I nod, biting my lower lip. “It’s the dirty talk. And that deep voice. And the muscles.”
“And you have feelings for him now? The protector, I mean.”
“The protector? You make him sound like a superhero.”
She takes another sip of her drink. “You’re avoiding my question. How does Ryan feel about you having feelings for another guy? Did he think it was just sex?”
“I didn’t say I felt anything for him. I love Ryan.”
“I know you love Ryan, but you also like Viktor… a lot. I can tell. If you didn’t, there’d have been no reason to avoid him this morning.”
“I’m avoiding him because I don’t tru—”
“Yourself. You don’t trust yourself.” She gloats after she finishes her sentence. “Admit it, you have feelings for both of them.”
I roll my eyes and fidget with the paper wrapping from a straw. “I’m not into him.”
She nods. “So, let’s say for a second, you are into him. What then? Can Ryan share you like that? It’s one thing to share someone sexually, another to share someone emotionally.”
“Ryan is open to whatever makes me happy, which is awful, right?”
“No! It’s perfect. He’s a man who doesn’t feel the need to control your every step. That’s a win.”
“Viktor isn’t that guy, though. I’m pretty sure he wants to own me. He said as much last night.”
“Then let Mr. Protector own you and let Ryan be your soft place to fall. It’s just talk, anyway. No one actually owns you.” She laughs it off and tips her glass up to take in the last of her drink.
“Your honesty has always been refreshing,” I say. “I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”
She takes the compliment, nearly gloating as she digs through her purse. “I also did all your dirty work for you.” She tosses a black Ziplock toward me. “It’s whatever was in that safe deposit box. I didn’t peek once, but trust me… I was tempted.”
“Damn! Are you serious? How did you manage that?”
Her face straightens. “Thankfully, the guard in the vault flirts with me every day. I skirted right past him. Come to think of it, I bet I could get him to bend me over… nah, that would make work weird. Anyway, now we just have to hope no one has a reason to pull the security cameras for that room and match it up with the code I used to get into that box.” She chuckles. “We know Max won’t dispute it.”
I dart her a glare.
“Sorry, just kidding. What do you think it is?”
I shrug, pulling the envelope out of the bag slowly, my heart pounding. “I just hope it’s not another key, or another cryptic message. I can’t take it.”
“Well, open it! I’ve been crawling out of my skin, dying to know what’s inside.”
There’s no recipient named on the outside of the bag, but there’s a heavy weight to it.
I flip it over and peel back the sticky enclosure, my heart racing as I lift the flap and slide my hand inside.
“Pour it out,” Lucy blurts. “What if there’s something weird in there? You don’t want your hands to be the first thing that meets it.”
I jump a little when she talks, my nerves already on high alert as I reach inside the bag. Part of me thinks she actually believes she’s my mother. A very deranged, very caustic, very nosey mother who encourages me to have crazy sexual exploits. Either way, she sort of is. My parents passed away after a car accident when I was young. And Lucy, was always the first to give her opinion on everything. Same age or not, she just took that role on for me. Including now, as she micromanages how I open a Ziploc bag.
Turning the bag upside down I pour the contents out onto the table, my breath stuck in my throat as I see a stack of cash fall out. Hundred-dollar bills, wrapped in a paper tie that says ten thousand dollars, a blue mark of ink above the ten.
“Ten thousand dollars? What the—”
“It’s the same stack he ran off with that night at the club. I know by the blue mark. It’s the same stack he’d chased the watch guy down with.” I’m speaking, but the words are coming out in such a quick tumble that I’m not able to gather whether they make sense or not.
“Is there anything else in there?”
