Page 4 of Ruthless Dream

My brother integrated himself with Matheson and Trevino just when the Spider showed up. Ren cares about her best friend, a sentiment clearly shared by the Fujimori’s.

“Shall we talk business?” Ren asks Ian just like that. But I knew this was the easy part. It’s the follow through that will test my brother.

“I’m at your mercy.” Ian leans back in his chair, stretching out his legs.

Ren smiles, taken in by my brother’s charm. Except she lifts her hand, holding up a finger.

“Hang on, I’m sorry,” she tells Ian, who takes it all in stride. Ren shifts in the booth, directing her comment to Matheson. “She was wearing the red dress.”

Matheson nods. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Ren nods back, digesting this information before clasping her hands in front of her on the table. To Ian, she says, “There’s a contract coming up.”

I lean forward, but Ian merely nods occasionally to show he’s somewhat listening.

Until Ren holds up a finger again, indicating she needs another moment.

I glance at my brother, who is again unbothered. He shakes his head at me, firmly believing he knows Ren Callahan well enough to deem this behavior normal.

“I’m sorry,” Ren says to both parties. An apology to us for interrupting and an indication to her best friend that she’s in need of further clarification. “She’s wearing the red dress.”

“Yeah,” Isolde says again.

“To meet with Blake?”

“Yeah.” Isolde’s face is blank, meaning I can’t tell if this is a good or bad thing.

Ren taps the table, gesticulating as she talks. “She’s wearing the red dress to meet with Blake.”

Isolde nods.

“Okay.” Ren looks back at Ian. “You understand how payment works?”

Ian doesn’t have a chance to answer.

“Blake’s nice right,” Ren tells rather than asks Isolde.

The Brit nods, makes a face and shrugs as if to say Blake’s all right.

“Yeah,” Ren says out loud, frowning slightly as she tries to convince herself. “He’s nice.”

“He’s nice.”

“But when we say nice. . .”

“Nice,” Isolde confirms.

“Nice.” Ren takes a deep breath, smiling at Ian. She lets it out a second later, turning back to her best friend. “So when we say nice, we mean. . .”

“Yeah, I don’t really like him.”

Ren throws a hand up in the air, vindicated. “Exactly. Not because he’s bad but because he’s nice.”

“He’s nice.”

“I don’t know.” Ian lets out a slow breath, leaning so far back he begins to tip his chair. “I think he’s fucking boring.”

Ren’s mouth hangs open. “When the fuck did you meet Blake?”