Lie or Die: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Read Online Free PDF

“Plus I’m paying you.”
    “Exactly,” I agreed. “I can see I spoke out of turn in the meeting, but I was just trying to do my job. Now that I know you don’t want me to do that, I won’t…unless you specifically ask.”
    He nodded, his lips curving into a slight smile. “I’m glad we understand one another. I have a lot on my plate, and I don’t want to have to worry about you.” There was a certain amount of loyalty in his organization, and although he’d grown fond of me, he wasn’t sure I’d ever feel that way toward him. He couldn’t let his feelings get in the way of business. It was probably due to having his son, Miguel, along with Jackie, in his life. It was making him soft, and he couldn’t afford that. Not now, not ever.
    He came back to himself, realizing I’d just heard his thoughts. It didn’t bother him at all. “Well,” he said pleasantly. “I guess we’d better get back in there. Jimmy and Nick should be here by now.”
    “But I thought…oh never mind.” He confused me, and I couldn’t help shaking my head.
    Uncle Joey noticed. “What?” he asked, stopping me in my tracks. “What’s the headshake for?”
    “Nothing,” I said. He raised his brows expectantly, not letting it go. I gave in. “All right. If you must know, I was just thinking that you’re really good at this…at what you do.”
    His face brightened. “Ah…so you admire me. That’s nice.”
    This time I kept a pleasant expression on my face, even though it was hard not to roll my eyes. He chuckled, not fooled by my expression for a minute.
    We left his office and found two men waiting by Jackie’s desk. Uncle Joey greeted them enthusiastically and showed them into the conference room.
    Jimmy seemed pretty young for the job, but he was in awe of Uncle Joey, and I knew he’d be loyal, especially after both his Uncle Johnny, and his Cousin Jerry’s murder. He appreciated the way Uncle Joey took care of Walter, the man who’d killed them.
    Nick was about my age and harder to read. He was on the short side, had dark wavy hair, and a five o’clock shadow, even this early in the morning. For some reason he put me on edge.
    We took our seats, and Uncle Joey gave a nice speech about Jimmy and Nick, which I tried to tune out while I listened to everyone’s thoughts. The only thing that came through was that Nick was certain his position was payback for all his dad’s hard work. It was about time, and he was willing to use the position for whatever power it would give him. He hoped to expand his father’s business and use Manetto’s clout to make new friends and, if possible, get rid of a few enemies…permanently.
    Hmm…that sounded pretty cold-hearted. Just the kind of person Uncle Joey would like. I decided to steer clear of him, especially when he caught me studying him. I jerked my gaze away, but not before he started thinking about me and wondering what I did for Uncle Joey. He figured it was something important, and decided that was the first thing he was going to find out.
    Oh great, now I had to worry about him too.
    The meeting ended, and Nick didn’t waste any time. He turned on the charm and headed straight for me. “I’ve heard about you…Shelby, right?” He continued without giving me a chance to answer. “Now that I think about it, haven’t we met somewhere before? You seem familiar to me.” He was lying through his teeth.
    “I don’t think so,” I responded. I glanced toward Uncle Joey, hoping he’d see me and come to my rescue.
    “Hmm…well in that case, I hope we can get to know each other better.” He smiled with a lop-sided grin, making him more approachable and handsome. He was quite the charmer. “It will be nice to come to the office if you’re here.”
    “Well…I don’t work here full time, just occasionally when Uncle Joey needs me.”
    Nick’s eyes widened. “So you’re his niece? Now it makes sense. That’s probably why I’ve heard of you.” He was thinking