“You know what they say, honey. It’s not your size but how you use it.” She winked. “If I win before they get back, you oweus a round,” she said to Sandra, who cracked her knuckles as she moved from the door. Kathleen cracked hers too and leaned in close to Isaac and Andrew before leaving, “I can't believe I'm going to break a nail for you two. And probably Sandy’s thumb.” She winked again and hurried off.
“Does this mean Luke is the brains, andshe’sthe brawns?” Andrew asked after Tony waved them through.
“Depends on the day of the week.”
Willow’s room was especially busy and moving to a separate dance mix, but Isaac spotted her in the corner immediately, queen of her castle, stretched out in a curved booth with a table covered in drinks and a throng of people around her.
She spotted him too, not one to over-indulge in vices and keenly aware of her surroundings. She had skin deep black like Luke’s and thrived in contrasting colors, her hair an even whiter blond than Isaac’s and outfit all ivory and gold, as chic as any businesswoman on Wall Street.
She seemed amused to see him but not surprised, already telling some of her posse to scram, as he made his way toward her.
“Isaac Ford, youfucker.”
Isaac reared back at the interception. Lewis… something or other, stood in front of him, an aging and useless thief who thought he was hot shit, but who Isaac had never deemed worthy enough to learn his whole name. He was the type of greasy dried-up has-been Isaac had striven to never become. And he looked like he’d just won a prize.
“I know half a dozen good men in lockup who’d kill to get this close to you,” Lewis sneered. “But I’m a good sport. No point in being unfriendly when there might be something better in it for me. You’re a negotiator, right?”
Opportunist. The world was full of them. “If you think I’m intimidated—”
“By some old man? Nah. But then, I listen, see, and lately, there’s a name that’s been following you around.”
Finally, someone was going to bring up Andrew—
“Wellesley, wasn’t it?”
Isaac stiffened, his worst fear realized at the drop of a name.
“Heard he’s only twenty-three. You fucking them that young now?”
The punch came so out of left field, for a second, Isaac thought it was his own, acting entirely on instinct when he saw red. But as the old criminal’s nose cracked, it was Andrew who stood there, huffing and shaking with his fists clenched after slipping in front of Isaac with a full-body swing.
A few people scattered as Lewis stumbled back, Isaac ready for unseen muscle to materialize out of the woodwork to grab them, but the lull that came over the music was broken by a snap of Willow’s fingers.
Someone dragged Lewis away, groaning and sputtering and spitting blood onto the floor, as the path to Willow cleared again and the music returned.
“A show of force can be a good thing in a place like this, right?” Andrew said to the floor before looking up embarrassedly.
Embarrassedthat he’d just come to Isaac’s rescue. “Willow seems to think so,” Isaac said, warm and grateful and a little turned on all at once. He grabbed Andrew’s arm to lead him forward so the onlookers would stop staring.
Willow sat alone now in the center of her large booth, save two bodyguards at either end. “Mr. Wen, you sure know how to make an entrance.”
“He deserved it,” Andrew said simply. “You know me? I didn’t even know you existed until Ford said your name.”
“And you have no idea how much that pleases me.” Her attention swiveled to Isaac. “You could have just sent a message, Arty.”
“That would have taken too long. This needed to happen tonight.”
“I assume you’re not looking for a job then, unless you two are here for another career change.”
“You know why I’m here, Will. You didn’t send that note with Boyega’s obituary just to tempt me back into the business. You really thought this new thief might be me. Which means they’re acting more likeArtificethan I thought.”
Andrew startled. It was as close to a true confession as Isaac had ever given in his presence, but he knew that wasn’t what had Andrew staring, because he had to realize what this meant too.
“Someone’s using my old codes in the classifieds, aren’t they?”
“Bingo.” Willow snapped a finger-gun at him. “I thought, if it wasn’t you, you’d have noticed by now, but I suppose with you out of the game, why would anyone think to look for the same old trick? Those codes were so hard to prove.” She grinned at Andrew.
“I remember,” he said.
