Page 242 of The Bluffing Game

“I promise you it won’t. Scout’s honor, Brownie’s honor,” I say, and she smiles.

The door to the restaurant opens, and we all look forward eagerly, hoping it’s going to be a large party. My heart sinks when I see it’s Brett.

“You want to take this one?” I say to Rosie, thinking about what Dalton told me about him.

“No, I’m okay.” She looks over at Brett longingly and then back at me. “You know, I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not chasing guys who aren’t into me.”

“How did you learn that?” I ask her in surprise.

“I don’t know. Maybe watching that movie, He’s Just Not That Into You, the other night with Izzy.”

“I made her watch it because I feel like we’re kind of the same personality,” Izzy says. “We so badly want to be in love, but we’ve got to go for the right guys, and emotionally unavailable men and manipulative men are not the men for us.”

“Okay, I guess I will take this one then,” I say as I head over to Brett. “Hey, welcome to Mama’s Kitchen.”

“I’m actually not here to eat,” he says. “I’m here to talk to you.”

There’s a serious expression on his face, and I nod my assent.

“Do you want to go to the break room?” I ask.

“Sure.”

We walk slowly by the bar, and he offers a look to Jimmy.

“Good afternoon, Jimmy,” Brett says.

Jimmy nods and then turns back to cleaning his glasses.

“It’s a really strange week that we’ve got going on with the weather,” Brett says to Jimmy, who slowly turns back around.

“Wouldn’t know. Haven’t really been outside,” he says. He looks at me, and then he looks back at Brett. “Best to just concentrate on the weather we have now, don’t you think? Not what may be coming?”

Brett nods. “Let’s chat, Sage.”

We enter the break room, and Brett closes the door.

“We should have a seat. I’m afraid I have some not-so-great news for you.”

“Okay, and what’s that?”

“Two things. Firstly, the threat from Parker is real. He is very rich; he comes from a very prominent family. He has a lot of connections. He doesn’t like to be told no.”

“Okay.”

“And he’s a little bit of a psychopath. He has stalked and threatened many women, so you’re going to have to stay with Dalton for a little bit longer. Unfortunately, Parker’s family is not necessarily on the up-and-up. They’re not part of any Mafia family, but his father does have some contacts in Russia, who connected him to the Bratva in California, especially in Southern California. And, well, as you know, they’re not too happy with the Leones right now.”

“But what does that have to do with me?”

“They think you’re his girl.”

“Whose girl?” I ask loudly.

He frowns. “They think that you are Dalton’s girl based on information Parker gave them.”

“How do you know this?”

“I have sources. So, right now, I’m trying to take care of the Parker threat while also minimizing the Bratva threat. The good news is that Dalton is no longer mafioso, so he doesn’t really offer any risk to the Bratva. I don’t know if they’re that interested in getting custody of Toby, seeing as Dalton did go through legal channels. However, yeah, there is still a threat to you. We don’t know what Parker is capable of, so until I can ensure he’s going to be prosecuted and arrested without bail, I would like you to stay with Dalton.”