Carter Reed

When I didn’t say anything, she grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

She gushed, “I promise you’ll have fun. And it’s not like we’ll even see the guy. He’s barely ever at the club. He’s so important and powerful that he doesn’t have time for his friend.” As she said the last statement, her voice grew thick with sarcasm.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Can you stop griping? You’ve never met the guy.”

She shot him a dark look. “I don’t need to have met him. He’s bad news, Noah. I don’t know why you refuse to see that about him. He’s only using you for The Richmond. You’re the one who told me he wanted to buy some shares last year.”

He shook his head and grumbled, “I didn’t say he wanted to buy shares. I said I offered him more shares.”

She straightened to her fullest height and squared her shoulders back. “You’re crazy for being friends with him.”

“Drop it, Theresa. You don’t know the guy. You don’t know my friendship with him. And,” he sent another pointed look in my direction, “you really want to hash this out in front of your newfound friend?”

That did it. The tension left her in the next second and she squeezed my hand again. “I’m sorry, Emma. I get so angry sometimes.”

I tried to give her a reassuring smile back. “Oh, that’s okay. We all have our…secrets, I guess.”

“Well, it’s not really a secret, but it’s not an argument that needs to happen tonight. I invited you over because I thought it would be fun. This’ll be fun too. You’ll come to Octave with us?” She gave me a puppy-dog look.

Well. This was going to be interesting.

I nodded, but as Theresa cheered and Noah frowned, I wasn’t sure how this night was going to unfold. When we headed downstairs and piled into Noah’s car, I saw my car parked behind us. Oh, great. I hadn’t considered what to tell Mike and the other guards, but when Noah pulled into traffic and my car started to follow, I realized that they already knew what I was doing. I only hoped Carter wouldn’t get mad about the change in plans.

“Sir.”

Carter glanced towards the door and saw one of his men. He stood from the table and left his business associates behind. When they stepped into the hallway, his man waited until the door was closed before he told him, “The boyfriend met with a Bertal.”

“They found him?”

“No, sir. He went to them.”

Carter’s eyes whipped up. “Are you sure?”

He clipped his head in a nod. “Yes, sir. We held back, but when he returned to the apartment he had a briefcase with him.”

“What was in it?”

“Money, sir.”

Carter’s eyes closed in a grimace. He knew what that meant. “Are you certain?”

“He opened it in the car. Vance got a picture of it. It looked like a lot of money too.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Double the guards on her. Make sure they blend.”

Carter returned to his meeting, but it took a few minutes before he was able to concentrate on what they were telling him. His mind was on Emma and what this meant for her. He didn’t like it. It happened too fast for his liking. The time to tell her what was going on was nearing, but he didn’t want that. Not yet. It was too soon for her to be as scared as she needed to be.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As Noah neared Octave, my phone buzzed. When I saw it was from Carter, my entire body grew warm. Theresa had insisted that I dress up. She threw a white dress to me. I hadn’t expected much, but when I put it on, it was the perfect choice. It hung low on me. The ends of the dress touched my toes, but the front of it separated. Instead of an actual dress, it was two lengths of cloth. Theresa tied it around so each one covered my br**sts and wrapped around my torso once. She declared I was a goddess and I had to admit that I felt like one. I was even more grateful now that I had listened to her advice. Tingles of excitement and nerves soared through me, but when I read it, a rush of desire made my head spin. I’m coming back tonight. Finished my work in one day. I’m flying back now. Where are you?

I replied. Will be at Octave soon. Going with my friend who knows your friend. Noah Tomlinson.

Thomas and Mike?

In the car behind me. I rode with Noah and Theresa, she’s my friend I told you about.

Stay close to Noah. He can fight and will protect you. The guys will watch over you at the club.

“Who are you texting?”

My head jerked up and I almost dropped my phone as Theresa frowned at me. Her eyes fell to my phone and warmth surged to my cheeks as I fumbled to keep my screen hidden. I knew I was redder than red. I must’ve been a lobster because Theresa grinned and lifted an eyebrow. “Do you have a boyfriend, Emma? You haven’t mentioned him all week. I want to know!”

I slid my eyes to Noah, who had tensed behind the steering wheel. “You didn’t mention a few things yourself.”

Her mouth clamped shut and her cheeks grew pink. “Point taken. Well done.” She chuckled as she turned back around. “But I want to know all about him.”