by Raven Stone
I leaned forward.
“You’ve heard right. My methods are proprietary, of course, but my contacts aren’t.”
Her eyes flashed with interest. “Contacts you’d share with the right person?”
“Of course,” I said. “Someone who’s competent and worthy.”
She smiled, resting her hands on the chair, obviously feeling very worthy.
“And someone who can handle the riskier side of doing business, with some dangerous people,” I added.
Her eyes flicked to Degarr.
“If you can handle it, I think I can too,” she replied.
She was quite smug, and quite sure of herself.
I liked her.
“Before I introduce you to anyone, I’d need to make sure you were competent first,” I said.
Amber grinned. “You mean you want a freebie.”
“Not a freebie,” I assured her. “I’ll gladly pay for the information you provide. But if it’s correct, if it leads me to where I want to go, then I’ll give you the bonus of introducing you to someone.”
“I can’t promise you the information will lead you where you want to go,” she said.
“No, but the better the information is, the better the contact you’ll get.”
She licked her lips again, and stared at me. Hungrily. But she was carefully considering my offer.
“Deal,” she said finally.
“Good.” I reached for the box I’d stashed under the coffee table. “I’ve got three offers for you, depending on the information you have.”
“Okay,” she said.
I put a pile of cash on the table. “You passed out samples of a new drug during the Coverton party the other night. I want any samples you have left.”
Her eyes flicked to Degarr and Jamie, then returned to me. “What’s the story with your men?”
Your men.
A thrill went through me, and I quickly shoved it aside.
“They have an interest in this information too.”
She gave a small nod. “Are they chatty?”
Degarr’s eyebrows raised.
I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of him being called ‘chatty’.
“Not about this,” I replied.
“Okay then.” She opened her purse and put three small pink pills on the table.
Of course Honeygirl had taken one, I thought, they were just her color.
I scooped them into a baggie and put them in my purse. I pushed the cash across to Amber, and she stuffed it into her bag, quick as lightning.
“Offer two.” I took a purse from the box and put it on the table.
Amber eyeball-fucked it worse than I ever had with Degarr.
“This is the latest purse from –”
“Ashby,” she breathed.
“Right. But it won’t be released until this winter. You can have it before anyone else,” I said.
Her fingers curled over the edge of the sofa.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Fuck.
Maybe I should have left this for last. But it was too late now.
“I want who you gave the pills to. Who were the marks?” I asked.
“That’s going to be difficult.” She hedged.
“Did you have a list of names?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Pictures?”
She shook her head again, her eyes flicking to Degarr before returning to the purse.
“Were the marks random?” I asked.
“Not exactly,” Amber replied.
I sighed. “You have to give me something. I need to know how you identified the marks. Without that information.” I shrugged, and slowly pulled the purse back towards me.
She bit her lip, then put her hands on top of mine. “Just stop for a second, okay?”
I stopped.
Her gaze went to Degarr again, before coming back to me. “I was the only one who identified the marks. I told the girls who to go after, okay?”
Degarr tensed, and I almost waved a hand at him. I didn’t want him to scare her off.
“How?” I asked.
This time she openly stared at Degarr.
“They all looked like him, okay?”
“How?” I repeated. “Same height, same weight, same build?”
She shook her head, making a small noise as she looked at me again. “You can’t see it either, can you?”
“I guess not.” I looked at Degarr. “What do you see?”
“The air shimmers around him, like a mirage,” she said.
“You can see that?” Degarr asked in a surprised tone.
“Yes,” she replied. “What is it?”
“My shielding, and it’s impossible for you to see, unless –”
“Unless?”
“Unless you’re part Fae,” he said softly, eyeing her.
She laughed. “You think I’m a fairy? That’s nuts. They’re not real.”
“They are real, and they really don’t like it when you call them that,” Jamie said.
She glanced between the two men, and the smile faded from her face. “You’re serious?”
“Yes,” Degarr said.
“What are you?”
“I’m not telling you that, given your line of work. But you really should reconsider hurting my kind, since you’re not completely human either,” he replied.
She swallowed.
“Why should I believe you, about any of this?” she asked finally.
“Because deep down, you know it’s true. It’s why you can see the air shimmering around me.”
Her eyes shot to Jamie. “The air doesn’t shimmer around him, but there’s something different about him too. What is it? Is he – is he Fae?”
“He’s not, but I’m not telling you what he is, either.”
She gave a small nod, before looking back at me. “You know though, right?”
I kept my face blank. Let her think whatever she wanted.
“Let’s move on. How many marks were there?” I asked, determined to return everyone’s focus.
“Five men like him,” she said. “And five human men.”
Degarr frowned. “Why humans?”
“To make the marks less suspicious. This was only a trial run. There are going to be a lot more marks next time,” she said.
“Jesus,” Jamie said.
“Next time?” Degarr asked. “You mean the party next month?”
“Yes,” she replied.
