My eyes shifted across the table in front of me as Nash dropped into the seat next to me. I could feel him eyeing me as silence fell over the table.

Wes’s attention went back to the news. I could see the worry shining in his eyes. He was just waiting for his nightclub to be mentioned, and once it was…

Nash ordered a drink.

Wes ordered us all drinks.

Frankly, I was surprised to see Nash here. Wes never did mention him coming, and we hadn’t spoken since the other night at Mint. Either way, it wasn’t coincidence the four of us found ourselves sitting around a table at one of Wes’s establishments. We all had our hands dirty—somehow involved in the crime and cover up of Maria Greer.

The tender was back a minute later, dishing out each one of our drinks.

I wrapped my fingers around the cold glass and curled my lips over the rim. The seltzer popped on my tongue as I waited for someone to say something.

“Sylvia did this.” Nash turned and looked at me. His shirt collar was opened and a silver chain dangled around his neck. “She’s the only one to have known where—” He stopped short of saying what we all already knew. That he helped Wes move Maria’s body from Mint to Echo.

Shaking my head, I said, “Sylvia is setting the record straight, believe me, and there is a reason you think she is doing that,” I pointed to the screen, “but this wasn’t her.”

Nash’s teeth grinded as he bit his tongue.

He didn’t know that I knew more than he did. With the news already hot on Wes and Nash’s trail, he feared to say anything more—especially my presence.

“Nash,” Wes’s voice commanded all of our attention, “Sylvia isn’t the only one who knows our secret.”

“Don’t tell me this asshole does?” He pointed his finger to me.

Wes glanced quickly at me before nodding. “He knows.”

Nash fell back into his seat, running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck me.”

“So does the district attorney. And Madam.”

Adrianna lit up another cig.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” The muscles in Nash’s forearms jumped as he leaned forward, gripping his glass with both his hands. “The DA?”

Wes nodded.

Nash’s face went pale just before he tossed back his drink. He slammed the empty glass down on the table and Wes was quick to order him another.

Adrianna puffed away, shifting her calm, intelligent eyes between the television screen and the conversation circling the table. “Nash,” she said, blowing out smoke, “Mario is dead.”

“This is all your fault, Black.” His tone deepened when he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “If you hadn’t been the one to take another look at the case, Mario would have taken the fall for Maria. This would have been all over.”

I didn’t want to remind him that Maria was once his lover and he should want justice for her just as I did. Instead, I bit my tongue and let him get it off his chest.

“Mario was a bad dude, connected to the cartel,” the muscle in his jaw ticked, “and now you’re representing Stone.”

Swallowing a sip of water, I set my glass down and turned to Nash. “You think I don’t know that? Let’s talk about Alex.” When his eyes went wild, I knew that I had his full attention. “Do you remember how you felt when she was targeted by that same cartel?”

“Careful, Black.” Rage turned his eyes red. “If I were you, I would make sure to choose my next words very carefully.” He closed his fingers, making a tight fist with his hand.

“It’s not what it seems,” Wes interjected before anything else could be said.

“Madam is stealing Blake Stone’s business,” I said.

Nash looked to Wes for confirmation.

Wes nodded.

I thought back to what I’d seen the night of Angel’s party.

“And she’s targeting us,” I pointed to the television, “because she must have learned that we’re more of a liability than an asset.”

Over the next several minutes, Wes explained in great detail our plan to take down both Madam and Stone. Nash listened carefully, occasionally looking at me. He learned about how I was tasked with convicting Stone and, due to recent revelations, Madam was now our number one target. We planned to use Sylvia to complete our mission.

“Sylvia was the one to first tell me to look into Oscar,” I said to Nash.

Nash was still shaking his head with disbelief. It was a lot to take, a whirlwind of competing forces attempting to control the narration of how the story was told. The irony of Nash’s situation wasn’t overlooked. He had been with both Maria and Sylvia, and now was dating Kendra’s best friend.

Wes backed me up, telling Nash that this was the way it things had to go. Neither of them wanted to sit behind bars, and neither did I. I was an accomplice in this whether I’d intended it or not.

“So she’ll just get away with having killed Maria?” Nash asked.

“No one is denying Sylvia’s guilt in Maria’s murder.” Wes sipped his bourbon.

“But we need Sylvia to prove that Angel was the one who killed Tonya.”

Nash rubbed his face inside his hands and groaned. “And how do you expect to do that?”

My cell phone started ringing.

We all looked at each other.

“It’s Madam,” I said.

The table fell quiet as we watched my device ring. Answering it, I said, “I still have time left in my contract.”

She guffawed. “Then why was it so easy for me to get to Kendra?”

Panic swelled my chest. “What did you do?”

“You don’t know? She hasn’t called?”

Fear bubbled up inside of me, closing my veins and restricting the blood pumping from my heart. “If you hurt her—”

“Next time,” Madam’s voice sliced through mine, “she won’t be walking away with only a scratch.”