She paused mid-step, listening intently but ready to move as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
“It wasn’t like I was trying to lose my favorite car,” T.B. said.
“I’m not upset about the fucking car, it’s the fucking cocaine that’s pissed me off!” Dorian said.
Well, that made a good day better. She could almost see T.B. hanging his head in defeat. That would look fucking delicious. She licked her lips at the thought.
“You assured me that the supply wouldn’t get lost again,” Dorian said.
“It had to look like a real deal,” T.B. said, whining like a child without his toys. Dorian’s favorite didn’t do well under pressure, it seemed.
“Shut up, T.B. You’ve fucked up. Just…shut up,” Dorian growled. There were a few beats of silence before Dorian spoke again. “Yani, what have you got?”
“Not better news, I’m afraid,” Yani said.
“Good God—what now?” The sound of glass smashing echoed roughly.
“Another dead prostitute,” Yani said. “Girl was seen by a few people before we could get the body out of there.”
Mercedes’s heart squeezed. Another dead girl. One of Tia’s girls. If she and Tia had anything in common, it was their deep protectiveness. Like Tia, there was nothing more that Mercedes wanted than to keep her family safe. And since a certain ex of hers insisted on being reckless as shit, that burden rested solely on her.
There was more silence. It sounded uncomfortable. Though she couldn’t tell.
“Witnesses are taken care of.” Yani cleared his throat. “The girls are proving to be painful.”
“They always are when one of the little sluts dies,” Dorian growled back. “Cut their pay in half until they stop whining. One dead girl doesn’t stop the world.”
But it should, Mercedes thought. It totally should.
The doorbell rang, startling her, but her body didn’t react. If she didn’t answer, one of the guys would roll out of the living room and catch her spying.
Peeling herself from the wall, she padded down the stairs at loud-enough volume to announce a fake arrival.
She opened the door to find a harsh-looking Blake associate holding a box of envelopes.
“I’ll take those.” She snatched it before he could object. His eyes darted frantically inside the house, so Mercedes knew she’d stumbled onto something important.
She slammed the door in his face and turned to find Dorian had come up behind her.
“Looks like a delivery for you.” She plastered on her sweetest smile. Looking over his shoulder, she found T.B., Yani, and Antonio frozen, their shoulders tight with tension. Surely not from their conversation with Dorian. She shifted the box in her hands, and their eyes glued to it like cats following a laser.
Dorian held out his hand for the box, and Mercedes slowly slid it into his awaiting palm. As she did, the Seconds released their tension. Like she’d just diffused a bomb by handing over the package.
Dorian pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek before disappearing into the living room with the box, smiling at her as he shut and secured the double doors.
With a curious smirk, Mercedes pulled an envelope from her back pocket. Luckily, she had sleight of hand down because Dorian was acting suspicious as hell.
“Devious fiancé of mine.” Mercedes laughed as she opened the envelope and pulled out five ballots. The papers were all preselected with the name ‘Dorian Blake’. Little fucker was trying to rig the election. Probably by stuffing the ballots from the look of it. Well, she expected nothing less of him. Little did he know, though, he’d be dead long before he ever got the chance to win.
* * *
When Mercedes arrived at Adam’s hotel room, her four friends were already there, sitting around the table with the TV playing idly in the background, and empty beer bottles lining the countertops.
“Hey, baby.” Adam’s smile brightened when she walked in. Like they glowed only when they settled on her. It made her smile, one that she tried to push away quickly. Dammit.
“I have news,” Mercedes said, rolling her shoulders to loosen her tensing muscles.
“I heard no luck with Tia,” Dan said, absentmindedly picking at the label of his beer bottle.
