Page 83 of Nothing to Win

“Bram’s not back from the office and my parents are…” Couldn’t be less interested.“All they want to hear is that Brogan and I are finished.They won’t stop asking and… I don’t want to admit that… they were right all along.”

“They are not right.What you had was real and Brogan isn’t an asshole… isn’t much of an asshole.Okay, he has been completely shitty in the way he’s gone about it—we want me to go over there?I can kick his ass.”

“Zairn would thank me for that.”

“Don’t worry about him.I’ll take Ballard, he won’t let Spurn lay a finger on me.”

“You know Brogan’s security guy is his cousin, right?”

“Carver?That would be some showdown.”

Ballard would fight to defend Roxie and Carver would do the same for his cousin.

“I guess we could always try to pay Carver off,” she said.

“Carver Kavanagh?”Roxie asked.“Man’s got a trust fund bigger than my shoe allowance and that’s saying a lot.”

“He’s rich?So why does he…”

“BKS,” Roxie said.“It’s the security company he owns with the Breckenridge twins.I’d imagine Brogan gets personal attention when Carver’s in town because they’re related.”

And there wouldn’t be the opportunity to learn more or probe deeper because that link had been severed.

“Not a part of my life anymore.”Deep breath.“It’s over.Done.”

Facing that truth was important, cleansing.Obsessing wouldn’t be healthy.Time to refresh for the next phase of life.Except the last one wasn’t entirely over.

Shanna.

They didn’t have Jarrod back yet.She hadn’t told her friend about the relationship’s end.About the drying up of the well.They’d talked.On the phone.When Shanna gushed about cashing the check.Her friend hadn’t known how that calmed her anxiety.Not that she’d expect Brogan would put a stop on it.He wouldn’t screw her friend.Others might claim, knowing him only by reputation, that he would.She knew better.He wouldn’t.That was something.

A little something.

The consolation didn’t do much to solve the problem of what would happen when the PI asked for more green.The guy was on his way to Mexico.Was the plan just to strand him there and hope he never came knocking?

How could she let her friend down?They needed a new source of income and fast.

“Good,” Roxie said.“It’s over.That makes it time to move on.Got a favorite pair of shoes?”

“Not that my mother would let me near.”

“Grab some socks then and listen for your ride.”

“My ride?No, Rox—”

“Keep the robe on too.You’re safe with Crimson.”

“I can’t drive all the way into—”

“Who said anything about driving?”Roxie asked.“A chopper took off ten minutes ago.”

“Oh my God, Rox!”She bolted off her bed.“A helicopter?”

She’d have to tell her parents to expect it.

“You’ll be in Manhattan before the next round of drinks.”

“Rox—”