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“What possessed you?” he asked, following me to the edge of the carpeting.
I made myself busy rifling through my cosmetics bag, daring a glance at the mirror. Kai’s mouth was grim. “You truly think Trace is here. Sharing a bunk with the Italian-Kenyan mob boss, Neri Sebastiani.”
I spun around, a bright pink makeup sponge in my hand. “Is that not why you came with me? Why you let me infiltrate one of the most popular underground games around?”
“To find Trace Saxon, I know. With your talent,” he continued before I could argue, “we’re nearer to scouting him than we’ve ever been, but putting yourself in danger,allowingyourself to go to that psycho-killer’s house without any backup, was not part of our deal. So now we have to figure out how to get you out of it.”
“There’s no backing out,” I said, returning to the mirror. “I lost all the money, put myself in debt, and wagered the only thing I had left. My body. My choice.”
“Jesus Christ.” I didn’t have be looking at Kai to see that realization was dawning. “You did this all on purpose.”
I let my silence speak for itself.
“I should’ve known.” Kai smacked a palm against the doorframe. “You had our guys panicking first about the earpiece you so conveniently forgot, then at your wager, meanwhile none of us figured that your massive loss was deliberate. My boss is going tokillus, do you understand? He’s gonna lynch me, then hog-tie you, then throw us off this balcony.”
“No, he won’t.” I snapped my bag shut, then went after my toothbrush. “The FBI is in too deep now to pull me out.”
“You think?” Kai stepped inside. “None of this is worth risking your life, Scarlet.”
I turned to him, face bare. “Finding New York’s largest gun importer isn’t worth it? Stopping the river of laced heroine flowing into the city? Preventing child prostitution? I could go on, but I feel like I’ve made my point.” I pretended Kai didn’t just glance at my stomach. “I’m worth the sacrifice.”
“If I knew those were the only reasons you were doing this…”
“What?” I challenged him. “Don’t trail off now.”
“I’m not continuing this plan, and you’re not getting any more money from me.” Kai let me pass once I threw down my toothbrush. And ignored him as I unclipped my bra and threw on an oversized t-shirt.
“It’s not safe,” he said. “I can no longer trust you with the cash, as you so epically proved tonight. These past two years, you’ve become this … this suicide bomber.”
“Oh yeah?” I peered at him over my shoulder. “And who do I have to thank for that?”
Kai pretended my verbal swipe didn’t hurt, but knowing him as I did, it was easy to tell when he was faking it.
He said, “You don’t give a shit anymore, Scar. That’s terrifying me.”
“It’s my business how I cope with the deal the FBI threw my way while I was still recovering in a hospital bed,” I said.
“Scarlet.” His voice took on a breathless reasoning, like he was unsure who he was talking to anymore. Not his friend. Certainly not a simple cocktail waitress he’d recruited to learn a few poker hands in order to get closer to a mob boss’s son. “You just sold yourbodyto a man who collects saber-tooth tiger’s fangs to turn into knives. I don’t think you’re understanding the consequences of what you’ve done.”
“I understand perfectly.” I arced back the covers of the tightly-made bed and shimmied in, tossing aside the little chocolate on the pillow. “You only need to recover from the shock that I premeditated the consequences of this night. It’ll ebb, and you’ll realize this was our only way into Neri’s games at his house. You’ll sleep on it, and then loan me the money to play even deeper underground where the real gossip happens … I promise.”
“I don’t give a shit about that. I won’t be able toprotectyou.”
“How do you think we got here? The government has no idea how to play the cash—Ido.” I tapped my chest as I leaned back on the pillows. “I’m the one who’s been learning and winning and earning us a seat into the big plays.”
“You’ve become cocky in your jaded age.”
“It’s taken me yearsto come this far.” I tucked deeper into the covers and reached over to the lamp. “I’m not about to stop. Either you accept that, Kai, or I’m asking for a new supervisor.”
Kai shook his head. I caught the glitter of disappointment in his eyes before I clicked off the light.
“Good night.” My voice was muffled from pulling the comforter to my chin.
“I love you, Scarlet.”
My back was to him. Even cloaked in night, I hid my face in case any transparency managed to slip through the shadows.
“We’ll talk more in the morning,” he said, and once I heard the sound of the door shutting behind him, I buried my face in the pillow, squeezed my eyes shut, and screamed.
