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“What is?” I asked.
“A dog trainer,” she told me, smirking.
“Yes, well, you know how they behave when they are let off their leashes,” I told her, getting a humorless laugh.
“Chasing after every bitch in heat,” she suggested.
“Well, yes. But not if they’re scared of having their balls chopped off,” I added, shooting Fenway a saccharine smile as I rearranged my hand, knowing I’d won again.
“Oh, I’m not a cheater,” he said, eyes narrowing as I laid down my cards for him to see. “Unlike some people,” he added, raising his brows at me. “There’s no way you have that hand.”
“Oh, hush, and hand over the twenty grand, darling,” I added, getting a big smile out of him. Eye crinkles and all.
I could get used to that look directed at me.
Maybe, if I was lucky, I could.
After I was done taking all his money, that is.
Priorities.
FIFTEEN
Fenway
I imagine other men might have run for their lives when her truth came out. Perhaps that was even the most prudent of choices.
But, really, when had anyone ever accused me of being careful?
Besides, many jobs were steeped in suffering of some sort. Everything from food production to finance to fast fashion. There was harm done whether it was human or animal or environmental. It would be hypocritical to judge her for causing harm if I didn’t go out of my way to blame others for their negative impact on the world.
And on top of all of that, there was the simple fact that I believed her. Women could fake things. And fake them well. That panic attack and breakdown in the limo? That was real. She couldn’t have faked that. The Wasp I knew would have been too mortified even to try. Her mask was the cool, calm, and collected sort.
She cared about me.
If it wasn’t love yet, it was heading in that direction.
She left because she was moments away from telling me the truth. And she was terrified that by doing so, she would not only ruin any future since she thought I couldn’t trust her, but also lose out on the money. It was the definition of a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation.
I didn’t blame her for taking stock and running.
Lesser men would have wanted groveling, would have wanted her begging for forgiveness, tearfully swearing she would never lie to me ever again. My forgiveness didn’t need to be earned on the back of her pride. If your ego required someone else to make themselves small to be able to welcome them back into your life, maybe it was time to reevaluate your relationship dynamic.
After she took me—and Aero—for all we were worth, we went back to my room at the hotel, falling into bed and each other for hours before her phone started—and refused to stop—ringing.
“It’s probably Raven,” Wasp told me, grumbling as she rolled off my chest, walking bare-ass naked out into the living space to grab her phone out of her purse. I went ahead and enjoyed the view before climbing out of bed and following, going for my own phone, texting Alvy, telling him to send Raven flowers and set up a meeting with Richard Balefire, half paying attention to Wasp’s conversation that started with her trying to sound firm while telling her friend she was in big trouble, then slipping into excited whispers as she recounted the evening.
“She wants to officially meet you,” Wasp told me after hanging up. “Expect very harsh judgment. And some veiled threats.”
“Hate to break it to you, darling, but your best friend is more of the direct threat sort of woman.”
“She already did it? And I missed it? Damn. Did she threaten to jam something up your urethra? Because that’s my threat.”
“It involved a boating accident that would never be traced back to her.”
“She’s perfectly capable of that,” Wasp declared, moving over toward me, dropping down on my lap, reaching for the scotch I had discarded before the casino.
“I don’t need Raven’s threats. You scare me enough,” I told her, tugging her hair.
“As I should,” she agreed, giving me the glass to finish as she leaned her head on my shoulder. “So, aren’t you at least a little bit curious?” she asked.
“About what?”
“Who hired me,” she said, shaking her head a little. “That was a lot of money. I don’t think your little trust fund chasers would have been able to bankroll the job.
“You don’t have a check?”
“We did it crypto. Normally, they’d pay cash or Paypal me. But because it was so much, I wanted it in crypto. It’s a bit more complicated to turn it back into USD, but it saved me from having to worry as much about the IRS. I have enough of an issue explaining my profession to them every year.”
“You actually pay your taxes?” I asked, snorting. “What criminal pays taxes?”
