Chapter 241
Chapter 241
Audrey know Yann smoked but rarely saw him do it. She hardly ever smelled tobacco on him, so much so that she’d forgotten he was a smoker.
“Since it’s a collaboration between two places, we should set an example,” he said,
After hanging up, Yann pulled wet wipes from the glove compartment to clean his hands, especially the fingers that had held the cigarette, scrubbing them carefully several times.
Audrey raised an eyebrow slightly. She wondered, “He has this habit of wiping his hands. Could he be trying to get rid of the smoke smell?”
“Got plans tonight?” Audrey asked.
Yann nodded. “Quentin invited me to dinner.”
The name sounded familar to Audrey, but she couldn’t quite recall where she’d heard it.
—–
At a private club, Yann led Audrey into a booth.
Three men and one woman were playing cards. The man facing the door waved eagerly when he saw Tann. “Busy guy! You finally showed up. I thought you’d moved to Ironhaven for good”
The man turned to Audrey, grinning widely. “Hi, Audrey.”
At his greeting everyone at the table turned to lo
look.
The first to meet Audrey’s gaze was the woman, Tala. Her eyes quickly scanned Audrey before landing on Yann, where she gave an elegant nod.
Atlash of invitation crossed Yann’s face.
“Audrey, come and play for a bit. Keep what you win, and I’ll cover the losses. The man who’d greeted them first stood up and casually took the ashtray
from his spot.
Audrey squeezed fann’s hand to calm him. She didn’t want to avoid Talia. After all, they both lived in Ashbourne and would likely run into each other
“I’m not great at this, so don’t mind if do badly” Audrey sat down in the man’s seat, directly across from Talla,
The man pulled Yann aside. “She went to drop off something for my mom and insisted on coming when she found out I was meeting you.”
His mom and Talia’s mom were close friends, and he and Talia had been classmates, so he couldn’t easily say no.
He clasped his hands in a pleading gesture, asking Yarn for patience.
Yann said coldly, “Just this once.”
They returned to the card table, and Keith grinned as he made introductions. “This is Talia, Quentin, and Hardy, and I’m Keith. We’ve been friends since we were kids.” Keith Turner motioned to Quentin, Hardy Cruz, and Yann
Audrey greeted everyone one by one, then focused on Quentin. His name wasn’t just familiar. He looked familiar too. “Have we met belove?” she asked.
Quentin glanced at Yann and smiled faintly, “At the Ironhaven police station. I did some basic forensic work for a little girl.”
Audrey remembered immediately. He was Carson’s extremely capable senior and also a police consultant of some sort.
“Thought you went to the bonh
went to the lionhaven precinct to meet someone,” Keith said, leaning on Audrey’s chair. “Did you find them? And why were you getting
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Chapter 241
involved in forensics?”
Yann shooed Keith away and stood behind Audrey instead.
She held up a card and turned to him for advice. Yann leaned down, rearranged her
cards, and pointed to a specific one
Audrey nodded and drew a new card. It was exactly the one she needed
She smiled at Yann, who pointed to another card.
Quentin didn’t answer Keith’s questions, Keith, feeling snubbed, went to the wine cabinet to open a bottle and let it rate.
Another round passed. Audrey drew a card, laid out her hand, and said, “I
Everyone except Talla congratulated her with smiles.
Talia tossed a chip at Audrey, then turned to Yann. “My team is hitting a technical bottleneck. Could Dakshell international offer some input!”
“Talia” Keith interrupted, worried she’d provoke Yann. “This is a social gathering. Let’s keep it off work.”
Talia dismissed him with a wave.
As the cards were shuffled, she looked at Audrey but spoke to Yann. “Ms. Henderson, do you typically meet clients in hotel guest rooms!”
Audrey smiled calmly, “Ms. Price, when you take clients out for meals with alcohol, don’t you fear losing control sexually after drinking?”
Talia’s mocking smile froze on her face.
Audrey started rolling the dice, her tone calm. “When you read too much into others, you lose sight of your own judgment. No wonder StellarCore’s software never stands out.”
Talia’s hand jerked, knocking over her pile of cards
Quentin and Hardy didn’t bat an eye. They quietly put the cards back, ignoring Talia’s embarrassed and furious expression
“I just remembered you have things to do.” Keith yanked Talia to her feet. “You guys keep playing. I’ll take her back first.”
Without waiting for her to agree, Keith pulled her along, grabbing her bag from the sola as they went.
“Wanna join us?” Quentin looked at Yann
Yann pulled out Talia’s chair, swapped it for another, and sat down to pick up cards.
Every card he played, Audrey could incorporate into her hand. If it hadn’t been for the rule that she had to draw the winning card herself, she would’ve won in a flash.
When Keith came back after dropping Talia off, he walked in and saw Yan’s cards. “What kind of hand is that? None of them match
Quentin scoffed, “No wonder Audrey keeps winning Someone’s been feeding her cards!”
He reached over and shuffled through Yann’s cards, which were a total mess.
Keith asked curiously, “How are you two communicating? Don’t say it’s just intuition. I don’t believe that.”
Yann stood up to take Audrey’s hand. “Believe it or not, you still have to pay.”
Keith said, “Wait, Audrey was playing for me, and the didn’t lose She’d actually won a bunch.
“You asked her to play for you. Who else would pay?” Yann said.
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Chapter 241
Keith rolled his eyes, thin
thinking, know it. He never let things, he wouldn’t let this drop esity
The group moved to the dining table. Yan ordered Audity’s favorite food, then handed the
the men to Keith and turned to God. “What’s
“The patient had a cold recently. Probably this weekend.” Quentin quickly glanced at Audrey, who seemed bony ratings
As the drinks were posted, Yann raised his glass. “This is my wife, Audery. She’s a shareholder at StrideVestment. If any of you run into her companies, look out for her.”
The group of friends all raised their glasses in response.
“Audrey, just say the word if you need help,” Keith said.
“For real estate or infrastructure, let me know,” Hardy added.
“Hopefully you won’t need my services,” Quentin said dryly,
Audrey smiled and lifted her glass. “Thank you all, and thank you, honey.” She turned to Vann. “Thank you for giving me so much respect and confidence I won’t let you down,
Keith clicked his tongue, thinking, “Ugh, stop being so cheesy. This is torture for single people!”
He turned to Quentin “You’ve been in the dating game way longer. How’d you let this late bloomer outpace you?”
Quentin’s expression stayed neutral as he took a sip of red wine.” he’d stayed single much longer, I’d have believed the rumors myses. Smot even asked if i had a “magic pill‘ to change his ‘preferences.
His gaze landed on the bracelet on Audrey’s wrist, his eyes flickering with complicated emotions as if the jewelry stirred a distant memory.
Just then, Quentin shifted his gaze, and Audrey suddenly tensed like she’d uncovered something surprising
Under the table, she grabbed Yann’s log firmly and gave it a hard squeere.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