Degarr ran a hand over his face, before urging me to continue. I started pushing the purse towards Amber, and she held her hands out as if to catch it. I stopped at the last moment, earning me a frown from her.
“Were the marks tagged or followed after they left the party?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That was outside of my role.”
I nodded, and pushed the purse the rest of the way. She picked it up with a small noise that was part sigh, part gasp, and pure pleasure. Jamie raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by her reaction.
I gave her a few minutes to enjoy the purse, waiting until she tucked it into her side, one hand draped protectively over it as if even now I might take it back.
Yes, I definitely should have made that the last offer. I would remember next time. I reached into the box and pulled out my last offer. Amber’s brow wrinkled when she saw the plain white envelope in my hand.
“What’s that? More cash?” she asked.
I shook my head. “This is a first class, round trip ticket to Ibiza.”
Her fingers reached for it. She stopped an inch shy of touching the envelope. “You want something really bad for that, don’t you?”
I gave her a slow nod in return, then tapped the envelope. “If you go, you can easily make enough money to live on for two months. And if you make the right connections there, you could be set for years. That makes it very valuable. Do you agree?”
“Yes,” she said softly. “What do you want?”
�
��I want to know the person behind all of this. I don’t want the team that hired you. I don’t want the people that threw the party. I want the person that ordered the drugs and orchestrated all of this. The person with a plan and a reason. Can you find out who that person is?” I asked.
Her eyes met mine.
“I can,” she replied. “But if I do that, I risk losing a lucrative contract. For that, I’d need the ticket to Ibiza and three of your contacts. Guaranteed.”
“The ticket and two of my contacts. Guaranteed to be outside of the party circuit, with a glowing recommendation,” I countered.
“Done,” she said quickly.
I smiled. “Fantastic. When do you think you’ll have the name?”
She swallowed. “It might take some time. Can I give you an update tomorrow night?”
“That would be perfect,” I said.
She smiled, and held out her hand. “Thanks for doing business with me.”
“Thank you too. This was a pleasure.”
Chapter 29
Nadia – Chicago
Both of ‘my men’ stayed quiet until Degarr dropped his hand, indicating that Amber was safely gone. Then both of them stared at me.
“What?” I asked, wondering if I had something stuck in my teeth.
“That was very well done, Nadia,” Degarr said.
I found myself preening at his praise, and the new glint of appreciation in his eyes.
“Thank you,” I said, calmly and coolly.
“How did you know what to offer her?” Jamie asked. “I thought you hadn’t met her before.”
“I hadn’t, but I knew she worked parties, and I did some digging this afternoon. After that, it was clear what I needed to offer her.” I shrugged.
“Can she seriously make that much money at Ibiza?” he asked.
“If she works it right, yes,” I said. Then I remembered the baggie with the pills. I dug it out of my purse and handed it to Degarr. “I believe this is yours.”
He accepted it, cradling the pills in his hand. “Is this how you find people and things?”
“Of course not.” I took a drink of my wine. “I told you, that’s proprietary.”
“Then how does this fit in?” he asked.
“Sometimes it helps.” Frankly I’d been relying on the technique a lot while trying to find him. “But mostly it’s a hobby. An occasional sideline.”
“Hobby?” Jamie repeated. “It looked like you were toying with her when it came to that purse. I thought she was going to come on the spot when you finally handed it over.”
“We learned a lot, didn’t we?”
Degarr gave a soft laugh. “You have a ruthless streak in you. I’m glad you’re on our side.”
I smiled. “Is it true what you told her, that she’s part Fae?”
“Yes,” he said. “Please don’t tell anyone that, even after we’re gone.”
After we’re gone.
My smile wanted to fade, but I kept it firmly in place. I gave myself a moment, my face feeling tight, then I grabbed the box of offers from the table.
“Of course not,” I replied. I turned my head away, finally letting my smile naturally slip away as I stashed the box back under the table.
“Nadia.” Degarr put his hand on my arm.
“Yes?” I turned my head back, keeping my features calm.
We stared at each other.
Please don’t go.
I just found you.
I pressed my lips together, to keep the words from spilling out.
His thumb brushed my skin.
“Thank you,” he said. “This has been very helpful. Please let me reimburse you for everything you’ve spent for this information.”
My stomach dropped.
And I realized a part of me had been waiting, hoping, for him to say something else.
Stupid, stupid girl.
Of course he wasn’t going to say something else, just like he was leaving, when all of this was over. This was just sex, remember?
I patted his hand and put it back in his lap. “Don’t be silly, Degarr. I owe you, remember?”
He gave me a warm smile. “You don’t owe me anything. That was a gift.”
Gift?
Damn him.
Who the fuck gives a gift like that to a stranger? Much less a stranger who’d tried to kill him?
And why was he fucking with me like this? Why was I important to him one moment, and not in the next?
I grabbed my wine glass and stalked back into the kitchen.
