Page 106 of See You Maybe
Olivia took his hand, her lips twitching at the harmless flirting.
Vincent looked between Declan and Brady, his mouth turning down. “Brady,” he rumbled.
With an exaggerated sigh, Brady let go of Olivia’s hand. “Alas, duty calls.”
Then he winked, and she almost burst out laughing. It was obvious he was more interested in irritating Declan than flirting with her. But the question was… Why had he thought it would bother Declan?
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Atlanta—Present Day
Declan exhaled and tightened the cord holding his temper in check, reminding himself that Brady was goading him on purpose. The man was walking a very thin line. “What have you found?”
Brady glanced at Vincent. “Mind if I go first?” Vincent shrugged. “I've located your missing witness.”
Declan sat forward, anticipation fizzing through him.
“I haven't made the approach yet.” Brady frowned. “It’s a delicate situation. She has a family now—husband and two kids. It’s possible no one in her current life knows about her past. I don’t know how willing she's going to be to come forward and admit that until five years ago she worked as a high-end prostitute.”
“I'm sure we can come up with some form of persuasion,” Declan drawled.
“I know this is important to you…” Brady’s voice was uncharacteristically harsh.
Declan smothered an annoyed sigh. “I only meant everyone has a price. A mortgage to pay off, college education… Figure out hers and give it to her.”
Brady’s posture relaxed slightly, his voice back to its normal, casual tone. “Do you want me to put feelers out? Speak to her? My guys can be pretty charming when they want to be.”
“I don't know how susceptible she'll be to charm,” Vincent pointed out. “She was pretty traumatized the night of the accident. It might be better if it’s me. I’m the one who helped her get away.”
Brady snorted. “Right. I’m sure that didn’t involve any threats about keeping her mouth shut.”
Vincent slowly turned his head to stare at Brady, but didn’t bother to deny it.
Declan leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the desk. “I’ll go.”
The other two men glanced at each other.
“You aren’t exactly warm and fuzzy,” Brady observed.
“She won’t buy warm and fuzzy. This woman survived as a sex worker for Courtney’s escort service. That can’t have been easy. She’s probably better at sniffing out liars than you are.”
He steepled his hands on the desk in front of him. “It has to be me. I’m the other person whose life changed forever that night. She might respond to that.” He smiled at Brady’s dubious expression. “I can be charming.”
“Said the spider to the fly,” Brady muttered, but shook his head. “You’re the boss.”
The younger man wasn’t happy about it, but Brady’s feelings didn’t factor into Declan’s decision. Shifting topics, he asked, “Has Wes made any progress?”
The two men standing in front of him exchanged another look, and when Vincent shifted his weight from one foot to the other, Declan narrowed his eyes.
“Yup. We did a test run.” Brady nodded.
Declan didn’t take his eyes off Vincent. “What?”
Vincent hesitated. “The peanut is… unhappy.”
It took every ounce of Declan’s restraint not to roll his eyes. Vincent had broken hundreds of laws, domestic and international, not to mention bones, in service to the Bloom family. However, when it came to Declan’s baby sister, the man was a marshmallow.
“She’s worried that if the hack is discovered, the authorities could trace it back to her husband.”