Wes closed the door and told me to take a seat.

The thick door, mixed with the soundproof walls, cut out the noise completely.

Sticking my hands inside my pockets, I moved toward the leather couch and casually browsed the memorabilia hanging on the wall. It had been nearly a week since I was in his office with Nash, learning the truth about Wes and Nash’s involvement in Maria’s murder. I hadn’t had time to take in the environment that night, so tonight I studied it carefully. Wes was into exotic artifacts he had collected on his travels around the world and as I moved my gaze from one souvenir to the next, I soon found myself stopping on his collection from Africa.

I heard a glass of water being poured, and when I glanced over my shoulder Wes was finishing up making himself a stiff bourbon straight.

Wes joined me near the couch, handing me the glass of water. “I read the article Sylvia wrote about you.”

Wrapping my lips around the rim, I pulled a small cold sip over my tongue before saying, “She’s gone.”

Wes did a double take before taking a pull off his own tumbler.

Turning my attention back to the wall, I mentioned something about the day I met with Wes and Adrianna at the movie studio and how we made a plan to bring Sylvia down. It felt so long ago, and completely unattainable now, but I needed to know. “Is it possible Sylvia may have caught wind of our conspiracy to bring her down then?”

Wes took a moment to think it over. Then he shook his head.

Turning to face him, I pressed further. “Maybe one of the actors walking outside the trailer we were in could have overheard our conversation?”

Wes glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “There was only three people who heard anything that was said that afternoon, and two of them are standing here now.”

My chest rose just before I let out a heavy sigh.

Wes could feel my uncertainty. “Shit, Kelly, what else is going on?”

My gaze fell from his eyes. “Sylvia intercepted a delivery Kendra was making for Madam.”

Wes’s brows raised. “You mean the money she’s laundering?”

“Unknowingly laundering.” I gave a curt nod. “But yes.” A moment of silence came between us. “Sylvia is alive and she isn’t coming back,” I said, diving my hand inside my back pocket, pulling the empty envelope I’d recovered from my sleuthing in her apartment. Holding it up, Wes stared at it as I said, “And she took enough to hide out for a long time.”

Wes’s hard, distinctive jaw line barely moved when he asked, “How much?”

Lowering my glass to my side I lowered my voice, ashamed to admit the large amount. “At least six figures.”

Squinting his eyes, he said, “Cash?”

Slowly, I nodded.

He turned away and swallowed back a healthy gulp of alcohol. “I’m surprised Kendra is still alive.”

My skin tingled as my heart froze inside my chest. Stroking my chin, I glanced to Wes. The look on his face told me everything I needed to know. He and Adrianna had warned me of Madam’s dangers, what she’d done to Adrianna, and how she wouldn’t hesitate to kill one of her own—like what everyone assumed she’d done with Tonya.

“Wes,” he turned his head, “Madam didn’t kill Tonya.”

“I know, you did,” he joked. But when I didn’t laugh, he tilted his head to one shoulder. “Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.” My eyes gleamed a knowing truth. “Blake Stone did.”

Wes squeezed his bourbon tumbler harder. “And you know this because…?”

Tilting my head back, I said, “I’m his attorney.” Wes turned away to shake his head, then, when he fixed his eyes back on me, I continued with telling him about the note—Look what you made me do—connecting Tonya to Stone. “Look, I didn’t come here to discuss Tonya or Stone.”

The corners of his eyes tightened. “Then what did you come here for?”

Talking through a thick throat, I caught Wes up on everything. I told him about Parker taking the heat for Tonya’s murder but not being charged. And how the DA was covering for Angelina Davis, saying Sylvia was the one to have called Parker telling him to leave when I knew that it was Angel.

Wes was scratching his head by the time I finished, and then he asked, “Then why is Sylvia the one running?”

“I could only assume that she knew I was coming after her for Maria Greer’s murder.”

Wes nodded. “And she stole Madam’s money.”

“Yeah.” Then I thought about how none of us knew enough about Angelina Davis to really know what she was capable of doing. “Mario is dead, too, Wes.”

The crease between his eyes deepened as he finished his drink on the next gulp.

“Coincidently, I learned of his death just about the time I was working to have his plea deal revisited—”

“—having Sylvia Neil take his place.” Wes’s eyes were tiny beads when he looked at me.

I nodded. “Are there any other facts you’re keeping from me?” I paused to watch the pulse in his neck increase to a level I had rarely seen. “Tell me now if there is, because it’s my life that’s on the line.” And Bella’s, too.

“Madam would want Mario dead.” Wes turned and headed back to the minibar. “Especially now that she’s taken over what Stone once controlled.”

Falling into the corner of the couch, I rested my hands on my knees. “Someone is on the inside watching us.”

When Wes was finished making himself another drink, he came to rest his tailbone on the edge of his desk.

“And there’s more.”

“Can’t wait to hear this,” he said sarcastically.

“I went to Sylvia’s apartment—after she disappeared—and you wouldn’t believe what I found.”

His lips pinched.

“A kill list.”

He raised his glass, rapidly blinking.

“Your name wasn’t on it.”

“She’s not as stupid as she seems.” Wes lowered his brow and lifted his glass up to me.

“But Mario’s and Tonya’s were.”

“And you?” He shuffled his feet. “Was your name on it?”

I lifted my hand, smoothing down the front of my chest as I nodded.

“So that’s what this is about? Sylvia losing her mind and going on a killing spree? Is that what I’m hearing?”

I cast my gaze to my feet before flicking it back up to Wes. “She’s out for revenge, and though your name isn’t on the list,” I paused to make sure he was listening, “she’s coming for you.”

Wes tipped his head back and quirked a brow as he laughed. “How so?”

Rubbing my hands on my thighs I flexed my abs, unsure how Wes would react when I told him what I knew. But I couldn’t keep it from him, even if he had secrets he was hiding from me. “Wes, Sylvia knows you and Nash moved Maria’s body from Mint to Echo.”

Wes stood, setting his drink down on his desk. Moving to me, he hovered over me with clenched fists. “You better not be fucking with me.”

“I’m not,” I said calmly. But what I couldn’t tell him was that the only reason I knew that was because Sylvia told Kendra.

“Fuck.” He spun around, tossing a strong fist jab through the air. “We need to find that bitch.”

Standing, I knew that I needed to be getting back to Kendra. But before I left I made sure that Wes understood the complete picture I had painted for him. “She’ll write that story about Maria’s body being moved from Mint and release it just as the world learns about her involvement in Maria’s murder.”

Wes’s eyes hardened.

“Mark my words.” I nodded and reached for the door handle. “Things are about to get heated.”