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I flashed him a smile, then politely nodded to the two men flanking him.
“If I’d known it would only take a phone call to get you here, I’d have rung you up days ago.” Dalton chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah,” I drawled, studying the two, dark-haired, dark-eyed strangers.
“Fuck, where are my manners?” Dalton drawled. “Ian and James, this is Blade. Blade, this is Ian and James…my friends from Chicago. Yanno, the ones I told you about who are going to update the security system.”
The private investigators.
My heart stopped.
The air in my lungs turned to sand.
And a hot knife twisted in my gut.
Struggling to keep from sweeping Emma into my arms and sprinting out of the club, I forced a placid smile and quickly sized up the pair. The one closest to me, gazing at Emma with a too-sharp, too-assessing stare without doubt, posed the biggest threat.
Keeping my affable smile in place, I extended my hand to purposely draw his focus off her. “Nice to meet you…”
“Ian,” the shrewd prick supplied with a sturdy handshake and a reciprocal smile. “Same.”
The first rule of conducting a successful interrogation was observing body language. The second was dissecting your target’s answers. Ian’s one-word response told me he was astute, smart, and kept his emotions and all intel locked in a tight little box. He didn’t slip up, at least not often.
Neither do I, fucker.
Casually turning, I fixed my cemented smile on the other man and extended my hand again. “That means you must be James. Nice to meet you.”
Liar.
“I am. Good to meet you, too.” He grinned. James was exponentially less of a threat. He was laid-back relaxed, and a million times more affable than Ian. “Mika asked us to tell you he sends you his best wishes, and thanks you again for keeping the club running while Dalton and Blair moved down here.”
“Please return my best wishes to him, and tell him it was no trouble at all.”
“Will do.” James grinned.
“Did you bring Aub—”
“Yes, and she’s going by Breeze here, bro,” I said, purposely cutting him off.
I didn’t want to give Ian or James a morsel of information they could sink their teeth into.
“Where is she?” Dalton asked.
Poking her head around me with a giggle, Emma waved her fingers. “I’m righthere, Sir.”
I held my breath as James and Ian smiled and nodded at Emma. But as Ian’s stare lingered, studying her face with a razor-sharp gaze, it took all the strength I possessed to keep from gouging his eyes out.
“Damn, girl!” Dalton barked, stealing Ian’s attention off her. “I didn’t recognize you. What happened to your hair?”
“I cut it off, and—”
“She wanted a new style,” I explained, interrupting Emma before she could mention dying the color. “I like it. I think it looks sexy on her.”
Dalton blinked at me in surprise as a knowing smile speared over his lips. “I do, too. You’re beautiful, as always...Breeze.”
“Thank you, Sir.” She blushed, before taking a sip of her soda.
Turning ever so slowly, I surreptitiously blocked their view of Emma with my body before addressing Dalton. “So, when’s the new install starting?”
