Page 70 of Nothing to Win

After their co-party the previous night, Gia’s first major event as hostess in Brogan’s apartment, a cleaning crew swept through and put everything back in order.

Dinnertime came.Food.Food… Hmm… takeout was in order.Gia had called to order dinner from this particular place so many times over the last few weeks that the restaurant knew her voice.After placing the order, she texted Julius asking him to pick it up on his way over.

Two minutes later, the kitchen phone rang.

“You want me to stop for food?”Julius asked.“At Blaze?”

“Yes, please, they have the order and know how we like it,” she said into the phone.“Don’t forget the wine.”

“Did you order wine?”Julius asked down the phone.

By chance, she was pouring the last remnants of a bottle into the two glasses she’d set on the kitchen island.“I said the word ‘wine,’ but I never know what goes with what,” she said.“Mister picks the wine when his guy picks up the food.He knows what complements the meal and what I like.”

“But I’m picking up the food today,” Julius said.

Although it was Sunday, Brogan had been working in the office all day.Usually she whined if he tried to work on a Sunday.That weekend, she’d already used her chips to coerce him out of the office early on the Friday night for a double date with Roxie and Zairn.Yesterday, he’d worked upstairs, in between her frequent interruptions regarding party arrangements and setup.

Next weekend Roxie’s presence was required at the Crimson Queen Dinner, an annual event.This year it was in Tokyo.Nice.Extravagant.Her friend invited her, of course.Shame it coincided with the Gault summit or she’d have jumped at the chance.

“You pick something,” she said to Julius.“Or ask them to provide.Get a few choices… It’s going on Brogan’s account, you won’t have to pay for anything.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in half an hour.Did Brogan give you his ETA?”

“He said he was on his way,” she said, putting the empty wine bottle in the recycle bin.“Be as quick as you can, please?I’m starved and about to start drinking wine.”

“Are we going to come back to find you passed out drunk?”

On an empty stomach, alcohol flooded her veins fast.Something the guys knew by now.

“Not if you hurry up with the food, you won’t,” she said.“I’ll see you soon.”

Hanging up the phone, she took the two glasses to the dining table and handed one to the waiting Shanna.

“Should I go?”Shanna asked.“If you’re about to have dinner…”

“No, no,” she said, sitting at her friend’s side.“I told you I ordered plenty.You can stay for dinner.”

“I don’t know,” Shanna said, squirming in her seat.“Brogan makes me nervous.”

As he did to many, many others.

“Don’t worry.Get to know him.He’s not scary, I promise.”Gia patted the folder in front of her.“Sorry, back to the—the PI called you in to his office to talk.What did he say?Tell me.”

Shanna took a deep breath and opened the file to retrieve a stack of photographs.“We need more money.”

Huh, short meeting.

Her friend spread the pictures out and—

She gasped and pointed to a man’s profile.“That’s Jarrod.”

The pictures all seemed to have been taken in the same place at the same time.Same background, same clothes and hair.One shot was of a car, the man who looked like Jarrod inside.

In another, there were a few cars with their trunks open and various men standing around apparently engaged in some sort of conversation or negotiation.Each of the men seemed to be armed, and it didn’t look like a happy meeting of friends.

Oh, that was scary.

The only familiar person was Jarrod.From appearances, he wasn’t chained or restrained in any physical way.Wearing jeans and a ball cap over a bandana, he had a scarf wrapped around his mouth and neck.No, that didn’t look shady at all.Hmm.