She scoffs, in disbelief or disgust, I can’t tell. She starts to say something, but cuts herself off and glances around the room as if remembering we’re in a roomful of dignified people.

“Well, clearly you’ve made your mind up about me, so there’s no point in me being here, is there?” She doesn’t wait for a response before jumping to her feet. “Thanks for lunch.”

I grab her arm before she steps away from the table. “Wait. You didn’t let me finish.”

“Don’t ever put your hands on me,” she snaps, weaseling her arm out of my grasp as if she thinks I might try to hurt her, like I’m that stupid. But she doesn’t leave.

I flick my eyes around the room, then lower my voice. “What if we work out a deal? Ten grand and all you have to do is not tell anybody what you heard in there.”

She laughs, not like she’s amused, but maybe in temporary shock. Then she lifts a brow, and something mocking eases into her eyes. “Thought you said you were joking?”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, can we just cut the bullshit? You heard what you heard, and I need it to stay between us.”

She laughs, and it sounds like she is genuinely amused. “You’re going to give me ten thousand dollars to keep quiet about you planning to murder your—”

“Don’t say it out loud. Are you stupid?” I snap, and suddenly my heart is racing. I take a breath to steady myself. Check the room one more time.

When I look at Brandi again, she has the same look on her face as I do when I gawk at the homeless people balled up in sleeping bags inside Grand Central, but I’m not the one who’s crazy. She’s the one out of her mind if she doesn’t agree to this deal. This is to protect her as much as it is to protect me.

“Look. It’ll take me about a week to get my hands on the cash,” I say. “But it’s yours if you agree to keep your mouth shut.”

Her face breaks into a smile, but there’s nothing friendly about it. She stares at me for a moment, rolling her tongue around her mouth as if she’s just figured something out. “You really think you can buy your way out of everything, don’t you?”

I don’t look away. Neither does she.

I lick my lips, taste the bitterness of my lip stain. “Are you saying no? We both know this is the only way someone like you will ever have this much money in your bank account. I mean, unless you want to mooch off Nate for the rest of your life.”

Her eyes harden. “Like you mooch off your dad?”