winked. “Try to loosen your body up, Della. Every dance has a story behind it, right? We learned that with ballet. Those moves were focused heavily on one emotion. We need to find your story in this music.”
I frowned in doubt but didn’t argue with her about it when she restarted the music. By the end of the two hours we spent in the studio, I’d done a one-eighty turn with my hip out only to land face on with the mirrors.
Swallowing, I forced myself to stare, to really look at the girl whose shoulders were weighed down with the weight of the world. I wondered what story she had to tell, what could be told with my feet and music instead of my hands and paint. It wasn’t until a towel smacked me in the face that I broke the stare and turned to Tiffany.
…and I laughed.
Chapter Fourteen
Theo
“Did you do as I asked?”
The dark-haired man across from me put one ankle over his opposite knee. “Have I ever let you down before? Shit, West, you padded my account for life with this job.”
Scoffing, I leaned forward and rested my arms on the edge of my desk. He wasn’t wrong. Dallas got a hefty sum for looking into Richard Pratt. He’d proven to be helpful when I’d asked him to do the same with other people in the past, so I knew he could be trusted.
“I could take some back, if you’d like.”
Dallas grinned. “I didn’t say I was miserable with the dollar amount to my name. It definitely helps the family now that we’ve expanded it.”
Ah. The baby. “How is Cody doing?”
“Happiest little thing I’ve ever seen.” He seemed lost in thought, a wide smile on his face that made me stare at him a little longer than normal to figure out the emotions—contentment, peace. I couldn’t see how a screaming newborn could give a man that, but he was happier than I’d seen him in all the years he’s worked for me. My face twisted when he said, “You ever consider having a family of your own someday? Settling down?”
I eyed him. “We’re not here to talk about me, are we?”
His chuckle was light. “No, I suppose we’re not. However, we are here to talk about Richard Pratt, who just so happens to have a lot of dirt on one Adele Saint James. Seems like he’s after her for a reason.”
“And your point?”
Dallas raised his hands. “I’m just saying, you care about her. Adele has always been a sweet girl. It’s hard not to care for somebody like her, which means it’s easy to see who to go after when the time is right.”
“What does he have on her?”
“More like her family,” he admitted, pulling something out of his jacket pocket. “A list of names associated with the Saint James scandal.”
“The people he stole from?”
A head nod.
Passing it to me, I glimpsed over the names. Some were more familiar than others. “I should ask how you got this, but I’m not sure I care. What I want to know is what The Dick plans to do with it.”
His lips twitched. “Well, I’d have to explain how I got it in order to tell you what his plans were.”
I waited impatiently.
Another chuckle. “There’s a reporter named Nicholas McAllister. He works for The Times and has a long-lasting relationship with some well-off families. Pratt being one of them, naturally.”
Swiping my jaw, I set the list down and tapped it. “He was going to publish this.” It wasn’t a question. In fact, it was something Pratt would do, which was unsurprising to me.
Dallas bobbed his head once. “You remember those reports from when the trial first started? The reporter is the same one on the bylines from back then. Nick McAllister. What’s convenient about those articles was that none of them painted Murphy in a bad light, or anybody else who was suspected. It was all—”
“Anthony Saint James,” I concluded. Scrubbing my jaw, I sat back. “I take it the reporter is on Pratt’s payroll then. Murphy and Pratt were known to be friends. Their kids practically grew up together.” The Dick always put his business where it didn’t belong and acted like an ally at his convenience. Knowing Adele danced with a lot of the kids of families in the same social circles made making connections easier, especially if somebody needed a fallback guy like Anthony was.
Dallas nodded along. “Yet, the Saint James family is who is being targeted. Anthony