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Those topaz eyes are my destruction.
Topaz eyes, won’t you be my absolution?
She escaped the store, but his voice chased her out the door and filled the speakers of the hallways. She blindly followed the signs for the C section of gates. And as she made the turn for her section, the woman from the newsstand with her fitted white dress blouse appeared before her.
They were a similar height and the detached blankness to her gaze was gone this time. Surprise and a hint of worry colored the other woman’s dark eyes.
“Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you?”
The woman smiled. “I must just have one of those faces.”
Bella transferred her briefcase to her other hand and snagged the woman’s arm before she could pass her by. The way she instantly slipped out of her hold and reached for her hip made Bella back up a step. Both bag and briefcase thudded to Bella’s feet. “W
hat the hell?”
“You’re the one that grabbed me, lady.”
Bella’s gaze shot down to the woman’s hip and some sort of radio chirped.
The woman touched her ear, then met her gaze with a sigh. “Compromised.”
“Compromised?” What the hell did that mean? Bella looked around. People were starting to stare, but she was just angry enough not to care. “You’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on. Now.”
“Ms. Grace, please calm down.”
Bella’s hands fisted at her sides. “How do you know my name?”
“I know all about you. And I gotta say, you are one big pain in my ass.”
Two
Isabella frowned as a man came toward them. He wore a navy blazer over khakis and a white dress shirt. He looked like any other business man that was traveling in semi-casual clothes. Unless you looked a little closer and saw his eyes sweeping the hallways and that his stride was just a little more purposeful than the average traveler. Oh, most of the people in the airport walked almost the same way. Flights to catch, cabs to find, baggage to claim—that sort of thing. But she rarely saw that gaze on anyone other than the soldiers that hitched a ride on commercial airlines.
His eyes had that flat, assessing quality. Much like the woman that stood silently beside her, no matter how many questions she peppered at her. Well, at least since Resting Bitch Face told her she was a pain in the ass anyway.
“Why won’t you just tell me who you are? Do I need to contact security?”
RBF, as she was becoming known in Bella’s head, simply raised one eyebrow.
“Is this guy with you?”
RBF nodded.
Bella nudged her bag at her feet and crossed her arms. People were still staring, but she was pretty sure it was because of the man making his way across the airport straightaway. Chicago was a hub, and even with most flights grounded, it was very busy. And he was a little scary.
She had to fight the urge to gather her bags and get the hell out of there. But curiosity was clamoring in her head. Questions and confusion—with a touch of jangling nerves—were never a good mix.
“Please tell me who Gigantor is.”
RBF didn’t say anything, but she did press her lips together in a tight line. Disapproval? Or was that laughter she saw in the woman’s eyes?
The man touched his ear as RBF had, then pulled a phone out of his blazer as he walked up to them. “Ms. Grace?”
“I’m getting really creeped out that everyone knows my name. Who are you? Or better yet, who do you work for because I don’t know anyone else in the world that looks like the two of you that isn’t law enforcement or…” She trailed off. “Have I done something wrong? Are you with security?” Bella glanced down at her briefcase. “Look, I’m not doing anything hinky. I’m a—”
“Rare book collector. Yes, I know. And you are a very busy one at that. I had no idea people actually still cared about books.”
Bella lifted her briefcase and backed up a step. Her current purchase for a client was worth a cool seventy thousand dollars. There had been a few instances over the years where a courier had been targeted for robbery, but those were books from a Christie’s or Sotheby’s auction. Not a first edition Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was very valuable, there was no doubt about that, but not even close to this craziness.
