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His lip twitched. “An old friend.”
“Oh yeah? He didn’t seem that fucking friendly with you.”
Emrick dropped into his seat. “What do you want from me, Mike? One doesn’t make many friends in my business.”
“What if he finds Tate? Why didn’t you ask him to stay so we can work together?”
Emrick shrugged. “We don’t need him.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I know. Now…” he held up a finger, and I gritted my teeth as I cut off my protest, “… we need to figure out whatwe’regoing to do about our mutual friend now that your boyfriend is safe with my dear brother—”
Credit to Emrick that when the balcony door flew open the second time, he was on his feet once again with his gun pointed faster than I had registered what was happening. I recognized Ilsa and Ray at the same second Emrick did, but he didn’t lower his gun, instead shouting, “Doesn’t anybody have any fucking respect anymore? This is my fuckingbusiness.”
Ray simply arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to lower the gun?” Emrick did, a vein twitching in his neck and his jaw clenched tight while Ray regarded him. “You know your bouncers are unconscious, right?”
“All of them?”
“All of them. Someone flew in here like a fucking tornado. I’m impressed.”
Emrick scowled. “Just an old friend.”
Ilsa scoffed out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, right.”
“Enough! I’m not here for your goddamn drama. What did you find out?”
Ray looked ready to argue with me at my outburst, flicking her long hair over her shoulder before Ilsa held her arm out and threw her a significant look that I can only assume meantrein yourself in. “We finally found Earl, and he looked much too pleased with himself.”
“Earl?” I asked. This was the second time he had been mentioned in as many minutes. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but where I had heard it before, I couldn’t remember.
“Demon, old, very old. Powerful and corrupt as hell. He’ll do anything for money.” Ray cast a glance at Emrick. “I believe he worked for you at some point.”
Emrick shrugged. “I’ve hired him once or twice.”
Ray rolled her eyes. “You have no standards at all, do you?”
“Careful, I seem to remember hiring you as well.”
Ray pouted and made another scoffing sound but said nothing further. After a beat with my heart drumming in my chest and images of Tate hovering behind my eyes, I finally snapped. Was I the only one here with a sense of urgency? I wanted this over and done with so I could go back to my life and finally stop being chased by my past.
Maybe there was a future with Jacob if he still felt the same even after the adrenaline from all this was gone.
“And?” I exploded, throwing my arms up. “What did you find out?”
“He knows something, but he’ll only speak to you.” Ilsa gave me a significant look, and I had no idea how to translate it.
“He doesn’t even know me.”
“Evidently, he knowsofyou.”
“I don’t like it,” Ray chimed in. “It sounds like a setup. I wanted to cut him until he gave us answers, but the guy gives me the creeps.”
I moved toward the door. There was no question. Last night Jacob had submitted to me, and afterward, we had connected on another level. Every second I spent with him was forging a connection that was something beyond a demon bonding, something that I couldn’t touch or see. He was under my skin, inside my head, and in every beat of my heart. I wanted him every day for the rest of mine, and right now, every step I took was about keeping him safe. “I have to go.”
Emrick stood. “I’m coming too.”
“You don’t seem a team-player type.”
