He’d basically called me a pussy over pussy.
“Speak for yourself.”
Griff came and slung an arm over my shoulder. “The lassies are making us radge. Dae yer fancy gon fur a wee swallae doon the pub?”
I wondered which lassies he was referring to. He hadn’t spoken about what happened between him and Lizzy and he hadn’t mentioned Lilly.
I tried to shrug him off. “Yer already pished. Yer dinnae need a pub.”
“Did she say aye? No, yes—she’s American, though she could be Scottish with her wee red hair.”
Her hair wasn’t red anymore. She’d used the black dye I’d regretted giving her. The color didn’t suit her. Though it was probably safer. Especially with the scheme we had planned, assuming she’d agree to it.
“We probably need to come up with another plan,” I admitted.
He glared at me as much as he could, still swaying on his feet. “Like I said, whi ye fanny bawbag dae ‘e noo?”
What had I done? “I fecked up.” Rather I’d fucked her and left her.
He chuckled. “Just admit it, mate. You fecking love the shite out of that one.”
He didn’t know the half of it.
“Go sleep that shite off. We have work tomorrow.”
This had to end soon. This was so much bigger than money. If my enemy won, I could not only lose my company and my freedom, but my son. And that was one thing that couldn’t happen with Keely considered his next of kin.
Twenty-Seven
“Lizzy,” I said desperately into the camera. “What do I do now?”
“Fuck him again?”
“That’s not helpful.”
I blew out a breath that caused the free strands of hair around my face to swirl in the air.
“Get on the plane and help the man,” she said like it was the obvious answer.
“Why?”
“Because that’s who you are. You’ll never forgive yourself if he’s convicted of something he didn’t do.”
I closed my mouth because she was right.
“By the way, I’m not loving that hair color on you. Though you do look like a badass bitch. So put your big girl panties on and make him admit he’s crazy in love with you.”
I slumped and propped my arm up on my thigh so I could rest my chin on my palm.
“I can help him, but as for the rest I can’t. I need a break from men.”
“How long? One month, two?”
“A while. I’m moving and starting a new job. I want to focus on me and my career.”
She laughed. “I’ll bet you a hundred dollars you screw that grumpy but gorgeous man again.”
I wouldn’t take that bet.
“Exactly, which is why I need distance from him.”
“Keep telling yourself that. You’re hot for him and that’s not going to change in a few months.”
I stuck my tongue out at her and she giggled. “I’ll never know unless I try.”
“Fine. Is Griffin flying with you?”
“Probably. Why?”
“Tell him I said hi.”
Her wicked smile said more.
“Did something happen between the two of you?”
She laughed. “Wouldn’t you like to know? But he’s a massive flirt and plays the game better than me. It’d be a bad match and always a test of wills. I’ll pass. Though I’ll admit, he’s super hot.”
I wasn’t sure I believed her.
“I agree. Stay away from him,” I said.
“You’re only saying that because he’s Kalen best friend.”
“Yep. And then I’ll never get rid of him.”
“Like you’re really trying. You got rid of one hottie because you’re mad for the Scot. Bye.”
She waved and the screen went dark before I could deny, deny, deny, which would all be lies.
I sent an email to Kalen agreeing to help because my phone didn’t work here. Twenty minutes later, I had instructions. He would be picking me up in an hour.
Twenty-Eight
Leave it to the lass to be waiting outside for me instead of inside the apartment. She hadn’t wanted us to have any alone time and I needed to explain, but not with the driver and Griffin around.
The ride was quiet, which was strange for Griff. It wasn’t until we boarded the plane and it had lifted off before my best mate went into business mode.
“This is the plan,” he began.
“I should have flown coach on a commercial flight,” Bailey interrupted, barely glancing my way. “If anyone is checking customs for my passport activity as you appear able to do, they’ll know this is a setup.”
Griff held up a hand. “First of all, if they are tracking you, Bailey Glicks with red hair isn’t going to audit Brinner Financial.”
“Who is?” she asked.
He reached over to hand her a manilla envelope. “Nancy Drue is.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You can’t be serious.”
I looked down at the business cards I’d snagged out of the envelope and noticed the spelling of the last name was different.
“Deadly. It’s a conversation starter and we’re looking for information.”
Her lips flattened. “I’m not a very good liar.”
She wasn’t.
“You don’t have to lie about anything but your name. The rest is real.”