Page 91 of Reveal

The call I waited for all day never came. The one from Priscilla asking me what happened to Brian and then having to disprove her crazy accusations.

It didn’t come the next day either.

Maybe Brian didn’t go to the police after all.

I bury my nose in the flowers again, draw in their perfumed scent, and sigh in relief for what feels like the first time since Brian left here with his threats.

I jump when my cell rings. My pulse calms when I see it’s one of my girls. “Hey, Ivy. Everything okay?”

“Always.” Her throaty laugh fills the line.

“What’s up?”

“Couple things. Does the name Carter Preston ring a bell with you?” I sigh at her mention of his name. “Ha. Your sigh says it all.”

“It’s a long story, but yes, I know the senator. He’s someone I choose to steer clear of. Why?”

“Guy’s got a real hard-on for you.”

I snort because I don’t trust myself to speak in response. “What do you mean?”

“I was at an event. Lots of bigwigs. Lots of money. Lots of politicians. There was an ol’ boys’ conversation. Services like ours came up. The senator asked if I knew any good ones—kind of a lead-in, since later my date told me he’d already told Carter the company I work for. I wasn’t aware there was any history between you, or I wouldn’t have said anything to him about Wicked Ways.”

“What’d he say?” I ask.

“Just that you’re not what you seem. That you sleep with clients and steal them from your girls.” She’s guarded when she speaks, and I can tell she’s trying to feel me out from my answer alone.

“So in other words, he’s trying to cause trouble for me. Trying to rile up my troops with lies and turn them against me?”

Christ. I roll my shoulders and have to tell myself to relax the clench of my jaw.

“Either that or he’s forcing your hand to confront him. Some men get off on the power play of shit like this.”

“Lucky me,” I murmur, but I know she’s right. He’s playing a game right now. One I can’t afford to engage in—or lose.

“Sorry to be the one to tell you, but I thought you should know.”

Silence hangs on the line, and then I realize I never officially answered the question for her.

“I met with a client to discuss a replacement girl for him when the one he chose couldn’t meet his needs. The client and I hit it off. We’ve gone on a few dates. I can see how it could be perceived as stealing clients from my girls without all the facts,” I lie, omitting the money he transferred to my account in the early days. “But it wasn’t anything like that.”

“Thank you for telling me,” she says, and I can only hope she believes me. Otherwise, the shitstorm that Carter is trying to stir up will be working.

“Anytime. What else? You said there were a few things.”

“I have a nervous Nellie,” she says, our term for a client who keeps scheduling and then canceling. “He wants to talk to you.”

“Name?”

“Noah B.”

“Shit,” I groan. “That’s my fault. I had to cancel our meeting the other night at the last minute.”

The other night? That was over a week ago. And of course my mind veers back to the town car ride. To Ryker’s mouth between my thighs and the magic of his tongue. To the emotion in his eyes as he looked up at me, face framed by my thighs.

I think of Noah’s voice mail that I forgot to respond to because I was preoccupied with everything else.

You’re dropping balls left and right here, Vaughn.