AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I frowned, and her smile widened.
“Come on!” she insisted. “What can you possibly be doing that I haven’t already seen?”
She did have a point there, and I realized I had already relented before she had pleaded her case.
“Fine,” I grumbled, as if she had convinced me, and she bounced up from the table gleefully.
“Excellent!” she cooed, dropping her napkin on the table. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll meet you at the car.”
* * *
This evening’serrands were far less involved than the night I had gone to Andrei’s. Typically, I would send my men to collect on my debts and reap any outstanding debts that had not been paid in monetary ways, but occasionally, more serious matters required my immediate attention.
Like Henrietta Lane, for example, from whom I had been trying to collect my payment for over a month.
Perhaps it was a blessing that Briar had opted to come this evening. Something strange had happened every time that my men had gone to get my money from the brothel owner. They had all returned empty-handed without any explanation as to why.
“She’ll have it next week,” was the only refrain I’d received for the past four weeks in a row, and I suspected that perhaps Henrietta had found a way to pay off my boys in other ways.
“When we get to the next place, I want you to go in and speak with the madam,” I informed Briar. “Her name is Henrietta.”
“M-madam?” Briar echoed with a stutter. “As in…”
“As in, she’s the owner of a brothel, yes.”
Briar’s eyes popped, and I sighed in exasperation.
“Is that going to be a problem?”
“No,” Briar giggled, excitement crossing over her face. “I’ve always wanted to see what the inside of one of those places looks like.”
“Well, now you’ll have your chance,” I replied. “She owes me quite a sum, and she knows it. Simply inform her that you’re there to collect.”
Briar narrowed her eyes slightly. “Should I be armed or something?”
I scowled. “She’s not going to hurt you,” I promised. “You think I’d send you somewhere that would put you in danger?”
I didn’t add that I would be following her because I wanted to know what shenanigans Henrietta was up to when my collectors came calling.
Briar’s face relaxed, and she settled back against the seat.
“What would my father say if he could see me now?” she mumbled, more to herself than to me.
I cast her a sidelong look, wondering if she missed the good doctor. I still hadn’t heard a word from Barney, and I was wondering if he had just left his daughter and decided to take off with the money. I hadn’t told Briar about the blood oath, and despite her upset toward Barney for what he’d done, I was certain she wouldn’t take the news well.
But there were still a few days left before we had to cross that bridge.
Royce pulled the SUV up to a beautiful colonial-style house in the center of town, the exterior illuminated by hundreds of string lights.
Briar looked at me for directions, and I nodded toward the wide steps leading up to the wraparound porch.
“Just go to the front door and announce who you are and what you want,” I told her.
She paled slightly. “You’re sure she won’t try to kill me?”
“I’m sure.”
Briar flashed me a quick smile. “I suppose dead bodies are bad for business,” she quipped.
