“Maybe he also came here to get a front seat to the show; to see how his actions were affecting you on a personal level; to see the damage for himself,” Devon mused.
Raini frowned. “But wouldn’t he have stayed longer, if that were the case?”
“Who says he hasn’t?” asked Harper. “Ciaran said he wasn’t home. It might not be that he’s simply out grocery shopping. It might be that he never left Vegas.”
“Unfortunately, Harper is right,” said Jolene. “I’ll station someone at his house. If he returns, they’ll notify me. We need to find out more about Harmony, if that’s even her name. We have questions she might be able to answer.”
“Leave it with me,” said Khloë. “I’ll consult my sources.”
Jolene nodded. “If it’s not Dwain or Demi, it has to be one of Maddox’s lair.” She looked at Raini. “It’s quite a coincidence that the boycotting started near the time you and Maddox made your deal. I don’t believe in coincidences. My guess is he’ll find it just as suspicious. Ensure he looks into it, Raini. If he doesn’t, I will. And he won’t like how I go about doing it.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sitting on the sofa at the penthouse a few hours later, Raini rubbed her thighs. She wasn’t looking forward to this conversation at all. Jolene was right; she needed to tell Maddox about the boycotting, because there truly was a chance that one of his demons was behind it. But he wasn’t going to like the implication all too much, and he might even get pissed at Jolene.
If the situation were reversed, Jolene would certainly have felt—at the very least—extremely insulted that another Prime would accuse one of her demons of such an act. She’d still have performed an internal investigation—Jolene wasn’t a woman who left anything to chance. If she’d discovered that one of her lair was guilty, she’d have dealt with them swiftly. Maddox would most likely do the same.
A little voice in Raini’s head, however, questioned if he really would act. He acknowledged her as his anchor, and he’d sneakily forged his way into her life. But she wasn’t his top priority. He put his lair first. Hell, he hadn’t even formally introduced her to them. She’d only met a few.
If one of them was the asshole boycotter, would Maddox do much more than give them a slap on the wrist? Would he admit their guilt to outsiders? She’d like to think that the answer to both questions would be yes, but she couldn’t be sure.
She could, however, be sure that he’d get all snarly simply because she hadn’t mentioned the boycotting before. Raini hadn’t violated the conditions of their deal by not sharing the recent shitty events with him, but that wouldn’t matter much to Maddox. Not when he had a strong sense of entitlement where she was concerned; not when he was so determined that she rely on him.
Blowing out a breath, Raini reached out to touch his mind. I know you’re probably mega busy, but could you please come see me when you have a few spare minutes? she asked, cool and casual. Nothing in her telepathic voice gave away her anxiety, so she was more than a little surprised when he abruptly appeared right in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” he immediately demanded, glancing around.
A little touched that he’d responded so fast and with such obvious concern, she replied, “It’s nothing huge. Jolene wants me to share something with you.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”
Raini cleared her throat. “So, for the past few months, someone has been trying to boycott Urban Ink. We thought it was personal to Harper and Knox, since she owns half the business. But today, well, something else happened and … it occurred to us that the main focus seems to be me.”
His expression didn’t change, but there was a slight hardening to his jawline. “Explain.”
Raini gave him a quick but succinct summary of the boycotting attempts. “I’m not entirely sure I believe this is all directed at me, but Jolene and the girls do.”
“As do I,” he said, his voice smooth as silk but … dark. Almost menacing.
“Jolene thinks my sister’s anchor is most likely behind it.”
“Why?”
“He tumbled head first into a snare some years ago and declared he loved me.” Raini relayed the occurrence to Maddox, adding, “Jolene intends to question him once she gets her hands on him. But she believes there’s also a chance—”
“That it could be a demon from my lair,” he guessed.
“Yes. She wants to cover her bases, that’s all. She likes to be thorough. She figures it’s best not to assume anything. So she’d like you to look into it. I don’t think I have to warn you that she’ll do it if you don’t. If it was the other way around, you’d do the same.”