“Yes.”
“Roy, be quiet,” Sidney says.
“This man…this man is very powerful.”
“Yeah, well, I’m very crazy. Give me the name.”
“Cassian Macarley.”
I lean back. “Shit.” There it is. They know. Fuck!
“You know him,” Roy concludes.
“He’s my uncle.” When they bought up Pembroke, I knew Cass was involved. Everyone who knows needs to die.
“Some family you have there,” Sidney states.
I point my finger at her. “Watch it.”
“I need a drink,” Roy says.
“Make it two.” My phone rings. By the sound of it, I know it’s Declan. I ignore it.
He keeps calling.
And calling.
“Someone wants to get ahold of you,” Roy says.
“Yeah.”
He clears his throat, fidgets, uncomfortable with the phone ringing. “Why won’t you see who’s calling?”
“I know who it is. It’s Renne,” I lie.
Sidney’s breath hitches. “Why won’t you answer? Please answer it. We…we want to hear her voice.”
I can say without a single sliver of doubt that I am sad my parents never loved me the way these people love her. “I have a better idea.”
Chapter 21
Renne
Declan walks out of the house and to the pool area, where Dina and I have spent pretty much the entire afternoon. “Hey, handsome,” Dina greets her man.
Declan sits beside her and grabs her by the throat. I watch her body relax as if she’s about to receive a massage instead of a kiss on the lips. Okay, so the Crossbow men have that effect on women, and I’m not the only girl who melts at the potential threat of being choked.
I never knew I was into this kind of thing, but now I am. I guess the exquisite taste for kinks comes with age.
“Did you guys finalize the arrangements for the rehearsal?” he asks.
Dina nods. “We’re going with this weekend.”
Declan frowns when he looks at me. “I thought you were working?”
For a moment, I consider telling Declan about how they basically fired me from my job and pushed me into a clinic position that’s in the same building as the theater, a project the Crossbows are funding. “I’m in between jobs.”
“You are?” Dina asks.