Page 90 of Beautifully Ruined

And Cade stares.

The man does, too, but Cade’s got my attention.

This time, the cool detachment is gone, and he’s just staring like I’ve grown another head, like he’s immediately interested in what’s beneath the coat, like he wants me the fuck as far from here as I can get.

Which isn’t about to happen.

Even if I agree with that last one.

The place is empty, there are goons and the powerful man who’s sitting with him, and a laptop is eyeing me up like he’s deciding how to have me killed and served up.

Oh hell, this has something to do with Gianna, doesn’t it?

Enzo isn’t here, just Cade looking like he makes millions every other minute and a man who definitely does.

A man who might be a very bad man.

I take another step back but get nowhere as the goon doesn’t move.

“Sit,” Cade says to me, softly, his gaze intense.

I break away from the goon and pull out a seat, sitting down the moment the wine is placed in front of me by the hostess.

“Thank you for the wine, but I thought…” I stop.

“Thought what?” the man asks. “Go on. I’m interested.”

“I thought the place was having a normal night. Not a private event.

My words are lame, even to my own ears.

“Well, you’re not dangerous,” the man mutters. “And you’re no creature of subterfuge or you wouldn’t be waltzing in with every expression you own flashing across your face, stating you know Max here.”

I frown before I can stop myself. But Cade’s just steady with his gaze on me, and it soothes a tiny part of me. The man’s waiting for something.

Thing is, Cade’s last name is Maddox, and I can see him using Max as some kind of fake name. But whatever the test is from the man, how the hell can I know what other name he gave him?

So, I focus on the man. “You have me at a loss. You are?”

“Thomas Allistair.”

He doesn’t offer me his hand.

I just… Should I have heard of him? “I’m…I’m Vi.”

“And who are you, Vi? Who are you to Max?”

Again, my gaze leaps to Cade, and there’s something there in his eyes, something that both pleads and makes me feel, for a moment, okay. “To Cade?”

The man’s smile falters, and for a terrifying moment, I’m sure he’s going to order his men to kill me and then Cade.

But he doesn’t. He just turns to Cade and says, “She’s not lying, so thatisyour name. There’s one truth you told me.”

“There are a lot of truths I told you. I want that job. You’ve seen what I can do,” Cade says.

Thomas nods. “I have, which is why I should probably kill you.”

I gasp, I can’t help myself, and Cade closes his eyes for a long beat.