Page 5 of Tangled Lies

Senator Grayson Harrington’s little mouse of a niece had been far too easy to find. It spoke volumes about just how arrogant he was that she was here and he didn’t seem to know. We’d been watching him for so long, and there was no chance she would be here if he knew. It didn’t matter, because it made it all the easier to lure her out of that tower he thought was so perfectly impenetrable.

“Put the damn knife away,” I said to Jett. The fucker was busy cleaning his nails in the damn hallway.

“I can, but then I can't get rid of the evidence now, can I?” he said, but he flipped the blade closed.

“It’s called soap and water, you moron.”

I let Knox kick Jett before I turned to glare at them both.

Talon wrapped his knuckles on the door of the penthouse. Fuck, we weren’t ready yet. The three of us turned to glare at him, but it wouldn’t change anything.

“What? Seemed like a great time to go in and see if the trap caught anything, am I right?”

I ran my tongue over my teeth, but nodded.

“Just behave. You’ll have plenty of time to play later. Right now? Well, Talon, this is your little setup. There’s more than one pest here.”

The door opened and one of our guys was there as expected. Talon showed the exclusive invitation out of protocol. There was encryption built into the invitation, making it hard to fake. Talon’s gift for hacking electronics were always useful.

“Sirs. Right this way.”

The penthouse was spacious and chosen for its location. Little Carrow Throne wouldn’t be able to say no; he was an addict for exclusive and gambling. What would be interesting tonight though, would be to see this little princess up close and without her uncle.

I elbowed Jett as he messed with his damn mask again.

“Leave the fucking thing alone,” I said, shutting up as we entered the main room. I watched Talon slow and I followed his line of sight.

Fucking hell. Was that the same little modest creature we’d been watching follow around the senator?

I watched Talon and could tell the bastard was throwing all the plans out the window. He smiled at our pretty little prey. Where had she been hiding all those curves?

I reached for Jett, making sure he kept his mouth shut. Knox? I caught the subtle movement of his eyes as he glanced her way, but he kept moving forward. Sometimes I was afraid to know what was going through his twisted head.

It didn’t matter. We had business to attend to first, before the next game. We were brought to two tables. Two of us at one and the other two at another. The buy-in two million, enticing the people we wanted here.

I didn’t like how the men were looking at our captive little bird though. Perhaps business would have to wait. The way Jettreached for his knife, I realized I wasn’t the only one wondering what to do with her.

Carrow Thorne had a woman on his lap, and it wasn’t his fiancéé. Interesting. He hadn’t seemed to notice the princess any more than she noticed him. Not a match made with their knowledge apparently. He’d glanced her way, everyone did, but the little slut he’d brought kept his attention when he wasn’t losing money.

Our little princess moved about the room like she had confidence.. Surprising what someone was like when they were rescued from their tower.

“How about we change the terms of the next bet?”

The guy in question was nothing more than a businessman from a company who had tried to undercut the Barone family's investment.

“You win and you get to walk away with all your fingers. You lose? Well, you owe us interest and you don't seem to know how to pay up.”

I watched him, and the black mask he wore, simple as it was, made him look even more pale.

“Surprise. We have eyes everywhere, sweetheart,” Jett said and moved closer to him.

“I- I can pay right now.”

I motioned for the dealer to start. There was no option for our friend to decline anyway.

He looked up and I noticed Margaux Harrington coming toward him with a drink in hand. Fine, fine.

When she stopped by him and bent down to set his drink on the table, he made a choice that surprised me.