Page 39 of Tangled Lies

And there was that knife again, although I chuckled when I saw Ronan’s knife joined by Talon’s, but he pressed his against the senator’s neck.

I looked around and noticed a few glances and whispers, but with the angle we all stood at, no one could see exactly what was happening.

“Call her a whore one more time and you’ll be breathing through a hole in your neck while we steal her away and you never get to see her again,” said Talon.

Harrington’s gaze was hard.

“Something tells me the police wouldn’t be overly helpful right now, am I right?” he asked in a matter-of-fact tone. “I suppose we are in a stalemate for the moment. So let’s try this. If you don’t return her to her fiancé, you will gain nothing. However, if she were to find her way back to him, I’m sure we can find a resolution to whatever little problem you seem to think my family has caused.”

He drank the remaining liquid and pushed a finger against Talon’s arm to move the knife away before he turned, leaving on the last word.

“He’s a man used to getting what he wants, isn’t he?” Jett asked the question we were all thinking.

I turned to Ronan and we talked without saying a single word.

We’d just thrown a wrench in the man's plans, but I had a feeling that was all she was. A small inconvenience.

“What exactly do you guys have against the Thornes?” Margaux asked.

“Not the Thornes alone, angel. In fact, they aren’t the target at all,” I said.

She studied me for a few more seconds.

“Okay, my uncle then?”

I stepped forward.

“Know anything about the Illusion Casino?”

I looked for anything to implicate her. Breathing changes. Pupils dilating. A strange stutter to her words. A twitch in her cheek or a fidget in her fingers. Nothing.

“Not really. I know it’s being knocked down for a newer casino and stadium, I think.”

I looked between Jett and Ronan. That answer seemed consistent with what any of us had expected.

“Well, then, angel, let me give you a few more details. Your uncle is gate keeping things he shouldn’t, and he’s going out of his way to hurt our business.”

Margaux went back to silence, but I swore I could see her thinking as if she had anything she could do about anything. Or could she?

Talon grew impatient.

“Now that feathers are ruffled, what should we do next?” Talon asked, but before we could come up with another plan, Margaux pulled her arm away from Jett.

“Babe, where are you going?” he asked, and I hated the pout in his voice. I stepped closer because if she hurt him, I was going to hurt her, but she wasn’t stopping at him. She took her free hand to put pressure on Ronan’s arm to release her.

“Let me go. I have an idea.”

We all stopped and stared at her.

“An idea for what?” I asked.

Her face was pink, but it wasn’t that defeated, I’m going to cry damsel pink. It was the anger rising to the surface and she couldn’t keep it hidden.

“Yes, an idea. A plan. I don’t know what you guys are after, but I’m going to get any information I can. Sound good?” She didn’t pause. “But if you leave me, I swear to god when one of them kills me, I will come back and haunt your asses for eternity.”

Jett’s hurt morphed into a grin, and fucking hell, my heart did a little extra beat too. The tone, the edge in her words?

“Alright, angel. All eyes are on you,” I said and shifted, letting her out of the comfort that was our own little cocoon of violence.