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“The very one,” he says with a sly smile. “As for procuring it? Well, that’s up to you.” He looks me up and down again, with a much more carnal expression this time. “I’m sure you have… ways of getting close to powerful men.”
Fuck.
Of all the people in the world, he wants something from the one who saved my life?
Even considering it is making me dizzy with anticipated guilt.
Reese glances at my face, then shrugs and turns his back on me. “Of course, if that’s too much for you, we can always go back to plan A. The blonde still has twenty-two hours to come up with the drugs or the money before I have to take matters into my own hands.”
“No,” I say sharply. “I can do it. What does the artifact look like?”
He grins and holds up a finger, disappearing for a moment. When he returns, he hands me a photograph. The object in the picture is a little pyramid, maybe made of polished wood or tarnished bronze, carved all over with perpendicular lines and runes of some kind. The same symbol that’s painted on the outside of the building is carved on one side of the pyramid.
“My information tells me that he keeps it in his private lounge, just down the hall from his public office. It’s a private space, a man cave of sorts. You should have no trouble wiggling your way inside.”
He’s been moving closer to me as he speaks, so slowly I almost didn’t notice at first. He’s inches away from me now, close enough for me to smell his cheap cologne and singed hair. At least I think that’s what I’m smelling—definitely something burnt. I take a few steps back toward the door.
“Got it,” I tell him. “Pyramid artifact, private lounge, Lucas Hale. And if I get this thing, you’ll leave my sister alone?”
Reese spreads his hands in a beguiling gesture that looks completely wrong on him. “Her and Jason both, as if I’ve never even met him. You get this for me, and the slate will be wiped clean.”
God, I don’t want to do this. I know there’s no choice, but fuck. What a way to repay a guy for saving your life.
“Okay,” I tell him, raising the photograph. “I’ll get it for you. Just give me a little time.”
The man nods and gestures to the door with his chin. My feet leap into motion immediately, wasting not even a fraction of a second as I hurry out. I’m doing my best to keep hold of the typhoon of emotions swirling inside me, but as I walk out of that damned building and spot the cab driver pulling up to the curb, a quiet sob bursts from my chest. I’m grateful to have this perfect stranger remind me that there’s still some good in humanity at a time like this.
I gush my thanks as I climb into the back seat and pull the door closed. As I settle on the seat, I pull my knees up to my chest, silently saying to hell with the seat belt. I can feel the driver’s worried gaze on me as I tell him where to go, but all I can do is bury my face against my legs.
God, I hate myself for what I’m going to have to do.
No, wait, I take that back.I really fucking hate Jason.
Chapter4
Sophia
“Wait, and youagreed?”
Cassidy pushes my hand away to glare at me. The swelling has gone down a little, but not much. I give her a look, then put the ice pack back on her eye. She allows it, but makes a point of glaring at me with her good eye.
“Yes, I agreed. It’s the only way to get you out of this. Trust me, if there was any other way, I’d take it.”
“There has to be,” she says, gesturing with one hand. “We could go to the cops or something, couldn’t we?”
I give her a flat look. “Sure, Cassidy, we could do that. And by the time they decide to deal with it, it’ll definitely be their top priority. Homicide is always top priority.”
She goes pale as she catches on to my meaning, then scowls. “Not funny.”
“I agree,” I tell her emphatically. “It’s not funny at all. It would bewayfunnier if I just told the guy, hey, Jason’s a dumb-ass and he lied to you, and he said, oh no way? Okay, guess the girl is off my shit list, have a nice day! And we just laughed and laughed about it. My sides hurt just thinking about it.”
She makes a frustrated noise in her throat. “But why do you have to fix it? This is dangerous, Sophia.Lucas Hale?He’s not some small-time collector, he basically fucking runs L.A.! What happens if he catches you?Whenhe catches you? If you’re lucky, he’ll have you arrested. But Soph, he’s a powerful guy. He wouldn’t even need to work with the police, he could just make you disappear.”
I’m trying to picture the Lucas Hale, who saved my literal life, giving the order to make me sleep with the fishes. It isn’t nearly as incongruous as I want it to be… I can almost hear his low, smoky voice giving the order, can almost see the touch of sadness in his beautiful eyes, the steel resolve in his shoulders.
“So I won’t get caught,” I tell her as I shake off the image.
She pushes my hand away again, her brows drawing together. “That’s not good enough! Damn it, Sophia, who died and made you the fixer of everything?”
