To blend in with the rich folks, I'd donned a simple but elegant black wrap dress Jo-Jo had given me for Christmas last year. The garment was made of a loose-knit material and featured long, billowing sleeves that hid my knives. The material fell to my knees, allowing me to strap two more blades to my thighs. My purse held another knife. Black stilettos covered my feet, and I'd twisted my hair into a high ponytail, complete with two razor-sharp chopsticks.
My cell phone rang, and I plucked it out of my purse. One of the businessmen eyed me.
"My husband," I said in a pleasant voice. "The giant. Such a protective man. Likes to know where I am all the time-and who I'm with."
He gulped and turned his attention back to his drink. Evidently I didn't look f**kable enough to risk tangling with a jealous giant.
I stepped a few feet away from the group of men and opened my phone. "Any sign of them?" "Not yet," Donovan Caine replied. "Although Finn seems to be enjoying himself at the bar."
I looked across the ballroom. After we'd entered the country club, we'd split up.
Together, we were too noticeable, too much of a target. It was easier and safer to get lost in the crowd. Finnegan Lane had ensconced himself at the bar just inside the main entrance. Like every other man on the premises, he wore a tailored suit. The classic cut of the navy fabric highlighted Finn's broad shoulders, while the light filtering through the glass roof made his brown hair gleam. He was currently chatting up a dwarf dripping with diamonds. The woman had to be over four hundred by the looks of her wrinkled skin, rheumy eyes, and snow-white hair. Probably some client of his.
Finn saw me staring. He winked, raised his glass in salute, and went back to his conversation. Very little could distract him when he was working or entertaining a lady-no matter how old she was. Finn might not sleep with the old ones, but he enjoyed charming them as much as he did the young stuff.
"Finn always has a good time at these things," I murmured. "Sometimes I think he should have been born a woman so he could be a true debutante."
Donovan chuckled through the phone. A low sound that warmed me from the inside out.
My eyes drifted up to the second floor. Donovan Caine leaned over the balcony above my head, his phone against his ear. The detective wore one of Finn's suits in a blue color so pale it was almost silver. Caine's shoulders weren't quite as wide as Finn's, so the jacket didn't drape perfectly. But I'd felt the strength in his lean muscles at the nightclub. He'd forgone a tie in favor of undoing the top button of his white dress shirt, which let more of his bronze skin peek through. Classic, rugged, sexy. Donovan Caine looked good enough to eat. Mmm.
Our eyes met, gold on gray. Not for the first time, I fantasized about having my way with the detective. About feeling his mouth on mine, his hands on my body, the hard length of him moving inside me. Just the idea made me ache.
Donovan Caine stared down at me. His hazel eyes darkened to the color of smoked whiskey as his gaze went from my br**sts to my legs and back up again. His gaze met mine, but this time he didn't look away. Emotions flashed in his eyes like lightning.
Desire. Want. Need. Guilt. The detective was thinking about how much he wanted me.
About how our time together was coming to an end, and soon he'd officially have to go back to hating me. Donovan was thinking about how much he'd like to take what he could get today and hate himself for it tomorrow.
Me too. In that moment, I made my decision. The detective was going to be mine.
Before the evening was through.
Something caught Donovan's attention, and he glanced down. "There's Haley James. Just coming into the ballroom."
I moved to my right, farther away from the businessmen, so I could see Haley. She wore a short gold cocktail dress that set off her pale skin and blue-green eyes. The garment was a little risque for this early in the day, cut almost to her belly button in the front, with her cle**age swelling on either side of the severe V. Her strawberry-blonde hair was swept up into a chignon, and large diamond studs winked in her ears.
Finn had spotted Haley James too. He turned more toward the dwarf he was talking to, presenting his back to the rest of the room, although he cocked his head to one side so he could still see Haley. Unless things got out of hand, Finn's job was to sit at the bar and keep an eye on the sisters. I wanted to know how Haley and Alexis reacted after I dropped the flash drive bomb on them.
"I see Haley," I told Donovan. "Where's Alexis?" "Right behind her." I looked past Haley to see Alexis James stepping into the ballroom. Like me, Alexis wore a little black dress with matching pumps. The usual strand of pearls circled her throat and wrist, although she'd added a couple more ropes around her neck. My free hand curled into a tight fist. I'd like to choke the bitch with her own pearls, but that would be too good for her. Too easy a way for her to die. I might kill people quickly on jobs, but this went beyond business-this was personal. Alexis James was going to suffer every bit as much as Fletcher had.
And then some.
But the James sisters weren't alone. Captain Wayne Stephenson shuffled in the door behind them. The pudgy giant wore a white suit that made him look even wider than he really was. Even though the room was air- conditioned, Stephenson dabbed at the sheen of sweat on his forehead with one of his white handkerchiefs. Just being within sight of Alexis probably made him nervous. Two more men wearing dark suits stepped inside the ballroom behind the giant. One of them was Charles Carlyle's friend from the Cake Walk. The other man had been with Alexis the night she'd gone to Donovan Caine's cabin. They both stuck close to Stephenson, like ducks waddling after their mother. More of Alexis James's flunkies. So now she was taking her entourage out in public with her. Interesting.
Stephenson and the two goons were unimportant at this point, so I stayed on the phone with Donovan and watched the women, waiting for my chance to get Haley alone. It took the sisters about five minutes to maneuver past the bottleneck of people in front of the entrance. But once they did, they split up. Alexis waved at someone and headed in that direction. Stephenson and the two men also drifted that way. Haley grabbed a mint julep from one of the passing waiters and moved to sit at an unoccupied table near the center of the room. Perfect.
"Here I go," I said, glancing up at Donovan Caine. Caine nodded. "Good luck." I smiled. "I don't need luck, detective. I have something better-leverage." Cell phone in hand, I headed for Haley James. It took me the better part of two minutes to stalk across the ballroom carpet. My stilettos poked holes into the plush fabric, killing it one step at a time. Just like I was going to do to Alexis James in the near future. But I reached Haley without incident and dropped into the seat next to her. Alexis stood about fifty feet away, firmly entrenched in a group of people. She didn't notice me cozying up to her sister. Neither did Wayne Stephenson or the other two men, who stood behind Alexis. Good.