Lottie snorted. “He’s a cop, remember? Honorable and shit. And Rhys is his close friend. Of course he’d tell him. I tell you everything.”
Nessa shrugged. “Okay, you have me there.”
Lottie had considered this from every angle. “I can’t risk saying anything. I need the money to secure my future. And I can’t put his career in jeopardy because he’s in a serious relationship with someone who stole drug money and bought herself a new identity.” She had nothing after she left her family. No savings. She hadn’t gone to college. She couldn’t risk the exposure. She needed to say hidden. Take jobs off the radar. Until she saved enough that she’d be okay for the rest of her life.
“So, just friends, then?”
Lottie nodded. “Just friends.” Wanting to get the subject off her, she asked, “What about you? Anything happening with that doctor?” A recently divorced thirtysomething who had turned into a massive flirt after his divorce.
Nessa shrugged one shoulder. “Something could happen if I let it.”
“Why don’t you?”
“Because I’m so tired of men not wanting to settle down,” Nessa said and released a long sigh. “You know a guy who is recently divorced isn’t looking for love.”
Poor Nessa was a hopeless romantic. New York City’s thirtysomething crowd didn’t have many single men looking for love. “You’ll find that guy. Your one and only.” Lottie took Nessa’s hand, squeezing tight. “If anyone deserves love, it’s you.” Lottie had never met anyone who loved as hard as Nessa, without ever asking for anything in return.
Nessa laughed softly. “Yeah, well, until then I’ll continue to swipe right and endure first dates from hell.”
Lottie laughed with her. “It is terrible, isn’t it?” Lottie hadn’t been on a date since the night she walked into Phoenix without Andy, and Hunt had caught her eye. The progression with Hunt had been slow. First, lingering looks based on the hottest chemistry she’d ever felt. Then she’d become friends with him and his friends outside of Phoenix. The attraction only grew from there. Hunt burned with heat and was the best man she’d ever known. Her heart wantedhim.
And that was a problem.
“Yeah,” Nessa finally agreed. “It sucks.”
Cooper slowly began walking over, panting. He stopped by the water station and had a drink before approaching, looking perfectly wiped out and happy. “Looks like it’s time to go home.” Lottie loved walking dogs, but she paid a hefty price for the private dog park. She liked keeping them safe but also letting them run free and wild. On her way to grab him, she gave the other owners a quick wave goodbye before she reclipped his leash.
Nessa led the way out of the park and closed the gate behind Lottie and Cooper. “Dinner and drinks this weekend?”
“Dirty Martinis on Saturday night?” The best cocktail bar in Manhattan.
“Heck, yes.” Nessa gave Cooper a kiss on the head. “Bye you,” she told the dog. Then added to Lottie, “You too.”
“See ya,” Lottie said. “Thanks for coming to hang.”
“You know I wouldn’t miss it.” Nessa blew a kiss and then headed in the opposite direction down the busy street.
Lottie stared after her, glad to have such a good friend in her corner. Even when Lottie lived in Chicago, she never had a friend like Nessa. A person whogother like no one else. A person who never judged her, only understood. A person who only saw the best in Lottie. Nessa was simply one of a kind. Lottie smiled down at Cooper, who still panted deeply. “All right, buddy, let’s get you home.”
Copper wagged his tail.
The twenty-minute walk back to Cooper’s home was slower than the walk there. He stopped to sniff every pole and every fire hydrant they passed. And after Lottie handed a happily worn-out pup back to his owner, she walked another ten minutes back to her condo. She quickly made it through security and headed up the elevator, entering her industrial-style loft a few minutes later. Exposed brick walls led to concrete columns, high ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows.
She shut the door behind her, but when she faced her condo again, she realized two important things.
One, her alarm didn’t chirp at her.
Two, her condo had been ransacked.
3
Lottie’s text pinged on Hunt’s phone. He’d just gotten home from a run with Kieran. He was unsurprised she had his number in her contacts. He’d given it to her on several occasions. What surprised him was her message:It’s Lottie. Can you come to my place? I need you.
His hair was still damp from his shower as he scooped up his keys off the table and shut the front door of his studio apartment in the West Village. Jogging back down the hallway, he took the stairs instead of the elevator and made it back onto the street within minutes. The subway was only a block away, but the ten-minute subway ride took the longest. He’d texted her back the moment he got outside on the busy street, reeking of car exhaust. She hadn’t responded.
A thousand reasons filled his mind as to why she’d text him. None of them good.
Her condo in SoHo was only a short jog down the heavily trafficked street. He eventually gave up weaving through the pedestrians, jogging behind a biker on the road until he made it to her building. He’d only known where she lived because she had parties sometimes and invited the inner circle at Phoenix, who were all her close friends.
