Page 19 of Wicked Fortune

I shake my head, not knowing what she means.

“She died there, but it’s just asphalt. It should have her initials. Or a red X.” She wipes away a tear. “Her death made the news, but in a few weeks, no one will even remember.”

My chest tightens. “We will.”

Beside me, Bree exhales softly. “Yeah. We will.”

I shoot her a sideways glance. “So you tracked me?”

She shrugs. “I swung by your place and you weren’t there. Then when I saw you here, I got worried.”

I reach for her hand and squeeze it. “I’m okay. I’m just—I hate it. Not having answers, you know?”

She nods. “Yeah. I know.”

For a moment we just stand there, the hum of traffic underscoring our thoughts before her words break the silence. “Did you learn anything at Masque?”

Oh, yeah. I learned quite a lot.

But I don’t say that out loud. I’m not quite ready to tell Bree everything that happened with Holt. “I learned that Clive makes an excellent date,” I quip. “Except for that pesky no sex at the end thing.”

“Sucks to be you. But what did you learn about those parties? Do you think Matthew is involved in whatever made Jenny kill herself. Or,” she adds after I give her the stink-eye, “whatever led someone to murder her?”

“I don’t trust him,” I say.

“Him—you mean Matthew? Come on. I know he’s edgy, but …”

She trails off as if I’m going to pick up the thread. I don’t. She’s right about him, and so am I. He’s odd and edgy and sexy, but there’s something real underneath. I don’t want to be attracted to him. He’s a gorgeous, powerful man who runs a no-holds-barred sex club. That isn’t a man who follows the rules. That’s a man with power.

And powerful men believe they can walk through the world doing anything they want. And they think they can get away with it because usually they can.

I meant what I told her—I don’t trust him. But more than that, I don’t trust myself around him. And I don’t know what to do about the intense longing I feel all the way into my bones every time I think of him.

“Ari—”

“No. You tease me about my hunches but you know I’m usually right. There’s something about him. Something dark. Something secret.”

“Well, duh. He runs a billion-dollar industry. It would be weird if he didn’t have secrets.”

I tilt my head from side to side, trying to work out the kinks. “It’s more than that,” I say as cars whoosh by beneath us. I think of my gift bag and the arrogant, ballsy, and damned enticing gift I found inside it. “He’s a man who’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants.”

“So will most powerful people. That’s how they become powerful. Or stay that way. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have limits. And it sure doesn’t mean he’d commit murder.”

“You can’t be sure of that.”

“Then you can’t be sure he’s dangerous.”

“I’m certain,” I say. And it’s true. I’m one hundred percent certain that Holt has it in him to kill. Not for money. Maybe not even for his reputation. But to protect his secrets? To protect someone else? Yeah, I could see him doing that. And I’m about to throw myself into his lair.

For a moment, I think she’s going to argue some more. She doesn’t. Instead, she puts her hand over mine. “Then you can’t work for him. If he catches you poking around …”

I steel myself. “It’s a risk.”

“A risk?” she repeats, her voice rising. Then she shakes her head. “No,” she says. “No, he can’t be that bad. I mean, come on. I know him. Ash is friends with him.”

“He has it in him,” I say firmly. “But that doesn’t mean he did it. It just means he could. If he had reason enough, he’d probably do it in a heartbeat.” I turn to look her in the eye. “Ash could, too. You know he could.”

Even in the dim light of the streetlamp, I can see the color drain from her face as her eyes go wide. “Yes,” she says, the word barely a whisper. “To protect me, he wouldn’t even hesitate.”