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“No. I don’t have time.” He pulled his hand out of his coat pocket and opened his hand. A flash drive sat on his palm.
“All right.” She shouldn’t waste time, either. If Bastian’s texting her, he was at the house already. Better for her to hurry up with this little exchange and go straight back to Garrick’s.
He plucked the envelope from her hand just as she swiped up the flash drive. She couldn’t help but feel a little slimy at the way this entire exchange happened. He tore open the envelope and thumbed through what looked like bills.
“What’s this?” she asked, looking at the drive.
“It’s the order she placed. The delivery information is on there.” He jerked his chin toward the flash drive.
The door to the cafe opened behind Ariella, ringing the little bell over the door frame. His face went tight.
“Everything is there,” he said quickly, ducking his head into the upturned collar of his coat and stuffing his hands into his pockets. She looked at the drive again, still unsure what was happening, but when she glanced backup, he was already half a block away. He dodged between two parked cars and jogged across the street.
“Ariella?”
Her body went rigid. She tucked the drive into her pocket and slowly turned around.
Jackson glared down at her, a coffee in his hand.
Dammit.
“Jackson.” She cleared her throat. “Hi.”
He raised an eyebrow, and the damn thing arched the same way Garrick’s did, reminding her of exactly what he’d told her that morning. About what he’d do to her if she did exactly what she had just done.
“Does my brother know you’re here?” He looked down the street. “And that you were meeting that man?”
She swallowed, feeling her throat closing up. “He’s aware I had a meeting planned.” Sort of true. Not really, but it could technically be considered true. Maybe. “And now it’s done, so I’m going to head back. Nice to see you again.”
Jackson pulled out his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket.
“Okay then.” She turned on her heel, ready to track down a cab to get her back to Garrick’s house.
“Hey, Garrick.” Jackson’s voice cemented her feet to the ground. “Remember what we talked about earlier, about Ares?” She clenched her teeth, praying as hard as she’d ever prayed before that the cell service would die. “Ariella is here, and I’m pretty sure she just…yeah…well, the way she’s acting I’d say I’m right….no, don’t see him here now…I was just headed to Ash’s to meet with him and Peter…yeah.”
She willed her feet to move, promised she’d never do anything wrong ever again if her feet would just get her as far away from this man as possible.
“Sure. We’ll meet you there.”
* * *
* * *
“Are those gargoyles?”Ariella rolled down the window and stuck her head out as far as she could to look up at the gothic creatures perched at the top of the massive house.
“Get back in the car,” Jackson tugged on her coat as he pulled his car to a stop in front of the set of arched double doors.
She resettled herself in the passenger seat and turned to him. It was stunning how much he looked like Garrick, but she could easily see the differences as well. Garrick’s nose was slightly wider, his lips definitely fuller, and his eyes were at least a full shade darker.
“You’re really going to drag me in there?”
Jackson unbuckled his seatbelt and turned off the car.
“I’d rather not. It’ll piss off my brother and I’m not in the mood to deal with him, so just do me a favor and go in there on your own.” He flashed her a look then climbed out of the car.
She could very well make his afternoon worse by making him drag her in. Let Garrick spew his irritation at his brother instead of her. However, that plan could easily backfire, so with a grumble, she climbed out of the car and met Jackson at the foot of the stairs.
The door opened just as they stepped onto the porch. Her breath caught in her throat.
