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4
CLUELESS MANSION
Neri Sabastiani’ssummons was as I expected.
Slid under my door at the random afternoon hour of 4 PM, an embossed ivory envelope rested on the luxurious white carpet with the innocence and appeal of a wedding invitation.
But forever vows, it was not.
I bounded over from my usual seat by the window where I pretended I wasn’t nervous by chewing on my cuticles. Without pause, I ripped it open where I stood.
Your presence is requestedat 19:00 this evening.
Be ready in the lobby.
A car will be waiting.
Neri
Holy shit.It was actually happening. I held the card to my chest and took a few deep, penetrating breaths.
You can do this.
I’d come this far. It would be a mistake to stop.
My hair was already done. To pass the time I’d wandered the city streets and found a blow-out salon in between sampling the juice bars and gluten-free pastries at the coffee shops. My strands now rested in romantic waves slightly past my collarbone with a deep side-part. I planned to pair it with the second dress I’d rented, a deep cobalt off-the-shoulder designer gown. The envelope didn’t say black tie, but it didn’t have to. Neri was fancy enough to demand “dress to the nines” through silence.
The getting ready part was easy. I took my time with my make-up, adding black cat-eyes to my lids and a sweep of sparkling, luscious lip gloss. Highlighter shone against my cheeks and collarbone, and my skin was supple-soft from the hotel’s lotion.
I didn’t want to leave all of myself behind, so I sprayed my signature peony scent that my former best friend, Verily, had bought me years ago and I still restocked regularly. I spritzed it into the air and walked through the cloud, clad in my dress but barefoot, the scent bringing with it images of Theo grazing his nose against my neck, sweeping up until his tongue hit the lobe of my ear.
I closed my eyes against the stinging after-bite of that remembrance.
The dreaded shoes were next. Gorgeous black heels with glittering threads, they clicked with high-class authority but clamped like a pit bull’s jaws.
No matter. The pain would keep me grounded.
Neri and his people probably wouldn’t let me bring a purse, or if I did, it would be searched so specifically even the lining wouldn’t survive, so I decided to use a very small clutch instead. I did, however, sift through my purse until I found what I needed and slipped two dissolvable capsules between my cleavage.
If my military math was correct, there was still forty-five minutes until I was meant to be ferried away by a car, and I intended to utilize that time by ordering a nice, cold, stiff drink at the lobby bar. Maybe two.
Kai wasn’t anywhere to be seen once I reached the ground floor, and I’d had my eyes peeled to spot any sign of him from the elevator to the entrance.
I took up an unhurried position at the bar, still watchful, and ordered scotch on the rocks. A smattering of men and women had the same intentions I did, but most kept to themselves and their vice of choice. I wasn’t sure if five-star hotel lobbies still housed escorts and their clients, but glancing about casually, there were a few other gorgeously dressed women speaking low in their partner’s ears.
The scotch hit like fire in the back of my throat, but it was a needed burn. I sipped, alone, swirling my drink and staring into it like I could read my future.
“Could I buy you another one?”
I glanced up, a politefuck offready to roll off my lips, when an expression was caught in my periphery. No, a face.
Theo.
I slipped off my stool, still clutching my scotch, peering furiously at the spot on the other side of the bar.
“You all right, honey?”
The same voice as before, a Texas drawl, was owned by a weathered cowboy face older than my father’s.
