“I want to hear more about the booty call part of these weekends,” he said.
Damn Jessup for having to say that within earshot of Kade.
“While I’m traveling, I occasionally meet someone at the hotel who doesn’t know about Castanegas or the Fringe. Or Crescents.”
“A Mundane?”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. Very ordinary, but still…”
“I get it. For a weekend, you’re someone else. No one judges you.”
“It’s not that I’m ashamed of who I am. I just need a break from the judgment. And I don’t meet a guy every time I’m out of town. I’m not desperate. It’s got to be the right guy, the right situation.” Though for the life of her, she couldn’t remember any of them at the moment. She tilted her head. “You sound like you’ve been judged. But you’re the top of the Crescent heap.” And gorgeous, confident. Sexy as hell.
He nodded toward the building. “As a Vega, I’m judged here.” He tugged his sleeve down to cover the tip of his dagger.
“True. I guess I never thought about that.”
“You judged me the same way I judged you, isn’t that right?”
“I guess it’s a mutual disdain thing. We should go in now.”
She headed to the door, and he fell in line beside her. “Is there one particular guy you hook up with during these weekends? Or a guy you’ve met up with more than once?”
“Now you’re just getting nosy.”
He shrugged but didn’t look the least bit chagrined. “It’s my nature.” He gave her time to answer. When she didn’t, he nodded toward her hand. “What’s in the package?”
“Alligator meat. I threw it in as incentive for Marshall, the Peregrine patriarch, to meet me. I happen to know he’s a big fan of it.”
He wrinkled his nose, which made him look adorable. “I suppose it tastes like chicken?”
“Better than chicken.” She started heading to the building again. “Marshall isn’t going to talk with you there.”
Kade slung his arm over her shoulders. “I’ll be the distracted guy, just hanging around, not really paying attention. But I’ll be paying careful attention, trust me.”
He oozed lazy casualness, making her wonder what the real Kade Kavanaugh was like. Dedicated Vega, for sure. Totally sexy, a little bit playful, and extremely adept with his tongue—don’t go there. Gods, a tantalizing combination of male. Dedicated enough to investigate the murders on his own time, and for that she was grateful. Now all she had to do was not let herself get too grateful. Because his arm across her shoulders and the proprietary way he pulled her close to his side as they entered the bar felt nice. Very nice.
Smoke and music assaulted them the moment Kade opened the door for her. Conversation and laughter from the back corner where the pool tables were all the norm. Everyone in the place glanced at the door—the norm whenever someone entered Ernie’s. Several gazes remained on her, or, more precisely, Kade. She nodded at a few people but sought out Marshall, alone in the back near the dartboards. He sat slouched in the chair, legs apart, dusty cowboy boots flat on the wood floor.
She moved out of Kade’s hold and wended her way through the maze of tables, pulling him along by the hand. Marshall’s gaze narrowed on Kade behind her. She sat down and angled her thumb at him. “This is a friend of mine, Sebastian. We met at a plant nursery in Naples and became, um, friends. I didn’t know he was coming to see me, but he’s here.” She shrugged in a What can I do? way and turned to him. “Go play darts, Sebastian.”
He gave her a look that seemed to say Sebastian? Really? But he took his cue with a “Sure thing, babe,” and ambled over to an available dartboard. Babe. It should annoy her, but he was playing a role, after all. The only thing that did annoy her was the way the word echoed through her body. She’d never been anyone’s babe before. He sorted through the house darts, the flights all pretty mangled, and then laid three in the palm of his hand.
Focus.
She handed the package to Marshall. “Thanks for meeting me. Arlo was killed this morning.” Okay, she hadn’t meant to blurt it out like that. But Marshall needed to know she also had something at stake.
“Sorry to hear that. Heard Shirley August bit it, too. Seems like things are heating up in the Fringe again.”
“Someone’s trying to heat things up. Liam was the first to get killed. Peter Wolfrum was next.”
Marshall’s upper lip twitched, enough to give away his part in that death.
“You had reason to believe Peter was the one who killed Liam,” she said.
He hesitated, obviously not sure he wanted to admit it. His gaze shifted to Kade, who was completely immersed in trying to hit the bull’s-eye. At least he seemed to be. She knew better. Between their soft words and the loud music, she wasn’t sure how clearly he could hear their conversation.
“There’s a code here,” she said. “You kill one of ours, we kill one of yours. I don’t think you attacked the Wolfrums unprovoked.”
