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“Colt is sitting next to you,” Marc said. He was standing by the shower stall, leaning against the wall, watching in the mirror as I put on the makeup. “I just checked the seating. He got moved next to you.”
“What happened to Mr. Smith? I thought it was going to be him.”
“I think Colt bribed the Maître d’ at the last minute, and Mr. Smith was outbid, because he did the same thing; that spot was going to be for Ms. Wayward.”
It was my turn to gawk. I turned, half of my face powdered, surprised. Gazes followed my face and then my hip, where the flap exposed a bit of my butt. “What? They’re putting money down to get a seat next to me?”
“A lot of money. Last I heard, Mr. Smith was trying to get Axel moved down a couple of seats so he could get the other side of you.”
“She shouldn’t sit alone,” Axel said.
“I agree,” Blake said. “I don’t care who sits by her, but Mr. Smith’s been carrying that gun around all day and from the way he’s been asking about you, he’s confirmed you’re the fund manager. The longer you’ve been gone, the more he’s been drinking. He’s the most dangerous right now.”
“He’s not going to shoot me in the middle of dinner. I don’t want to sit next to him, though.” I bent toward the mirror again, but it was fogged and streaked when I tried to clean it. “Do you have a mirror in that kit?” I asked Raven.
Everyone shuffled around to make room in the tiny bathroom. Raven fished inside of the kit, pulling out a small, round mirror. He wiped it clean on his shirt and then held it up for me.
I adjusted his hand and when I could see myself properly, I started up the makeup process again, getting to the eyes, and going for something smoky at first, but then realizing I needed to look smart and meek, so I kept it simple, with light pinks and whites. I put most of the emphasis on my eyes, and then a touch of color on my lips.
Silence fell in the room. They were all watching me. I wondered if it was a guy thing. Usually girls closed the door when getting ready for a date.
Maybe girls needed to start opening the door. From where I was, I could spot a few tented pants. I had to fight the grin from my face. Yes, I was in a towel, but I got a feeling part of it was simply watching a girl put on makeup and getting ready. It was sacred ground.
I finished with my makeup and then started combing out my hair with the brush from the kit. I looked at Blake, who had an odd look on his face, his mouth open. His tongue moved, like he meant to say something but his brain appeared to be stuck. I snapped my fingers at him to get his attention. “Grab the dress.”
Again, there was a shuffle. Marc and Raven moved out into the bedroom. Blake and ducked around, coming back with the dress and I shifted it so I wouldn’t get makeup on the material. In a flash, I let go of the towel, trying to do it quickly, even if the guys were watching. I slipped it over my head, smoothing the skirt over my hips and adjusting the gold hoop straps and the weird belt. I had to tighten it, when I did, it made me look weird, like it was cutting me in half. Blake zipped up the back for me and it still looked odd.
“I don’t like that,” Axel said. “It looked good on the mannequin.”
“This is why we try clothes on at the store,” I said. “It’s okay. The fit is just strange for some reason. Even with the belt, I look like a block. I’m a Lego.”
He moved forward and then turned me by the shoulders. I let him, and he focused on the dress. He removed the belt and then used his hand to tighten the dress at my waist. Without the belt, it looked better. “We just need a safety pin.”
“Got one,” Blake said. He pulled out his wallet, opening it and from inside one of the pockets, produced the pin. “Always carry one.”
“Thank you, Mr. Boy Scout,” I said, grinning, hopefully lightening the mood a bit. If I stood mostly naked in front of them, and no one fought, then maybe there was some hope.
“You’re welcome, Lady Without A Safety Pin,” he said with a smile. There was something else, too, in his eyes, where he was looking at me with amusement and pride. He approved of this greatly. I wondered if he figured out what I was doing--taking a stand with the guys. I had sacrificed a little bit of modesty for peace.
Axel fixed my dress and I brushed my hair. I was going to pull it back like in the bath, but I didn’t have a clip or anything so I left it down, brushing it as straight as I could. “Okay,” I said. I considered my options for dinner. I didn’t like Mr. Smith, but he might give me information. I also wanted Colt around. Would it be bad if Axel sat next to Colt and Blake sat next to Mr. Smith so I wasn’t that far from anyone? “I think we should get Mr. Smith and Colt sitting on either side of me.”
