Noah’s expression sours, but he doesn’t give up. “Now I’m to blame for the Koltsovs trying to clean house? Look, I don’t know if they’re working through their list in fucking chronological order, but they’ll get to you, eventually.”
“Thanks for the warning.” I toss a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
Noah reaches for it and tosses it back at me.
“Can’t let someone like me buy you a cup coffee?” I ask.
“I try to keep my ledger clean.”
“You did me a favor. Told me what to expect. Consider this making us even,” I say and drop the bill back on the table. “I’ll see you around. Thanks for the warning.”
“You have a chance to do what’s right here, Sterling. Don’t waste it,” he advises me.
“I can always make new chances,” I tell him, as I button my suit jacket. “What you’re talking about is closing doors.”
“And this is the door you really want to keep open?” He gestures to the city outside the café’s windows.
“For now.” I’m not giving him the satisfaction of any more of my time, even if he’s given me a lot to consider. It’s one thing to have the FBI sniffing around town. If I keep my nose clean, he can’t touch me. The Koltsovs? That’s another story. If he’s right, then I’ll be hearing from them soon enough. “See you around.”
He tips his head in acknowledgment before tapping the corner of his eye. “I’ll be watching.”
“I bet you will.” As soon as I’m outside, I dial Luca’s phone. There’s no time to waste.
“Bail Money Are Us,” Luca says when he answers. “Did you punch him again?”
“Shut up. This is important.” I fill him in on what Noah said.
He lets out a low whistle before he responds. “Looks like Nashville is getting more interesting.”
“Tell Jack,” I say, ignoring his misplaced humor.
“Will do,” he says.
“You know he’ll go after her,” Luca adds quietly.
“Yeah,” I say in a clipped tone.
“Watch your back, brother.”
“I always do.”
What have I gotten her into? Valmont isn’t big enough for all of us. Not if my past mistakes are going to move to town with me.
“And, Sterling, better watch hers, too,” he says before hanging up.
I thought Valmont needed a reckoning, but now that one is on its way, I’m wondering not only if I made a mistake coming back but who’s going to pay or it?
19
Adair
The Past
“I’m going to sleep with Sterling.”
Poppy’s Audi swerves into the next lane, and she quickly jerks it back to the right side of the road, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a mini-van.
I instantly regret my decision to tell her while she’s driving.
“I thought you already did,” Kai says from the backseat.
“What? Of course she hasn’t!” Poppy cries in a shrill voice, turning off the radio. She throws an exasperated look over her shoulder at him.
“Eyes on the road!” I grab the steering wheel and straighten it until her focus has returned.
“We would know if she slept with him. She would tell us,” Poppy lectures him. “It’s part of the rules.”
“There are rules?” I ask.
“Yes, and they’re so ingrained that you didn’t even know it. You just knew you needed to tell us!” Poppy claps and then grabs the wheel. “Oops! Sorry.”
We pause the discussion until we reach safety, but the moment our feet are on solid ground, they pepper me with questions.
“When?” Poppy asks.
“Where?”
“Friday, and I don’t know.” I wring my hands together. That’s the part that’s been weighing on my mind. Part of me wishes we hadn’t been interrupted that night at the Eaton. Then it would already be behind me. Sterling has been focused on his finals since Francie left, leaving little time for romantic interludes. “I told him that I’d sleep with him if he got an A on his Econ final.”
“You incentivized your virginity?” I can tell Poppy doesn’t approve.
“Look, I know I want to lose it to Sterling, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone.”
“Romantic,” Kai says with a chuckle.
“Actually, I think it will be.” I bite my lip, wishing they could see in him what I do. Unfortunately, the pair has been privy to enough bad behavior on his part to make that harder than I’d like. I take a deep breath and drop the bigger bombshell. “I think I’m in love with him.”
I know it, actually.
Poppy spins and grabs my hands. “Oh my god, did he say it?”
It doesn’t matter if she likes him or not. She knows that a moment like that is bigger than her personal objections. Her face falls when I shake my head.
“We keep hinting at it,” I admit. “We’ve definitely used the L-word but not actually said I love you.”
Even speaking the words to them ties my stomach in knots.
“Don’t say it first,” Poppy advises.
“Why not?” Kai is clearly not on board with her old-fashioned views about relationship etiquette.
“We’ll say it when it’s right.” I really do know it’s about what’s right for me and Sterling. I just needed to share before I imploded, trying to keep all the nerves and excitement locked inside me. “But I don’t know what I should do. I mean, how do I tell him I want to have sex without actually having to say it?”
“No panties,” Poppy says seriously. Kai and I burst out laughing, and she shakes her head. “Nothing sends a clearer signal. A garter belt and nothing else.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but I’m not sure I’m ready to jump from virgin to vixen.”
“You want to know the truth?” Kai asks.
I nod, hoping one of them has some real advice.
“It’s like any other day of your life. There’s not a lot of ceremony about it—unless you’re going to wait until your wedding night,” he adds.
“No way.”
“Then find something you feel good in, tell him you
