brothers are good at what they do. But not great. Or else Antonio never would have even stepped foot in a prison. The real problem is that there’s one more hire. The worst hitman of all. Or should I say hitwoman. You know…because she’s a woman.”
I swallowed hard. “Where’s the picture of her?” I pushed the picture of Antonio to the side but there was no other printout.
“No known images of her I’m afraid. But she was paid recently too. So she’s definitely going through with a hit soon. And I’m assuming she’s really good because Richard dropped double the amount on her.”
“The woman that’s following me? Do you think that could be her?”
“All I know is that she’s a woman. And she’s good at her job. That’s probably why I couldn’t find a picture.”
Shit. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this last night? I could have been killed.”
“Richard’s been pretty insistent that he wants to speak with you. I doubt he’ll go through with your hit before you’ve given him the last word.”
Maybe that was true. But that had nothing to do with Scarlett. “I have to go.”
“We haven’t even gotten to the main. I heard the lobster really is quite lovely. I still can’t believe I wasted so many years of my life not eating lobster.” He shook his head.
I didn’t have time for Tanner to tell me for the tenth time that lobster had only recently become a delicacy and that he was making up for lost time by eating loads of it. He never made any sense. My parents had served lobster for years. It hadn’t just recently become a delicacy. “I need to tell James everything.” I stood up and pulled on my coat.
“It’s about time you told him you’re still upset about what happened with Brooklyn. I’m surprised it’s taken you this long. I really think harboring all these feelings of resentment and bitterness aren’t doing you any favors.”
“Not that. I’m talking about Poppy’s threat regarding Scarlett. I should have told him right after it happened. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Oh, yeah. You should really get on that. Let’s just finish up here…”
This was a little more important than a fake date night. “I’m sorry Tanner, but I have to go. We’ll do dinner another night.” I was already hurrying out of the restaurant before he could respond.
The valet looked up at me.
“I’m in a hurry,” I said.
“Bad date?” he asked as he looked for my keys.
Something like that. Why was he taking forever? I could see my keys from here. “Top right, one row down.”
“Ah, here we are. Let me just go…”
I grabbed the keys from his hand. “I can get it.” I pressed the button and heard a beep somewhere to the left. I took off running. It didn’t take me long to find my car and hop in. I started the engine, pulled out onto the street, and almost ran right into a pedestrian.
My foot slammed onto the brakes just before my car collided with…Tanner? Where the hell had he even come from so quickly? Had he jilted the waiter with the check instead of me?
Tanner patted the front of the car and shook his head. He ran his fingers down the front of his peacoat and straightened the to-go containers in his hands that somehow hadn’t ended up on my windshield.
He walked around and opened the passenger’s side door. “Mechanical beasts,” he huffed. “I got our food to-go. Very fast service.”
Crazy fast. Our main courses hadn’t even arrived at the table yet. But I guess maybe that had saved them time.
“We can warm it up after we go air out all our dirty laundry with James. If he’s well behaved I’ll let him eat some of your lobster.”
“I’m not talking to him about Brooklyn.”
“We’ll just see how the night progresses.”
“You don’t need to come,” I said.
“I’m already committed to this.” Tanner pulled on his seat belt. “What are you waiting for? Gun it.”
Chapter 21
Monday
As each minute ticked by, I started to panic more and more. What if I was too late? What if something had happened to Scarlett? Why the fuck had I taken so long to tell James about Poppy’s visit?
“It’s going to be fine,” Tanner said as the elevator doors closed. “I’m pretty sure you would have heard if Scarlett had been abducted by one of Richard’s crazed relatives.”
“I wouldn’t exactly be the first person James called if something went wrong.”