Page 100 of Queen of Nothing

Their panic would have been scattered.

Is the boy Olivia’s, is it Dray and Olivia’s, is it Eric and Olivia’s?

That explains why Dray went along on their errands to find their problem daughter, when I’m sure he had a million other things far more important to be doing.

The Sinclairs and Cravens are obviously still besties.

The jet changed, but not their bond.

The door rattles again—and James comes out.

I look up at him, his acne-scarred profile, the nose that’s too big for his face, his narrow lips that he thins even more into his mouth.

“Hello, James.”

My cold greeting pauses him.

Still, he doesn’t look at me.

He blinks his wide eyes on Dray instead.

Dray downs the last of the scotch, then tosses the tumbler. It skids along the table before knocking into an empty coffee cup.

I flinch. Slightly, but he notices.

His smile is small.

And that is James’ cue. He scurries back up the aisle and disappears behind the partitions.

I slide a dark look to Dray. “So I’m not allowed to talk to an old friend?”

Dray tilts his head to the side, just an inch, but strands of sandy hair slip over his arched brow. “Are you not doing that now?”

I give a curt, bitter laugh.

“Shame you didn’t leave him to Landon,” I say, and recline in the chair.

Now James is living his worst nightmare.

All the people he has to be around, all the travelling, the time away from home, which is probably a room in Thornbury Park.

“And have an iitrin print wasted in the vineyards?” Dray’s smile is soft, relaxed. “James receives the appropriate time off,” he adds, “to do and see whatever he likes. Or should I say, to see and do whomever he likes?”

I snub the crassness. “The vineyards? Landon is still doing that?”

The vineyards were something of a hobby for him and his family.

Mildred’s family had it as a career. Production of some of the finest champagne in the world—but everything has an expiration date, people get bored and something better always comes along, so they started to slip.

Dray tells me, “Landon married Mildred Green, and together, they overlook the vineyards—and away from the temptations of gambling and debauchery, they enjoy a lovely, little life.”

His smile is cruel.

The jab is aimed at me.

So I jab back. “Last time I saw them, it wasn’t on the best of terms.”

It was when Dray backhanded me to the floor, then let Asta finish me off.