TWENTY-SIX
His crew was ten minutes late.
Five minutes, he told himself while folding a paper napkin so he doesn’t resort to biting his thumbnail. If they don’t arrive in five min—
The door to the restaurant’s small function room swung open, letting Belle in, followed by AJ and Vito. None of them said anything to him as they each took a seat.
“Thanks for coming today,” Datu said when they were all settled in.
Belle threw him a sidelong glance and continued typing something on her phone, while Vito crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against his chair. Only AJ seemed mildly interested in what he had to say, and even then, Datu’s throat constricted like he was about to deliver the most important pitch in his life.
“I’m sorry I lied to all of you,” was how he chose to start
