James leans forward, clasping his hands together and his perfectly tailored suit wrinkles beneath his arms, making the fabric look cheap. He’s always looked just a bit cheap. Regardless of the brand or how expensive his tastes are. Some assholes will always look like a knockoff.

He taps his fingers on the desk, but my eyes don’t leave his. “The reason I called you in here is simple, Evan. The new client we have likes to live on the reckless side, and I’m concerned about drug abuse.”

A gruff exhale leaves me from deep down in my chest. “I quit.” I ignore the fact that he’s hinting around what happened with Tony. My skin tingles and that feeling of a spider crawling on me comes back. I can’t help but think he’s recording this conversation. Everything in my gut has been telling me there’s a setup and that I’m going to take the fall for what happened.

It was my fault, so I should be taking the blame regardless. On my terms, not this prick’s and he’s responsible for the way it went down. Some of the blame rests on his shoulders.

“I know what you said, but I assumed you’d come to your senses,” he says, waving off my curt response. “Like I said, the new client has been known to behave a bit recklessly and I just want to make sure the policy we had in place remains the same.”

The policy. I smirk at him, my grip on the arms getting tighter although my fingers are all that move.

The policy where the clients get what they want, but we don’t say it out loud to anyone. The one where we’re given clean stashes of the best drugs in the rec rooms. That’s the policy. Instead of clarifying the policy, I answer, “After what happened with Tony I would think it’s more than clear that we should advise our clients against anything too reckless.”

James’s eyes narrow. He knows I know that he’s recording this. I’m not a fool. The only question I have is why. Why record it? More blackmail? Or evidence? What’s he after?

I stare him in the eyes as I ask, “What is it you really want? You know you’ve provided drugs to clients before.” I cock my head to the side as I ask, “Are we changing the policy?”

“I’ve never given anyone anything illegal,” he states and I notice how he stiffens slightly but still tries to act casual as he shrugs and adds, “There’s no change to the policy.”