Page 78 of Merciless Heir
I murmur a yes and head out. I don’t need to heed warnings. I’m fucking secure in my decisions.
She thinks I’m playing a game of the hearts with Kingston, but she couldn’t be more wrong. We’ve laid everything on the table. Everything is clear as glass and lacking any tricky depths.
Sure, I might lust for him, but I don’t really want him. He’s too like me. Also, he’s from a different world. He doesn’t want me either, not beyond the sex.
And I can live with that.
Even if I like him more than I want to admit.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kingston
The last person I expected to see when I knocked was an old lady with improbable hair, neon blue nails, and an attitude that could rival Sadie’s.
“I won’t ask who you are,” she says, not moving out of the way or extending an invitation.
Oh yeah, she’s definitely linked to Sadie.
“So you’re who she came to see.” I don’t move. I’m going in, and if I have to stand here all day, I will.
I’m not being an asshole, but I would like to know where my money is going. And why the fuck Sadie bolted from me.
This is, she might have gotten a cab, but so did I. There were two of them, and it was easy enough to flag the second down. I’ve even been known to use the subway before.
Her heavily lined and mascaraed eyes dip as she looks me over. “An actual billionaire on my humble doorstep.”
“They’ll be lining up soon.”
She gives a bark of laughter. “If you want information, you’ll have to ask your Raven.”
“She’s not my anything,” I say, shoving my hands in my pockets, even though the hall of her building is warm. “But money is money.”
The old lady sighs. “You sound like she said.”
“An asshole?”
“Complex.”
“I didn’t say anything complex there, quite the opposite.”
She smiles. “You did, you know. So did she.” She looks me up and down. “Athena. And you look like the kind of man not about to go until he gets what he wants, so you might as well come in.”
I follow her inside, and it’s cozy. It’s not the home of a thief. Then again, neither is Sadie’s. Actually, what the fuck am I even thinking? How would I know? I don’t hang around with criminals on any kind of basis.
A smile threatens to break free. Sadie would, of course, disagree with that. And she wouldn’t be meaning her.
“I know you’re looking for the Sinclair jewel.”
“Me and everyone else, apparently,” I say, sitting on the sofa because I’m towering over her and somehow, this short old lady with ridiculous nails and hair is making me feel small.
Like she’s the one with power.
And maybe she is. Because Sadie came here. “You know where it is?”
“No one does, Mr. Sinclair,” she says.
“That’s not true. Someone does.”