“No,” Axel said.
“You need to sit on the other side of Colt. Blake, you sit on the other side of Mr. Smith.”
“Oh,” Blake said. “So I’m the one to get shot at?”
“Sure,” I said. “You should be used to it.” He made a face at me, and I made one back. “No,” I said. “They may cancel each other out a bit if they’re sitting on either side. Whatever Mr. Smith wants to talk about, he might not be able to if Colt is right there. So you are going to talk to Mr. Smith about your previous dealings with me, and Axel, you may need to distract Colt from time to time. It’d be better if I didn’t talk, and Colt overhears Mr. Smith and Blake talking about me.”
“What are you going to do?” Axel asked.
“Listen,” I said. “And wait for them to talk to you all about investments. And then pay attention if they talk to someone else, and who they talk to.” I looked at Corey. “Did we pull anything from Colt’s phone yet?”
“I haven’t had time,” he said. “I started working on it, but we’ve got a hard drive copy of Smith’s and Wayward’s laptops that they left in their rooms. I pulled out the battery, though, until I could get to it. Marc’s dropping hard drives off left and right with Doyle.”
“I’m trying to grab what I can,” Marc said. “After I left the spa, I was going through a lot of rooms. Those were a pain in the ass to get. I take forever going over the same room pretending to clean while duplicating hard drives. Almost got caught a few times when people came back to get something. Or when the boss bitches at me to hurry up. Not a lot of rooms need cleaning this early, though. I’ll have better luck tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” I said. “Corey, if you can look in on Colt’s and Mr. Smith’s information, I think we should focus more on them right now. Even if you just read their emails or check their browser history. What we need are any matching investment documents, or numbers that match what’s in the account file we have.” I smoothed my hair out, and then the skirt of the dress, checking my blurry appearance in the foggy mirror. My hair was going to stay wet, but it was straight and looked plain enough. “Do I have glasses again?”
Axel pulled a pair from his pocket. “Almost forgot.”
I put them on. They were similar to what I had before, although they fit better. I was now Kitty Lane, a quiet, innocent-looking secret fund manager for a billionaire bad guy. I let out a slow breath between my lips.
I thought I’d be weirded out having been naked in front of all these guys. I was wondering if it had been a good idea at all or maybe it had been so over the top, they were in shock and I’d hear about it later. Oh well. Too late now. “Marc, if you’re going to sit down to dinner, go with Avery. Brandon, if you’re going in... can you support Blake? You’ve got a bit of history being friends.”
Brandon shrugged. “I guess. Although with the rate your table is filling up, I may not be able to afford a seat. I might have to sit at the next table.” The others seemed to have pulled themselves together. The show was over. Back to business.
“Are we missing anything? Is Kevin okay?”
“Kevin’s seating guests and serving,” Axel said. “Although I don’t like him being alone.” He looked at Raven.
“Customer or waiter,” Raven asked, motioning to himself. “What do you want from me?”
&
nbsp; Axel started to talk, but I raised my voice over him. I had to be the boss. “You should stick with him. I don’t want Kevin alone right now. That German...Sam is out there. Kevin is the most vulnerable to him at the moment. Blake had already been knocked out by someone. The only witness we have to who that might be and why is Sam. Get on his good side, even if it means you’re on our bad side.” I clapped my hands together. “Are we ready? Let’s get going.”
There wasn’t much else to say. They shared glares and glances with each other, talking to each other without saying anything out loud. I couldn’t catch all the looks, but I gathered there was confusion. They were listening to me, though. I had that going.
STORM AND FIRE
I got my shoes on. Corey left with Raven. Brandon and Marc had to stay behind and get themselves ready and it would be best to avoid us all walking into the dining room together. I didn’t have any purse or accessories to bring along, so as we left, I reached for Axel’s hand.
He turned to me, a look of surprise on his face, and then he relaxed, saying nothing as we walked down the hall together.
Blake walked right behind us. “I can’t stay with you for too long. When we get out of the elevator, we should split up before the dining room. I’ll wait to seat after you’ve been seated.”
We found our way to the elevator. It was slow getting to us but when the door opened, it was empty. After I pressed the button and we started to move, I looked at Blake. “Did anyone check out that spa? The one blond crewman…Sam went to after Mr. Smith paid him?”
