety. It also means Hudson and I can never be seen together in public. That didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but it sucks that a simple invite to meet him out gambling is never a real offer; just an ongoing inside joke in a life that isn’t really all that funny.
When Hudson and I end our call, my mind immediately returns to the redhead. The beauty at my bar was correct: She’s not a DC VIP. If she were, I’d already have a file on her. Knowing the major players in this town is my business. But sitting at my bar with the Speaker of the House? That’s not a nobody.
The true power players in DC don’t make headlines. No, they make deals in the shadows. And something tells me she’s playing chess while everyone else is stuck on checkers.