He gave me a fucking flower.
Degarr trailed after me.
“Nadia?” he asked, confusion in his voice. “What did I do to upset you?”
You cared. And then you didn’t. And then you seemingly did.
He was giving me whiplash.
I dug the heel of my hand into my forehead. “I have a headache. I need you to go now.”
His hands went to my waist, turning me around, taking my hand away from my head. He gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead, and I came damn close to melting in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
His warmth, his scent, his lovely muscles and that kind tone were all around me. The concern in his eyes hit me hard.
I was coming undone.
He was undoing me. First with the biting. Then with the obsession and the sex. Now with the caring. And not caring.
It was too much.
We were supposed to be just about sex.
And this wasn’t sex.
And this wasn’t fun.
And I didn’t understand any of it.
I pushed him back from me. “Get out. I’ll let you know when Amber contacts me with the information you need.”
“Nadia,” he said softly, reaching for me again.
“Get. Out,” I repeated, louder this time, gripping the countertop behind me.
Christ, couldn’t he see I was crumbling right in front of him?
But he just stood there, hurt and confusion blooming in his eyes. Something tightened in my chest, something spiky and awful, and I didn’t like it all.
“Get out,” I said again. I turned away from him, digging the heels of my hands into my eyes, repeating the phrase over and over.
I felt something warm brushing up against me, but by the time I turned back, he and his boy were gone.
Chapter 30
Nadia – Chicago
For the first time in two years, I got drunk. I hadn’t even gotten drunk when Oleg had trapped me in Brazil. I’d been too fucking scared.
Brazil.
I turned and twisted on the couch; my arms wrapped around my middle. If it wasn’t for Brazil, none of this would have happened.
I wouldn’t be a hot fucking mess.
I wouldn’t have met Degarr.
Sometime later I realized my cheeks were wet, and I grabbed some tissues to wipe them off, stopping long enough to grab another bottle.
A long while after that, I was jolted awake. Somebody was pounding on my door. I forced myself to my feet and opened the door, only to find the ginger standing there, glaring at me.
“Are you really this fucking stupid?” he demanded.
I tried to wrap my bathrobe around me, before realizing I wasn’t wearing one. I was still in my clothes from last night. “Apparently.”
Jamie cocked his head, and his eyes raked me. “Are you drunk?”
“No.” I yawned. “Not anymore.”
He made a small noise, then stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “Okay. Come on.”
The next thing I knew, he was prodding and pushing me into the bathroom, and then into the shower. I was sure I said something inappropriate, and then he turned the cold spray on me – clothes and all – and I said a lot of inappropriate things after that.
He turned away, though, saying something about leaving me to it. By the time I got out of the shower, I had more of my wits about me. I dressed, put my makeup on, and headed out to face my latest
foe.
I found Jamie in the kitchen, making coffee. I reached for a mug.
“Coffee’s not for you.” He took me by the elbow and steered me out of the kitchen. He was deceptively strong. He sat me down at the table, and put a glass and a bottle of Pedialyte in front of me. “That’s for you.”
“I don’t have Pedialyte,” I said.
“I know,” he replied. “Your neighbor did.”
“Hmm.”
Jamie cracked it open and poured me a glass. “Drink that.” He got his coffee and joined me at the table. “Are you sober enough to talk now?”
“I told you I wasn’t drunk anymore,” I replied, although the shower had helped to clear my brain. I took a drink. “Did Degarr send you?”
He snorted. “No, and he’s going to be pissed when I tell him.”
“Why tell him then?”
“I’ve seen him tell,” he stopped himself short, “someone important to him everything, even when it’s hard or embarrassing. Garr’s important to me, so I’m trying to do the same thing.”
“Except for the part about Zine?”
He shot me a look. “Yeah, except for that. To be fair, I was working up to it.”
I held back a smile. “So, if you being here is going to piss him off, why are you here?”
“Because you’re lying to yourself, and you lied to Garr,” he replied.
“You’re wrong.”
He raised his eyebrows. “You really chased him down to have sex with him just the one time?”
“Yes.” My eyes flickered, and I ran a finger along the edge of my eyebrow.
He gave me a small smile.
“That’s a hell of a tell, lady.”
Damn him.
I took my hands away from my face and sat on them for good measure. Unease spread through my stomach. The ginger had always seemed easy-going, and he wasn’t physically built like Degarr. I’d just assumed he wasn’t dangerous. Maybe I’d been mistaken.
Maybe I’d underestimated him.
I raised my chin.
“Plans change,” I told him.
He leaned forward. “Or plans don’t, and that’s why you got upset last night.”
Fuck.
His eyes trailed over my body.
“You’ll never be able to hide all of your tells. Not from me,” he said.
What the fuck was he?
“I know you got upset last night when Garr mentioned we were leaving. If he’s really just a fucktoy to you, then why would you care when he leaves?”
