Page 78 of East

“What’s weird, babe?”

“After everything that happened last night, everything that was thrown at me. I should have tossed and turned the whole night. But I slept really well. Only woke up once.” She scratches the side of her head. “I normally sleep in two shifts. Four hours from noon to four and then the four hours after I get home from work. It equals eight hours, which is what I’m supposed to get, but there’s something about getting all your sleep in one session. I feel super rested.”

“That’s great.” I hold her hand from across the table. “That’s why I wanted you to sleep with me last night. You felt protected, so you slept well.”

She looks up at me, her eyes fiery. “The sex didn’t hurt either.”

I laugh. “No. It sure as hell didn’t.”

She smiles wide, but then her faces scrunches. She takes her hand from mine and runs it through her hair. “Shit, Aus. What the hell am I going to do?”

“Like I said, lawyer up first. Challenge that warrant. Something isn’t right about what’s been going on with Kin’s death. Once you have an attorney, you’ll have protection if the police come knocking again, which I’m pretty sure they will.”

“Yeah. I think so, too. Officer King didn’t seem satisfied with what I told her.” She crosses her arms. “One of my coworkers you met last night, his partner is an attorney. He’s apparently pretty good at his job.”

“Then we’ll give him a call. Maybe he can give you a family and friends rate.”

“If he’s good, I’ll pay him twice what he’s worth.” Her lip trembles. “I just want everything to go back to normal. I want to be able to live in my own home.”

This is your home now.

That’s what I want to say. But she’ll think I’m off my rocker.

Instead I get up from the table, walk behind her chair, and massage her shoulders. “You will, baby. I’ll make sure of it.”

She smirks. “You’ll make sure of it? A guy who, forty-eight hours ago, had no idea who I was?”

“I knew who you were. The smoke show from O2 news.”

She giggles. “You’re too kind.”

“I’m just speaking the truth.” I lean down and kiss her cheek. “Once we get a lawyer, we can start looking into this from all angles. Is there someone out there who would want you taken down a peg? Someone who would use any circumstantial clue at their disposal, like those damned sneakers, to fuck you over?”

“I mean, I can’t stand the woman who works as co-anchor on my news channel. Micaela Fields. She’s a heinous bitch. But she’s a garden-variety heinous bitch. I don’t think she’s behind this.” She rubs at her forehead. “And she didn’t tell me to go to Jade the night before last.”

I widen my eyes. “Right. You were there on a Twistr date.”

She nods. “With Bobby Q. The asshole who didn’t show up. I wouldn’t have even gone home with Wick if he hadn’t ghosted me, and then I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I furrow my brow as I calculate my thoughts. “Maybe your date was never supposed to show.”

“What do you mean?”

I pace around the table. “A lot of Twistr dates end up at the Jade Sanctum. I don’t know why. We don’t pay them for sending people there. There are lots of clubs in this city, and I’m friends with several of the owners. Zebulon Minos has never mentioned Twistr dates coming to his club. Same from Scythe at Second Star. But we’ve gotten quite a lot of business from Twistr since it launched a few months ago.”

“Maybe you just run a good club.”

“So do Scythe and Zeb. It makes sense that it wouldn’t send people to Aces Underground. That’s an exclusive, members-only club. But the rest of the venues that used to be under the Aces umbrella charge covers to enter. Anyone can come. But Jade is the only one getting Twistr’s business. It can’t just be out of the goodness of their hearts.”

Thea blinks. “What are you saying?”

“Do you still have that guy’s profile on Twistr?”

“Yeah. One sec.” She walks over to the living room and grabs her phone out of her purse. She swipes and taps a few times before showing me the display. “This is him. Bobby Q. The guy who stood me up.”

I widen my eyes. Bobby Q is a good-looking guy. The kind of guy you’d see in stock photos riding a horse shirtless.

In fact…