Home > Resonance of Stars (Greenstone Security #5)(6)

Resonance of Stars (Greenstone Security #5)(6)
Author: Anne Malcom

All true.

But if Kitsch knew they were caught up in this shit, then they were up against it. Kitsch would figure out the connection. Eventually. Through the process of elimination more than anything else. He’d go looking for her through friends in law enforcement, he wouldn’t find her. Men like him were smart enough to know not many outfits could make actresses disappear, and he’d eventually figure out Greenstone was involved. They were the best. He would use everything he could to get them. To draw blood. To get what he needed. No one was off limits. Women. Children. Fuck.

Every man in this room had something precious to lose. Something that they’d already almost lost.

Keltan would not have taken the job if there wasn’t more. He wouldn’t endanger his wife or his kids. Not for a second. He looked carefully toward Heath. “Wire’s found connections to Fernandez. Kitsch had a business relationship before we took him down.”

Another swift intake of breath. Heath went still.

Rosie muttered a slew of curse words that would’ve impressed truckers and sailors alike.

Fernandez was the man responsible for Polly’s kidnapping…and more. It had been one of the biggest blows to them all. Polly had somehow stayed human, stayed bright after inconceivably dark shit.

Not dark like midnight. Dark like a fucking abyss leading straight to hell.

Duke still had nightmares about the vision of her being chained in the back of that truck. Walking around for months with no light, no life in her. She’d managed to get herself out of it. Get fucking Heath out of it. Didn’t mean those marks weren’t still there.

More proof that these women were stronger than all the men in this room put together.

“Goes without saying, we get this fucker behind bars, we get a piece of justice for ourselves in addition to sparing others from his shit,” Keltan continued. “She’s on her way up now. But I’m not gonna take this job unless each of you is solid on this.”

“She’s a woman in need,” Luke said immediately, glancing to his wife. “She’s most likely gonna die an ugly death if we don’t take this.”

Keltan nodded. “Odds are high.”

No one at the table hesitated.

 

I was not someone easily intimidated. It had taken training, obviously. But life had given me enough shit that I’d learned that being intimidated was the same as being afraid, and being afraid was weak.

I was both intimidated and afraid sitting at this table.

Of course I wasn’t showing it. My expression was carefully crafted into that “I’m better than all of you” expression I’d mastered over the years. It was born out of the need to survive by lying to myself. In truth, I was the worst of the lot. Born into trash and dirt. It hid somewhere underneath expensive body creams, a fake tan, and perfume.

“Ms. Edwards, you understand the gravity of the situation you’re in?” Keltan asked me after we’d all sat down. He hadn’t introduced me to anyone, something I was used to being as famous as I was. But I didn’t think this was about fame. This was about infamy. I’d worked with many of the men at this table. I’d been a total fucking bitch to each of them. I hadn’t wanted to. No matter what people thought, I didn’t want to be thought of in this way. Not by men who had shown to be nothing but decent. A lot of decent men would’ve walked out on me, and I wouldn’t have blamed them. But the Greenstone men had a reputation for keeping their word.

So they’d worked with me. I’d paid them handsomely. But it wasn’t about the money. It was the respect I’d failed to show them because I was utterly fucked up.

I purposefully looked only at Keltan and not the rest of the table. Specifically not the muscled, blond-haired, blue-eyed Nordic god that hated me.

“I think I’m aware that witnessing a murder is somewhat serious,” I said dryly.

The man did well to hide his own loathing for me. He clung to the professional mask well, they all did, except the beautiful woman staring at me. To most other men, her look might’ve been seen as mild. But her eyes were narrowed in a way only women could recognize. In a “I know your game, and I’ll rip your hair out if you try and fuck with me” way. She scared the heck out of me. I also loved her leather jacket. I didn’t think there would be an opening for me to ask her where she got it from.

My tone was snooty and arrogant. Meant to rub them the wrong way. I’d do anything to not be treated like what I really was. A victim.

“You are aware of the reason you’re here?” Keltan continued.

I sucked in a breath. “Not entirely.” I glanced beside me at Andre, who was looking serious, which in front of all of these handsome men meant the situation was dire. “I’m aware that I need protection, but I’m not aware why it needs to be at midnight.” My tone was clipped. Unimpressed. It was low of me to speak to Andre like that, in front of an audience, no less. Outside of my norm for sure. I had my reputation but I had my limits. Demeaning people in front of anyone—or demeaning them in general—was not part of my repertoire. But holding on to my façade was getting trickier.

Plus, Andre knew me as well as anyone could, and he likely knew the score. His emotional skin was about the same thickness as an elephant’s, the reason he’d been able to stomach working with me for as long as he had.

Keltan’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Obviously not impressed with the way I spoke to Andre. “Coleson Kitsch is very dangerous.”

“I also got that by the fact he blew someone’s head off,” I said, my voice even. My insides were roiling, vision starting to get blurry since I hadn’t eaten a thing since...breakfast?

I made an effort to straighten my spine. Not sway in my seat.

“This isn’t just a run-of-the-mill murder, sweetheart,” the woman interjected with sweet venom that impressed me.

I turned my gaze to her. She looked good for midnight. Not as good as me. Exceptionally beautiful in a natural way. Messy curls. Kick-ass outfit. Killer gaze. “I wasn’t aware that any murder was run-of-the-mill,” I replied, matching her tone.

She raised her brow. Opened her mouth. Maybe to say something unkind—which I deserved—but the hot macho man beside her put his hand on hers and leaned in to murmur something in her ear.

“There have been two other witnesses under federal protection, both disappeared,” Keltan said. “I assume that’s the reason your publicist was smart enough to get you here at this hour, considering he must like you alive.”

Andre grinned. “I listen to a lot of podcasts about organized crime.”

I almost smiled. Almost. As it was, my lip merely quirked before I managed to regain my mask.

“So you will be able to protect me better than the law enforcement can?” I made sure to make it sound like I didn’t believe that. Which I didn’t. “All due respect to those witnesses that came before me. They weren’t as...well known as me. I think it might be harder to take down someone like me—”

“You can die just as easily as a normal person, no matter how much money you have, no matter how many movies you’ve starred in, no matter how many people know your name,” the women interjected, proving that a man, not even a hot macho one, could silence her.

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