Page 50 of Unspoken Lies

“She’s actually in the black,” Theo says with a shrug. “Brea is making great money for the mystic store. Since she is the first person our patrons see, we’re also paying her very well. I’ve heard clients say they’ve come back to check out the store later in the week, having fallen in love with Brea. We’re lucky to have her.”

“I almost hope this mystery girl doesn’t come to work tomorrow,” Elijah says under his breath. “If we’re done here, I want to shower and go to bed.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m going to be waking you up every few hours to make sure you’re alive,” I say, watching as Theo powers down the desktop computer. “If you survive the night, I’ll reward you.”

“If we’re talking blow jobs, I think we should tie him up and edge him,” Theo says, standing. “He’s been a fucking brat tonight.”

“That’s not fair,” he complains as we leave the office.

Life never is, and neither are we.

THEO

Casually walking into the Cellie’s Mystics through the front door for a change, I smile as I see Brea. She really is very passionate about her job, never treats any of us like dumb kids, which I appreciate. Even when I finally turned twenty-one, that doesn't mean that I’ll stop hiding behind my lawyers.

This area is full of old money and old men. It’s been difficult to get my voice heard without my lawyers. It sucks that I have to use them as my mouthpiece, but hopefully at some point I’ll be able to step into the limelight.

In the meantime, I’ll work from the shadows. The club is my domain, and no one bats an eye about how old I am when they just want to have a good time. Therefore, we just get to be ourselves, and if we encounter an asshole here and there, then we say we’re the bosses’ sons.

Whatever makes our lives easier.

“Well it’s the boss man. To what do I owe this honor?” Brea teases lightly with a smile.

“I wanted to see how the new girl is doing, and I keep forgetting to shoot you a text,” I lie. “Figured I’d swing by in person.”

“Oh she’s wonderful,” she breathes with wide eyes. “Rachel jumped right in to help, and she’s going to be doing tarot readings as well. Seriously, I love her.”

I chuckle at her enthusiasm, nodding. “Is she coming in today? I think I’d like to meet the girl who impressed you so much.”

Her face falls, and I think, “Gotcha.”

“She says she’s not feeling well,” Brea says with a pout. “I’m hoping she didn’t catch anything. Someone was sneezing non-stop while they were here.”

“That’s alright,” I soothe her. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough.”

Saying goodbye, I walk out of the store and to the SUV that’s idling in the back parking lot.

“Looks like we’re going hunting, boys,” I say, shutting the door. I’m wearing dress pants, a long sleeved black shirt, combat boots, and my suit jacket is waiting for me in the back seat. Same for Elijah and Jared.

We anticipated Rachel might not come in tonight after her run in with Elijah. Regardless if she’s Rachelle or Rachel, there will be a hunt. Elijah needs to put aside his obsession and idea that he’s seeing her everywhere.

My hallucinations are due to Liliana looking so alike to Rachelle. Nothing more, nothing less. Now that it’s been put to bed, I no longer see Rachelle around every corner.

Brea will either need to hire someone else, or I’ll bribe Rachel to continue working for her if she turns out not to be a dead girl. I don’t think she will, but very strange things have been happening lately.

“Yes!” Elijah crows, making Jared and I grin wildly. His bump on his head already looks better today, though it’s a little tender. It’s right on his forehead. He hasn’t thrown up again, nor has he complained about being dizzy.

It appears that it was just a mild concussion and he’s bounced back pretty quickly. Throwing the car into drive, I follow the GPS directions to Rachel’s home that I took straight from her employment papers.

If she didn’t give us a fake address, then it will be disturbingly easy to find her. Lips pursed, I see that she lives a couple of blocks away from the store, which explains why she applied for the job. My search last night did not uncover any vehicles under her name, so I doubt she has one.

Parking a few houses away, I raise my brow at the guys.

“We wait for the sun to finish setting,” Jared decides. “Is it that apartment building down the street?”

“Yeah, on the second floor,” I murmur. “I bet the door has some bullshit lock on it. This will be like taking candy from a baby.”

“We’ve done a lot of shitty things, Theo, but that’s taking it a bit far,” Elijah says, faking how scandalized he is as I roll my eyes.