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"So it is a man giving you troubles."

"Or five," I responded, taking another gulp of my new drink.

"Five is enough to give any woman a headache." Mags chuckled. "One idiot is enough for me, but five? Now I see why you're here drowning yourself in vodka."

"The most infuriating part is they aren't even actuallymymen. They just act like they own me and swing their dicks around to get their way. I'm a person, ya know? I can be reasonable when I need to be, but fucking talk to me instead of just making decisions for me." The liquor was loosening my tongue, and I couldn't find it in myself to care.

"Sounds like you should think about kicking them to the curb, honey. I doubt your momma would be happy you're putting up with that shit if she were still around."

"Sometimes I wish I could." I huffed. "My father hired them to be my bodyguards. I doubt he even considered I might have chemistry with them. But god are they gorgeous." I paused long enough to take another sip of my drink. "Two of them aren't so bad. They're actually really sweet. But Az and Rich? They're infuriating! I thought for a minute that maybe, just maybe, Az and me could stop hating each other, but he's just such an Az-hole. One wrong word from someone that doesn't even matter, and he's lashing out because his massive ego's been bruised."

Mags nodded, topping my glass off, and set the bottle of vodka back on the counter when her phone went off. "Keep talking, sweetie. I'm gonna check this, but I'm still listening." She tapped on the screen and glanced at me to let me know she was listening as I rambled.

"I don't know though… He stood up for me. And Rich means well, I know. It's just… I don't understand what to do at this point. I feel like…"

"Your head is fighting with the rest of you, and they're all fighting with each other?" Mags offered.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." I chuckled sadly and knocked back the drink again, groaning as the alcohol burned its way down to my stomach. I almost couldn't stop the rambling as I sat there, laying everything that had happened and all the conflicting feelings on the table. It felt good to get it out, though, and Mags never looked at me judgmentally. By the time I had wrapped up the entire tale, I was crying into my alcohol.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Az

We all watched, stunned, as Victoria stormed from the room. The minute the sound of her footsteps quieted, Tiffany whirled to face me from across the table.

"You three should leave." Rich spoke before Tiffany could open her mouth. "Give the princess time to cool off."

"Fine, but we're not done with this conversation, Innocenti." Tiffany spat. "Come on G.G., Noah."

Noah glared at me until Leighton leaned over the table, sneering at him. "Out, narc. I'd hate to do something that you'd regret."

"I'll see them out." Craig offered, standing from his seat and following Victoria's guests from the dining room.

I silently seethed in my chair until he returned. As pissed as I was about Dudley Do-rights insinuations, there was something more pressing that we needed to discuss. One look at Joey told me he'd seen the same thing I had when Tiff's girlfriend had been filling her dishes with food.

"Well, that was a shit show." Craig said, strolling back into the dining room.

"More than a shit show. It seems Tiffany is involved with a Golden Devil." I replied. "That G.G. has their symbol tatted on her arm."

"You're sure that's what you saw?" Rich asked.

"It was definitely their symbol." Joey added. "I saw it too."

"What the hell is a party girl doing with a Golden Devil?" Craig mused.

"It could be a coincidence, or it could be something more." Rich said. "We should get eyes on Tiffany to see if we can figure it out. The timing is suspicious, but we need to be sure before we do anything with this information."

"You think the Devils had formed an alliance with the Jackals?" I asked.

"It seems counter to the little anyone actually knows about the Devil's operations, but itissuspicious that days after L put Colin in our basement, Tiffany shows up here with a Devil on her arm." Rich answered. "Put someone on Tiffany and in the meantime we leave Colin sit for a while longer. Either it'll smoke someone out or he'll be ready to break from hunger alone."

"On it." L chirped, pulling his phone from his pants pocket.

"Did you find anything on the cameras from the center?" I asked Craig. "Something that might explain why Mrs. McMillan suddenly doesn't have faith in us to make the fucker that attacked the center pay?"

"She's just covering her bases to keep the kids safe, Az." Rich warned. "It makes sense she called Mercer, with the center's neutrality being violated. I'd be shocked if she hasn't also called in Harrison."

"Harrison, I'd understand. But that uptight prick?" I snarled.