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“Did you hear about those tourists found dead in their hotel room about three weeks ago?” Regent asked.
“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Maxim tried to recall what he’d read. “Don’t remember hearing about the cause of death.”
“Cops finally figured out they’d taken this new drug called Mixology.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Maxim said grimly.
“We’ve kept it out of our city until now,” Victor said. “But someone has found a way of bringing it in. With the Ventura Gang gone, there was a hole in the city that someone thinks they get to plug.”
The Ventura Gang had been basically destroyed a few months ago after they’d joined forces with Carlos Santiago to try to get rid of them. But they’d wiped them out because they’d dared to go after Gracen. No one went after their family and survived.
“You haven’t heard of anyone taking it at your clubs?” Regent asked.
“You know I would have told you if I had,” Maxim replied. “But I’ll have everyone keep an ear out at all the clubs. We don’t want that shit being distributed. Hadn’t heard of it killing anyone before now though.”
“Rumor is that it was a bad batch,” Regent said.
Great. That’s just what they needed.
“Just let me know if you see or hear anything,” Regent commanded. “I want to get my hands on some to have it tested myself.”
“What about whoever is smuggling it in?” he asked.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find them,” Victor said grimly.
And when his brothers found them, they were toast.
5
Aston scowled as she stomped her way down the hallway to her apartment. She’d thought yesterday was bad enough. Getting stuck in an elevator was surely the worst thing that could’ve happened, right?
But nooo. Then she had to go and try to help her boss. Only for her boss to make her feel like a school child who’d spoken out to turn.
Yep, yesterday had sucked monkey balls.
Yet, somehow, today was awful too. Her boss had asked her to run a million errands. Which wouldn’t be so bad if she had her own car. But instead, she had to take the bus or walk. And while walking, she’d tripped over an uneven bit of pavement and twisted her ankle.
So not only did she have to walk up seven flights of stairs to her apartment, but she had to do it with a limp.
Awesome.
Even though the elevator had apparently been checked and was now working, she wasn’t going to risk using it.
No. Way.
As she approached her apartment, she noticed something sitting in front of the door.
She picked the item up and stared down at the brand-new, still in its packaging travel mug.
With a rainbow on the front.
Couldn’t be a coincidence.
But why would Maxim Malone buy her this?
Something that felt like happiness filled her.
This made no sense. She didn’t think he even liked her.
“Oh, Aston, there you are. You’re late.”
She glanced over at her neighbor, Eva, with a sigh. She wanted to argue that she couldn’t be late when she wasn’t actually supposed to be anywhere.
But that would sound bitchy. And she was trying to be nice. As hard as it was some days.
So she plastered on a smile and turned to her neighbor. “Hi, Eva. How are you?”
“Tired. Felix was awake all night.”
Felix was sitting in a front pack, currently sticking his fist into his mouth. Aston liked kids. It was hard not to like them. But she really, really wasn’t in the mood for what she knew Eva was about to ask.
“Can you look after the kids for a few hours? I just want to meet Dan downtown for a couple of drinks. We’ll be back by ten.”
Sure they would. Last time they’d told her that, they’d stumbled in the door at one in the morning.
She didn’t want to sound like a prude, but it had been a weekday. While Aston hardly slept, there was a difference between sitting awake at home, and waiting for her neighbors to stumble home so she could leave.
When she was with the kids she always had this low-level anxiety humming under her skin, stressed that something would happen to them and she wouldn’t know what to do. That they’d get hurt or fall ill.
The stress usually made her stomach ache to the point that she vowed every time that she’d say no the next time they’d ask.
Well, this time she wasn’t doing it. She was going to grow a backbone and tell her no.
“I’m sorry, I really—”
“I knew you’d say yes,” Eva spoke over her, as though she couldn’t even conceive that Aston would say no. “Thanks so much. Fletcher has a bit of a cold, so there’s some medicine on the table for him. Just follow the directions and give it to him before he goes to bed. I just need to go finish getting ready. You can come over now, right?”
