Page 28

Crew

T aylor has always had a talent for seeing patterns that I miss. And he found it. The incriminating money trail that proves that Harvey Hughes and Chase Sutherland aren’t just associates.

Harvey owes Chase money… and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Right now, my gut is telling me one thing:

Leave .

The longer I spend trying to figure out why I haven’t, the more I find myself without answers. I don’t know why I stayed. I don’t know why I don’t leave.

“Crew…” I hear Taylor’s voice over the earpiece. “What’s with the look?”

Across the party, I force myself not to look at Olivia and Chase. His hands are all over her. The conversation Olivia and I had last night is on replay, and no matter how much I needed to say the words, I can’t stop myself from regretting them.

I won’t touch you.

“There’s no look.”

He scoffs. “To think you’re usually the one calling me on my shit.” The need to look at them is an incessant itch. One I’m unable to stifle, but when I do, I hear Taylor’s voice again: “That look. Not exactly hiding the fact you wanna kill him.”

“Harvey owes him money, and he convenientlysaddles up with the man’s daughter? I don’t call that coincidence.”

“We don’t know anything about the deal between them. Coincidence or not, you and I both know his background came up clean.”

Clean doesn’t mean innocent. We both know that. He’s just trying to talk some sense into you, I reason.

I watch Chase’s hand curl around the swell of her ass, and my temper grows red hot.

“If you feel something’s off…” Taylor says, his words hanging on a sigh. “I trust you. But… ‘ getting close ’ isn’t reason enough to get involved. We don’t have an airtight motive.”

My body is moving before my mind can catch up. I weave through the crowd, and the words are out of my mouth before I can stop them: “Ms. Hughes.”

When Chase narrows a look over his shoulder at me, they stop dancing. “Can I help you?”

He looks at me like I’m nothing better than the dirt on his shoe. It isn’t that I’m unaccustomed to it, but the way he dismisses her in the process makes me grit my teeth.

“He’s with me,” she looks at me when she says it. “Everything okay?”

“We need to talk.”

Shit. Shit.

“What are you doing?” Taylor hisses, and I don’t know why, but I peel the wire out of my ear, disconnecting it.

Her eyes wander over me, but I’m not looking at her anymore. The look on Chase’s face tells me everything I need to know.

He knows exactly why I don’t want her anywhere near him.

“Sure,” Olivia says, and then she gently tugs out of his grasp. “I’ll be just a few minutes.”

Chase casts a dark look my way, looking all too much like a child who just lost his toy, before Liv walks ahead of me. The crowd parts. We make our way across the ballroom, and she twists once she reaches one of the tall bar tables. Her eyes drift up, but I jut my chin toward the hallway leaving the ballroom.

She huffs, and as soon as we’re out of eyesight, she turns to me. “What is it?” she bites out. It’s probably the most abrupt she’s been with me, and quite honestly, I can’t blame her.

“You should stay away from him.”

For a few moments, she blinks at me. “Stay away from him,” she echoes slowly, and when she scoffs, I know she’s angry. “You’re telling me who I can and can’t be with now?”

I want nothing more than to tell her the truth- to tell her the real reason she shouldn’t be anywhere near that guy. But I know what this looks like. And she’s right. It’s more than a little hypocritical.

And jealous.

“Look, Princess-“

“Don’t,” she shakes her head, crossing her arms. “Don’t ‘ Princess ’ me. Chase has been nothing but respectful.”

My eyes flutter shut at the words, and I try my best to hide the way I clench my teeth. “You don’t know him- or his past.”

She shakes her head again, propping her hand on her hip. “And you do? I’m supposed to just trust that you know better than I do?”

When I don’t answer, she moves to slide past me, I shoot an arm out to stop her. Not touching her but I’m close enough that I get a hint of her sweet perfume.

“It’s my job…” I start, but I see the quick flash of hurt in her eyes, and I stop myself.

“Right. Your job… What is it that you think you know about him?”

“I know enough.”

The adamant shake of her head is her reply. “That’s not good enough for me.”

“Look,” I say, taking a step even closer to her, forcing her to look me in the eye. “Olivia, I understand what I’m asking you. But you don’t know him- you could get hurt.”

Her blue eyes are blown wide, honesty and consideration shining in them. I see the exact moment something in her changes because she rolls her shoulders back, steeling herself.

“Who I allow into my life is none of your business.”

Without another glance, she pushes past me and leaves me standing alone. I’m trying my best to reign in the untamed feeling in my chest. I inhale before forcing myself to turn the earpiece back on and face the crowd again.

Taylor has noticeably cut closer, but his eyes remain on Liv who is dancing with Chase. I can sense the moment he knows the wire has turned on again because he clears his throat.

“Do I need to ask what’s going on with you two?”

I hate that he asks the question, but I hate that he’s right in asking it even more. He has every right to be pissed.

I don’t act like this . I’ve never ditched him just to talk to a client alone.

A wave of guilt passes over me, but I shake it off as determination floods my veins.

“There’s nothing going on,” I say, and in one moment, there’s nothing I’ve been more sure of in my life. Not as she smiles for him, as she dances the night away with him on her arm.

Yet time always has a way of changing things.