Page 131 of Burning Daylight

He stands up, gritting his teeth and smacking a photo down on the coffee table. Slowly, I step forward to grab it, and when I do, my stomach sinks.

Fuck.

It’s a photo of Juliette and me on the side of the building at the Round Table. We aren’t kissing, it’s from when we moved around closer to the front, but still…it’s intimate.

We’re close together—too close—and I’m grinning down at her like she hangs every star in the sky. And she…

Well, she looks like she wants to get fucked, her gaze heated as she stares up at me.

My cock jerks.

Not the time, guy.

“Where did you get this?” I ask, my voice tight.

“I have a friend atThe Rosebrook Rag. She gives me all the photos about my clients and their…interestsbefore they run them.” He sniffs, picking a piece of lint off his sleeve. “Answer the question.”

I scoff. “You come into my house and slam down photos, askingmequestions?”

He stands, brushing a hand down his suit and glaring at me. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

I grit my teeth and toss the photo back down. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

Frederick laughs. “You’ll need to be better at lying when you say that to the press.”

“Andyoudon’t know your place.”

He rears back, his bushy brows rising on his head like he’s surprised, but then his face drops into something dark and menacing. “You don’t scare me, Roman. And I’m not here to threaten you, despite yourenthusiasticanger.”

“Then what’s your point, Frederick? I don’t have all day.”

He smirks, glancing around the living space. “In a hurry to get back to all the things your father’s having you do?” His gaze flicks to the manila folder on my table. “You’re being foolish, thinking others won’t catch on to the timing of the graffiti with your arrival in town.”

Sighing, I run a hand through my hair. “I’m tired. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m fairly confident that as a Montgomery, I don’t answer to you. In fact, isn’t it the other way around?”

His mouth tightens.

He presses his finger on top of the picture until his nail blanches. “I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, that you don’t know any better. That you don’t understand the volume of blood that runs in these streets. I’m also going to run on theassumption that you aren’t trying to fuck Juliette Calloway for sport or some strange payback on your father’s behalf.”

My stomach twists again at his words, nausea working its way through me. “It isn’t like that.”

He nods, a heavy look drawing down his features. “I’ll ask you again—what are your intentions with Juliette?”

I cock my head and blink at him, my face a blank canvas. But on the inside, my emotions are in turmoil. I have no idea whether he’s using this to his advantage. If he’s planning to take my words, use them against me, keep them in his back pocket as a power play.

“Why do you care?” I ask.

“I’ve known her since she was born.”

And maybe I’m naive, but his words ring true. “How’d you pull that off, anyway? Being both a Calloway and a Montgomery attorney?”

Frederick chuckles quietly, but there’s no real amusement behind it. “You’d be surprised how far you can get when you know how to shut your mouth and have people sign the right paperwork.” He meets my gaze. “Loyalty’s a currency in this town, Roman, and the smartest men are the ones who know how to write the fine print.”

I study him, not sure if I admire his honesty or hate the way he says it; like morality is just a story people tell themselves to feel better.

My jaw tics. “So that’s it, then? You don’t pick a side, you just cash the checks?”

“Let me put it to you like this,” he says. “The town is built on legacy, not law. On whispers, not verdicts. So the Calloways and Montgomerys might be on opposite sides, but they’ve both neededmeto keep the game moving.”