One to Keep (One to Hold 2)
Page 52
“I want to know who’s messing with me.”
“Go through your list.” She gave the room a quick, visual sweep. The patrons all seemed fine for now. “Haven’t you made any enemies?”
“Trust me, I’ve got assholes out there who’d like to get back at me, but sending you around is something special.”
She smiled, fixing those dark eyes on me again. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Take it however you want it. You did your job. I want to know who sent you.”
“I’ve got to get back to work.” She stood, but I stood with her, catching her forearm and not letting her leave.
“What do you want for it?” I said quietly.
She leaned closer, glancing down at my mouth. “You’re pretty special yourself.” She used the seductive voice that now turned my stomach. “I’m off at two—”
“Not interested.” I released her arm. “What’s up with you and Ron?”
Her eyes flashed then, and she stepped back. “Who told you about me and him?”
“Looks like you just did.”
Her hand lifted, but I caught it. “I wouldn’t start slapping now. Did Ron hire you?”
“No.” She jerked away from my grip. “His sister. She paid me five hundred dollars to teach you a lesson.”
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My head spun at that response. “Stacy hired you?”
I momentarily lost focus as one question consumed my thoughts: Why would my ex-fiancé use her low-life younger brother to hire a call girl to seduce me? Half a grand to teach me a lesson? It didn’t make any sense.
At the same time, it had to be true. How else would Toni connect me to Ron’s sister?
“I never work for so cheap,” Toni continued, “but they said I could do as much or as little as I wanted.”
My eyes snapped to hers. “Which did I get?”
“Oh, you’re sweet.” Her brow arched. “You got the works.”
“And the crazybitch act?”
She exhaled deeply, twisting her lips into a frown. “Ron thought it’d be funny to scare you a little. Said you’d really hurt his sister. That wasn’t my idea.”
“So I got a bonus lesson.”
“I’m sorry—”
“Save it.” I wasn’t hearing any more of her shit. “What was the original lesson?”
“You’ll have to ask Ron. I only did what they told me to do.” She paused, watching my face. “He’s here in Raleigh if you want to see him.”
My attention returned to her, and her expression had changed. The faintest hint of compassion softened her tough-girl demeanor.
“You look pretty shook up,” she said, but I didn’t care. I was confused and pissed as I watched her pull a thick order pad from one of her pockets and scribble out an address. She ripped off the top sheet and handed it to me. “Ron’s a dickwad. I don’t care if you tell him I sent you.”
I folded the paper and stuffed it in my back pocket. “Thanks,” I said, dropping cash on the table and heading for the exit. She said something more, but I wasn’t listening. My brain was too distracted by this unexpected turn of events, and I was ready for her to be a thing of the past. I was ready for all of this to be explained and then gone. A freakin bizarre-assed blip on my radar screen.
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