Page 78 of Ruthless

When her five minutes run out, I get out of the car and stalk after her. Since this is her first time, I expect to catch up to her with relative ease, but to my surprise, Sara has effectively vanished. I can’t spend very long trying to track her since I need to beat her to where we’re going, but I keep an eye peeled for hints of her as I walk.

When I arrive at our destination, I spot her right away lounging on a bench outside of the building. An orange Staten Island FerryHawks jersey has replaced the floral top she left the house in. She has her hair tucked up under a New York Rangers cap, and when she spies me, she pops up from the bench and strides over, her gait unrecognizable.

She fucking did it. From head to toe, she made Sara Elizabeth Boyd a ghost.

“How was that?” She preens while brushing invisible dirt off one shoulder and then the other.

“Not bad.” The grin I attempt to hide breaks through. I had low expectations for her to succeed. Now that she has, I’m conflicted. When we started dating, I fell for her because she was so different from the world I live in. Now I’ve conditioned her to play the game. What the hell am I doing to her?

Over her shoulder, the sleek, mirrored Silvertech building gleams like liquid mercury in the sunlight. This is Sara’s first visit. I know without asking because I programmed our securitysystem’s facial-recognition technology to alert me the moment she stepped foot in the door.

Right on time, the automatic doors leading to the street slide open. A young man strolls out, absorbed in his phone. When he glances up to avoid plowing into another pedestrian, his gaze lands unerringly on his sister. “Sara?”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her move so fast, and I squash a surge of jealousy as she bolts toward her brother and throws her arms around him. Dragging him down to her height, she plants a big kiss on his cheek, fussing over him like a mother hen. “They did put you on days! Have you lost weight? Are you eating vegetables? When was the last time you shaved? Did you remember to pay the internet bill?”

Jeremy wriggles free of her grasp. “Sara. Body boundaries. We talked about this. Also…what the hell are you wearing?”

The two of them stare at each other with matching goofy smiles until I clear my throat.

“You were on your way to lunch, weren’t you, Jeremy? How about we join you for a bit?”

Jeremy’s eyes nearly bug out of his head. He obviously wasn’t expecting his sister to show up with the president and founder of the company he works for.

Finally, he recovers enough to speak. “Oh, um, yeah. Yes, of course. Sounds great.”

Hooking her brother’s arm, Sara starts chatting his ear off as they stroll toward a deli down the block. The unobtrusive guards on duty trail us from a short distance while constantly scanning the environment for threats. We should be safe, but after that townhouse attack, I refuse to take chances.

I hold the door open for Jeremy but catch Sara’s arm before she can follow. “I brought you here as a reminder of what’s at stake if things go south. Choosing to help me puts him at risk, and it always will.”

When her face falls, guilt twinges in my chest. I’m not trying to scare her away. Iwanther by my side, but I know better than anyone what her brother means to her. She needs to understand this life comes with liabilities.

Lunch with Sara and Jeremy is vastly different from meals with my own family. The effortless affection they share is evident even as Jeremy grills his sister about her absence while she tactfully deflects with ready-made explanations.

Witnessing them reconnect kindles an odd yearning.

As the lunch hour winds down, I feel Jeremy studying me from across the sticky laminate table. “It’s an honor to have lunch with you today, Mr. Argento. I just…how do you two know each other, exactly?”

Despite his bland tone, I can read between the lines.

Before I get a chance to perform damage control, Sara pipes up. “Dante is a…close friend of mine.”

“Friend.” I echo her word with a scoff that likely inspires more questions than answers.

Sara whips her head around, her irritation over me not taking the bait palpable. “Yes. My verygoodfriend.” She speaks through gritted teeth, and Jeremy’s eyes narrow.

I fold my arms over my chest and lounge back in my seat. “I’m her ex.”

With his mouth agape, Jeremy appears flabbergasted. “I see. So yourexjust happens to be thepresidentof the company I work for, and you never thought to mention that?”

I can almost see those steam lines, the ones that float above the heads of angry cartoon characters, radiating off Sara’s skin as she struggles to invent another excuse. “I…he…”

As she stumbles over her words, I bite back a chuckle. Laughing right now will win menofavors. Especially since I’m the one who manipulated our dates in the past so that Jeremy and I never met.

“I didn’t know he was the president ofSilverTechuntil recently. We’ve only just become…reacquainted.”

While true enough, those words cause my gut to twist.

Picking up his paper cup, Jeremy downs the last of his water like it’s a tequila shot. “You’re so weird, Sara.”