AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jill?” She taps the side of her nose. “Lena, girl, I’m sleeping with the enemy. For you, I sacrifice a lot.”
“Jill—” I stop, look at her.
“Jac, Jill. It’s a nickname.”
“I figured as much. Your Jill’s fucking hot.”
“Luck of the draw?” But she pauses. “Are you sure?” She glances at the necklace.
“I’m sure.” Make a fake, pull another quick grift, I think, trying to tell myself I mean it. “I told Hendrick it’s best we do things as we always do. You hang on to them. And yes. I’m sure.”
Doubt grows. “I’ll get on it first thing,” she says, “do all the verifications, and so on. And then we should meet, put together all the info.Talk.”
We can’t right now because of Jac’s Jill. But I also don’t want to be away too long. Just in case I was followed by whoever took me. Dropping in late to check on my friend’s explainable. Dropping in and staying might be deemed suspicious.
They know where I am because of the trackers, and this is pushing the limit for a drop off and a chat.
“I think, under the circumstances, we should cross all the I’s and dot all the T’s.”
She nods. “Gotcha.” She searches my face. “Those bruises…” But all Harry does is shake her head. “I’ll do that and put it in the safe.”
I get up and head for the door.
“Call,” she says. “We’ll do lunch.”
Hendrick doesn’t come back. Not that night, not the next day, and I keep staring at my phone but he doesn’t call me. Jac doesn’t fucking call, either.
Both of them, AWOL.
And… Shit. I hate this. Hate whatever’s changed in the dynamic.
It’s not the sex.
It’s not even what we all did together.
It’s on a deeper, more intangible level, and I’m careening from emotion to emotion, all of them new, like I’m somehow no longer the one in charge of the game, like it’s all gotten real, far more real than ever before.
I pace Hendrick’s apartment. It’s around seven now, and I just got word from Harry.
A picture of a candy necklace, and I smile. Everything’s good on her end. Fuck, I love her. She’s really the best of me.
With a sigh I go back to research. There are tons of photos of people at Quinate, Quinate-attended parties, and events online, going back years. And all official photos and inside ‘candids’ are all done by Lacey Photography, the studio Harry and I broke into what now seems a lifetime ago.
I make a mental note about looking into their stuff further, to see if any of the pieces we got from the iPad match up with Quinate wives through the years. Or even lovers.
The burner buzzes, and I scramble for it.
And I almost retch at the photo.
When Jac said the girl with Hendrick was young and hot, he was playing it down. She’s fresh faced, about twenty, and the most perfect breasts I think I’ve ever seen.
They’re a few cups bigger than mine and her body is youthful sleek, curved, and she’s on his lap, thighs spread. And she’s pierced, glistening like she’s beyond turned on by him.
Or he’d just finished fingering her.
Hendrick’s hand is low on her stomach and above her pubis, not touching anything intimate, but…
I want to kill him.
