Page 23 of Shamelessly Loyal

Oh, she was wrong about that. Nonetheless, a conversation we would be better off not having.

“Do you know anything about a Cascade Palace? Or any palace event, really.”

Lips pursed, she shook her head. “Not exactly, but I know someone who will know. Are you going to have a fit if I ask to use a phone?”

“Did someone take your phone from you?” For all that I was keeping her locked down, that was to protect her not to just hold her hostage.

“No, I left it with my car when the boys picked me up. If someone decided to track me, I didn’t want to lead them to you.”

Smart. Admiration rippled through me.

Very smart.

Closing out the messages, I handed her my phone.

“Trusting me, Pretty Boy?” There was a definite allure to her smile as she opened the phone and dialed a number. “Or trying to tempt me?”

There were no safe answers to those questions, so I just stared at her and waited.

She grinned as a voice sounded almost tiny on the other end when they answered. “Hey bitch,” she said with a laugh. “Miss me?”

ChapterSeven

LAINEY

Whorehouse Creek had a casino. The name of the small town in the middle of nowhere that barely existed—anything connected to an LLC of any kind at least rated a blip on the radar of time. The original town, incorporated in the eighteen hundreds, fell into disuse as time and amenities moved on and past it.

But the town itself, and the land itself, did not fall into the public domain. As businesses died off, failed, or were just flat-out abandoned, they and their buildings were purchased then added to the land deed.

“One company owns all of it?” Pretty Boy leaned over my shoulder. The nearness wreathed me in his woodsy scent. It tickled my nose invitingly, and I had to fight the urge to take a long, deep breath.

Didn’t stop me from wanting to enjoy it. I shifted on the sofa so he could see the computer screen more clearly. Like the phone, I’d needed to borrow a laptop. Electronic conveniences were amazing, while also making incredible leashes.

“That would seem to be the case based on public record. On paper, Whorehouse Creek isstillincorporated, bylaws indicate a private township, security is also provided by a private company with no public police force, and land deeds are filed and buried.” It was all rather carefully constructed. Too carefully, with each line of inquiry dead-ending after a few steps. It was how the palace system worked, or so Tally explained.

“There is a casino,” I pointed out. It closed in the early eighties, but it had been there.

“Your friend said that was the place, right?” He was still right there, the tickle of his breath on my skin despite the fact his attention was on my screen.

“Tally,” I said absently. She’d come through for me, and then there had been almost no doubt. Her latest obsession was extreme sports, on and off book. When I told her I needed a name, I could practically feel her assessing gaze as if it were on me directly.

“Tell me you’re not in trouble,” she ordered, and the stiff tone gave me a lot more insight into where we needed to go. Tally loved to party, but she was so much more than her celebutante image. That said, she rarely let anyone see below the surface.

“I’m not,” I promised her. “This is for Em.”

Pretty Boy had given me a sharp look, but I ignored him. Tally wouldn’t betray me or Em. She’d sooner cut off her own hair.

“Leave it with me,” she said. “I’ll get you the name.”

She came through in record time. Now I studied the business structure, at least everything available for public record. The name hadn’t netted me an invite yet.

“I’m going to need to borrow your phone again,” I told Pretty Boy. He just handed it over wordlessly. “Thank you, also, if you want to sit next to me, I won’t bite.” And it would be so much better than him looming over me.

His soft snort teased me, or maybe it was the fingers he trailed over my hair before he circled to take a seat on my right.

Focus, Lainey, I ordered myself. Unlike Adam and Ezra, who kept me out of everything, Pretty Boy had agreed to let me help, but only if I followed his rules. So far, that had not been a problem.

Then again, it was almost always easier to ask for forgiveness than it was permission. I’d only ever memorized five phone numbers. This most recent one had been for Fletcher Reed, Adam’s cousin. He’d given it to me after he put together the new identity packet for Emersyn.