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It took every ounce of my willpower not to glance back after her and see which office she was heading toward. We walked on into the stairwell, my heart thumping twice as hard as before.
We hadn’t gotten caught, but I had no idea whether the woman we’d just passed was a threat or not. Anyone in this city could be tied to Dad’s murder, and I’d never know it.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Madelyn
Itried to lounge in my chair in the Vigil office with the sort of casual air Slade had perfected, but I couldn’t stop myself from fidgeting.
Any minute now, Beckett was going to arrive. I’d convinced the Vigil guys to meet up with him so the three guys I’d been seeing would know who each other was and maybe feel a little more at ease about the fact that I was dating all of them, but part of me wasn’t sure it was such a good idea.
Well, if any of them freaked out about the situation, I guessed that would be useful information too.
Logan and Slade had wanted to have the meeting here in the office, presumably because they felt more comfortable on their home turf. I couldn’t imagine them wanting to invite a guy who was a stranger to them into their apartment when evenIhad only been granted access once. But the same tension I felt hummed through the air between them too.
Slade had just popped a cinnamon candy and was clicking it between his teeth as he studied the book he had open on his lap. His pose might be casual, but I didn’t think he’d turned a page in at least five minutes. Dexter wasn’t quite as affected as the others, but his gaze had gotten twitchier since we’d settled in to wait.
And Logan was scowling at the laptop where theoretically he was working on an assignment for one of his classes.
He shut it with an abrupt thump and spun his chair toward me. “What do you know about this Beckett guy anyway?”
It was kind of a relief to talk about it instead of stewing in silence. “He’s twenty-three and he works in his family’s business, which involves real estate among other things. It seems like it’s a pretty big and well-established company. He cares a lot about his work, and he likes that I’m passionate about my studies too. He’s a good guy—he’s always been considerate with me, and he appreciates my interests.”
Logan’s mouth tightened momentarily, maybe as he recalled that until recentlyhehadn’t been all that considerate of my feelings. “What else?”
I held myself back from rolling my eyes. I didn’t think he wanted a recap of how it felt to kiss Beckett or how tailored his suits appeared to be. “I’ve only gone out with him a few times. I don’t have a detailed file of his life history. Anyway, some of that would be up to him to tell you, not me.”
“You’ve gotten to know him well enough to have mentioned us to him,” Slade pointed out.
“Yeah, because I’m trying to be honest witheveryoneabout the fact that I’m not settling down with just one guy at the moment. You’re important to me, and he’s becoming important to me too, and I want to make sure that isn’t going to be a problem.”
Logan still looked skeptical. “And it was his idea to meet us?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “Beckett doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with me seeing him and you at the same time, and he thought you two might feel better about the situation if you got to know him a bit. Like I said, he’s a good guy.”
Logan made a noncommittal sound and exchanged a cryptic glance with Slade. Dexter appeared to be pretending none of this was even happening, peering at his phone as if it were the most fascinating item on the planet.
I narrowed my eyes at my stepbrother. “You need to at least be civil with him. If you decide you don’t like him, I don’t want to hear about it until after he’s gone.”
I didn’t get to find out what Logan would have said in response to that demand, because just then a knock sounded on the door.
“It’s open,” Slade hollered automatically. “Come on in.”
I tensed in my chair, but I should have known Beckett could take care of himself. He stepped inside, his gray eyes meeting mine for just a moment. As he shut the door behind him, he took in the room’s other inhabitants. He was wearing a typical dress shirt and slacks that looked more expensive than anything I had in my college student wardrobe, his sandy hair neatly combed back, his stance loose but authoritative.
He nodded to the guys with a small but relaxed smile. “Hey. I’m glad you agreed to meet up with me. As I’m sure Maddie’s already told you, I’m Beckett.”
He stepped forward easily, extending his hand to Logan first as if he sensed who was the most domineering out of the three. Logan’s gaze hardened, but he got to his feet and accepted the handshake. “Logan.”
Slade raised his hand in a little wave from the chair he hadn’t left. “Slade. And the quiet one in the back is Dexter.”
Dexter studied Beckett for a moment with a shift of his phone that made me wonder if he’d taken a picture of the other guy. It’d figure.
I’d scrambled to my feet at Beckett’s entrance. I went over to stand next to him, hesitating and then daring to bob up and give him a quick peck on the cheek. When I turned back to face the other guys, Logan’s gaze was so searing you’d have thought he was trying to incinerate Beckett by sheer force of will.
“I’m still not totally sure why you wanted to see us so much,” Logan said in a voice that wasn’t outright hostile but definitely curt.
I glowered at him. “Logan.”
