“Lina’s been lying to everyone,” Nash announced.
It was go time. I was really good at go time. I wasn’t one of those people who came up with their best zingers in the shower days after a confrontation. I was someone who fired back hard.
The only problem was, I didn’t feel good about deploying his secret. Nash might be acting like a gigantic asshole, but I’d seen real pain beneath the surface, and I couldn’t in good conscience break that trust. Unless of course he pushed me too far, in which case he only had himself to blame.
Naomi put one of her drinks down and reached over to squeeze my wrist. “If Lina’s been less than truthful, then I’m guessing it’s because she has a good reason for it.”
It was such a Naomi thing to say. And she meant it. At least right now, before she heard the truth. But if anyone was going to share my truth, it should be me.
“I’m here looking for Duncan Hugo,” I said.
Naomi’s mom, Amanda, gasped theatrically. Knox’s nostrils flared as he swore under his breath. Lucian, of course, showed no outward reaction.
Sloane was the first to recover. “Why? What are you into, Lina?”
“It’s work. I don’t sell insurance. I recover stolen assets. Hugo stole something from a client and I tracked him to the area, not knowing that he was also wrapped up in other situations. I came to town just to see Knox for a day. But then everything happened.”
“What did he steal?” Amanda asked. “I bet it was jewels. Was it jewels?”
“It was a car,” I admitted.
“What kind of car?” Knox wanted to know.
“A 1948 Porsche 356 convertible.”
He let out a low whistle. “Nice ride.”
“She lied to all of us,” Nash said, his words striking like a hammer. “She got you to put her up next door to me so she could get access to me and my files.”
I could feel the adrenaline dumping into my system. My heart immediately fluttered over a beat, then another one. I brought the heel of my hand to my sternum and willed myself not to open my mouth to release the torrent of insults clogging my throat.
“What the fuck?” Knox said.
I braced for the end of my longest-running friendship. But he was looking at his brother.
“She didn’t make me put her up in that apartment. I swung by the motel to pick her up for breakfast and found her hair spraying a roach the size of a fuckin’ beaver,” he continued. “I told her to pack her shit and she refused. We yelled at each other for a good half an hour while stompin’ on a multigenerational roach fest before she agreed to move.”
“Time out,” Naomi said to her soon-to-be husband. “Viking, if that’s not why you’re mad at Nash and Lina, what got your boxer briefs in a twist?”
Knox smoothed a hand over her hair, the gentle gesture at odds with his stormy expression.
“I’m pissed because these two idiots didn’t listen to the sense I was talkin’。”
I took three healthy gulps of my Bloody Mary and began to plot my escape.
“What sense?” Stef asked, pulling up a chair and setting it as close to the action as possible.
“Seriously? Come on!” Knox gestured back and forth between me and Nash.
“You’re gonna have to be more communicative than that, dear,” Amanda told him.
“For fuck’s sake. They can’t get together.” He pointed at Nash. “This idiot practically has ‘put a fuckin’ ring on it’ tattooed on his fucking ass.” Then he jerked his chin in my direction. “And that pain in the ass has ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ tattooed on hers.”
Naomi leaned in and whispered, “Is he being literal or metaphorical?”
“Metaphorical. But I do have a sun tattooed on my shoulder blade.”
Nash’s eyes narrowed on me.
“They get together and it’s time for her to go, he’s gonna get his stupid heart broken and she’s gonna feel bad about it. Then they’ll both end up taking it out on me. So I told Nash to leave it be and then I find out he’s climbing into bed with her.”
“Everyone is having sex but me,” Sloane muttered under her breath.
“Now things are getting good,” Amanda said. She held out a hand to Stef.
“Agreed,” he said, handing over his Bloody Mary.
“We weren’t having sex and we definitely never will. You could have talked to me about it,” I said to Knox.
He grimaced as if I’d just suggested he rip his toenails out and throw them around like confetti.
“Yeah, right, Leen,” he scoffed. “Then we could have a heart-to-heart about our feelings and shit.”
He had a point.
“Bad time?” Nolan wandered up in a windbreaker, holding a normal-sized coffee.
“Yes,” Nash and I said in unison, which resulted in more glaring at each other.
He winked at Sloane. “Hey, cupcake. Looking forward to dinner.”
The librarian gave him a flirty grin. Lucian growled.
“So if Lina and Nash aren’t”—Naomi paused as part of Waylay’s team jogged past the sidelines—“enjoying adult tickle time, which we are definitely going to revisit, by the way, why are you still mad at them?”
“Because he’s acting like it’s none of my business and she wasn’t being honest with me. You coulda told me why you were here,” Knox said to me.
I nodded. “I could have. Probably should have. Opening up doesn’t come easy,” I admitted.
“Sure don’t mind when you’re on the receiving end,” Nash said.
“Keep pushing, Chief. They still haven’t dug deep enough on you yet,” I warned.
His glare would have incinerated me if I’d used more hair spray that morning.
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Sloane asked in a stage whisper.
“Hold on. We’re not done yet. We haven’t gotten to why Suit Daddy, I mean Lucian, is involved in such immature, emotional shenanigans,” Stef pointed out.
“Come on in, Lucian. The water’s warm,” I said to him.
“Well, now you have to,” Naomi said encouragingly.
“I knew there was something off with Lina’s story. And when Knox voiced his concerns about her, I did some digging. Then I tracked her down and threatened her.”
He said it as casually as someone describing an amusing encounter at Target.
“Unbelievable,” Sloane muttered under her breath.
“Lucian, that’s not how we solve things,” Amanda chided like he was a six-year-old mid temper tantrum.
“So Lucian was technically right and you’re still mad at him?” Naomi asked.
Nash’s answer was an irritated shrug.
She turned to Knox. “And you were right about Nash getting hurt and now you’re both mad at each other for that.”
“Well, breakfast didn’t help,” Knox admitted.
Naomi closed her eyes. “Is that why you were such a bridezilla with the florist yesterday?”
“Baby’s breath is stupid. Fight me,” he said.
“What happened at breakfast?” Stef asked.
“I invited Knox and Nash to breakfast to talk things out like mature adults,” Lucian explained.