The Arrangement Anthology 2(101)

I glance at Trystan and give him a death look. "You told him?"

Trystan is slumped back into the seat across from me. It showcases his age. I forget that Sean is older. Trystan has a lazy confidence that speaks volumes. It says he's doing what he thinks is best and that I'm a moron.

Jabbing his thumb at the bodyguard, Trystan explains, "I had to tell him. As it is, he wanted to kill me for disappearing last night and not telling them. If I get shot, they don't get paid. It's the ultimate job failure when you're in his profession. Hence, the irritation at your impending idiocy." Trystan offers a crooked grin.

I want to punch him. "So what would you do, Muscle Man? Crack Henry Thomas like a crab leg and toss him into the bay?"

"That's one way to find out, however sublety is more desirable in this situation. What if my boy is seen with you and caught up in this mess? Did you think of him at all before you dragged him into this with you?" Holy shit, he's scolding me? Trystan sits there, bright blue eyes sparkling, trying not to laugh. My mouth opens to defend myself, but the guy doesn't stop. "And another thing, what the fuck do you think is going to happen here? You really think you can march up to this guy's front door and he'll just tell you that he's been trying to put a bullet in your head? Things don't work that way princess, wake up."

I blink at him. "Are you done?"

"No." But the man doesn't add anything else.

When he doesn't speak, I say, "I'll be able to tell."

"Uh-uh." The big man looks out the window, not even asking me to elaborate.

"I know this guy."

"Yeah, as if your gut instinct is perfect." The guy practically growls at me.

My eyes flick to Trystan. "What's he talking about?"

"Miss Black," Trystan replies.

"You told him that too!"

"No, he already knew." Trystan and I look at the bodyguard with questions in our eyes. "I like how no one calls her by her first name."

The big man visibly shivers and works his jaw before he can manage to spit some words out. "It's because her first name is Satan. Do you know how many men I've worked with that have been lured away by her? Let's just say that I've heard stories and no amount of money could make me consider working for her."

I'm not sure if he's talking about being a bodyguard or not. The guy is majorly creeped out and I'm not sure why. "You wouldn't be a bodyguard for one of her girls?"

The man looks over at me and laughs. He shakes his bald head and then looks at Trystan, and then back to me. "You have no idea what kind of shit you've stepped in, do you? You think she's just a madam? If you don't learn to read between the lines, she'll kill you—never mind this idiot who missed."

My skin covers in bumps as a chill washes over me. When I don't speak, Trystan asks, "What else does she do?"

But the bodyguard shakes his head. "The less you know, the better. Just stay the fuck away from Black and her girls."

"So, stashing one of Black's girls who might be wanted for murder is probably bad then, huh?" Trystan gives the guy a half smile.

"Shit, Scott. Tell me you didn't have anything to do with it." The big man seems like he's ready to pounce on Trystan. His eyes are flamethrowers and his words are short and threatening.

"I didn't kill the hooker at the hotel, and I wasn't at the hotel, but I was at the strip club when this girl and her friend wandered in after the fact. Bob, don't act like that. It's nothing, and Mel didn't do it anyway. All of this sounds like a set up to get at Avery."

I can't help it, I giggle. "Bob! Your name is Bob?"

The muscle man turns on me and the laughter runs and hides. The smile runs from my lips and falls to the bottom of the bay. Bob doesn't respond. He looks out the window, thinking, until we pull up a block from the Thomas house.

The car stops and Trystan shakes his head. "Don't do this."

"I have to. I can't have things this way. Sean can't owe his mother a thing because of me."

Trystan smiles and sighs. "I knew it was about him. This direct approach, it's so you can cut off his mother's attempt to find out and he won't owe her anything. Damn it, Avery. Sean's a grown man. If Ferro wants to leave, let him. You can't hold onto someone who doesn't want to be held. Believe me, I know."

I'm lost in his eyes for a moment, seeing one of his long banished memories dance before me exposed and vulnerable. I touch the back of his hand, lightly. "One life touches another and changes it forever…for better or worse. We don't know unless we try, right?"

The corners of his mouth tip up. "A life without love is not a life at all. Is that what you're saying to the man who had his heart torn from his chest?"