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As soon as Dylan reached the table, Ari asked, “What are you doing here?”
She dropped her eyes to her feet, which scuffed against the floor. Her voice faltered, stuttering as if it was painful to admit. “I ... really need— I mean ... want to talk to you.”
“I’m kind of in the middle of something,” Ari said, her tone making an excuse not to talk sound more like an order to leave.
Ari’s eyes darted between Dylan and the man across from her, making the scene very uneasy for everyone at the table. Dylan couldn’t just walk away, not before she tried to make things right between them. “I’m sorry for interrupting you, but it’s important.”
“Fine. But not now. I’ll meet you back at your place this afternoon. I’m a little busy with”—she paused—“my Uncle Kevin.”
The waning smile on the man told Dylan she needed to leave. She nodded, taking that as a sign of being cast off and never forgiven. A classic brush-off she had used before when trying to rid herself of a needy girlfriend. When she turned away with a sulking stance, Ari called her name.
Her eyes cast a glimmer of hope. “I promise I’ll meet you at your place.”
Satisfied, Dylan offered a nod with a small curl of her lips. Just as she stepped outside, she noticed a woman run from the building. The familiar jaunt of this woman caught Dylan’s attention, and at that moment, she knew who it belonged to, so she called out, “Maxi?”
The woman stopped in her tracks and turned around. The feigned innocence on her face was a trick Dylan saw right through. They had danced to this tune before, but Maxi still played the part.
“Dylan, darling. I didn’t see you there. What are you doing out at this hour? I would have thought you’d be home, catching up on some much-needed beauty sleep.”
Maxi’s presence in this area of the city was more out of place than Dylan’s. “I’d ask you the same thing. You’ve never been the type to slum it in the burbs.”
“And you are? I thought I taught you well enough to be above all—.”
Dylan cut her off, holding up her hand. “We both know that’s not true. Were you following me?”
“Me?” With a dramatic grasp of her chest, Maxi asked, “Why would I follow you, Dylan, my love?”
“I know you are not my biggest fan right now and you clearly don’t trust me.”
As cliché as it sounded, Maxi pointed to the café. “It’s not you that I don’t trust. It’s her!” The animosity Maxi displayed toward Ari was dangerously close to appearing as jealousy. “Do you know who she is talking to?”
The question sparked confusion, even more than Maxi being on a side of town twenty steps beneath her. With a shake of her head, Dylan asked, “What’s really going on here?”
“Do you know who she is talking to?” Maxi asked again, as if it played some significant role in their lives.
“Her uncle.”
A belly of a laugh exploded from Maxi’s stomach as she shook her head. “Is that what she told you?”
“Yes. Her Uncle Kevin.”
That laugh turned into something more sinister as Maxi stepped forth with her chest puffed. Just inches from Dylan’s face, Maxi asserted her dominance. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but your girl is lying to you.”
“Why would she lie to me about her uncle?”
Maxi placed her arm around Dylan, pulling her away from the front of the building. As they walked around the corner, Maxi told her story. “It leads me to believe that she is the impostor, the spy who has infiltrated our domain. That man is Terry Bradwell, the editor for CityBeats. The same man who just published the names of many of our members.”
Dylan pushed Maxi off of her, not believing the story. “What? Impossible! There’s no way Ari is some secret agent spy. And how are you so sure that guy works for CityBeats?”
With a devious grin etched across Maxi’s face, she said, “I think I know my ex-fiancé when I see him.”
Dylan stepped back. Shocked by the bombshell of news smacking down on her like a ton of bricks. The accusation against Ari was one thing, but Maxi never mentioned a long-term relationship before, let alone be it with a man. “What? A fiancé? You’ve never told me about this.”
“It was so long ago. A different life that I wish not to remember.” Maxi’s expression softened, but Dylan still had a hard time believing any of it.
None of it made sense. Ari, a snitch? Maxi, engaged? There were so many scenarios running through Dylan’s mind as the head of security. She should have seen through all of it, especially Ari.
“So, assuming you are right–”
