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“You did good,” he told me in the car. “You kept it balanced.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” I chuckled. “Were youtryingto piss the dude off?”
“A little bit,” he admitted. “Trip him up, make him sweat. We need to know what he’s got going on, so if I can get him hyped up enough to reveal anything about his plan while also getting what I really feel off my chest, well… that sounds like a win-win, doesn’t it?”
I nodded. “I follow you. But we still didn’t find out what he has going on with Renard.”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t happening. Not once he saw your ink and got spooked. Which is interesting…”
“If that’s his partner, why is he so tense?”
Blue nodded. “Exactly, what the fuck is he so worried about?”
As Blue pulled up to a stoplight around the front of the restaurant, I looked out the window, taking inventory of faces in the crowd. It was something I did often—part of my training to avoid being tracked without noticing.
A couple of times after they’d snatched me from the bar, I’d locked eyes with aRoseorThorn, and today was no different. They knew when the meeting was and they’d been in the restaurant too, unbeknownst to Manuel and his people.
We weren’t stupid enough to walk in there blind.
We had Alicia’s people and our own, in addition to the escort riding a few cars ahead of us and a few cars behind. If Manuelhaddecided to turn the meeting into an event, we were ready for it.
What I wasn’t ready for was contact with a familiar face. My eyebrows shot up as I took in those deep brown eyes, deep brown skin, button nose, full lips.
Margeaux.
I made the mistake of blinking, but Ineededthat blink to confirm it wasn’t just some illusion of the mind. When I opened my eyes and looked again, she was already gone.
Fuck.
I hurriedly pulled out my phone, gesturing for Blue to give me a second while I dialed Alicia, who picked up on the first ring.
“How did the meeting go?”
“About as expected,” I answered. “I thought you were sending somebody to get Margeaux?”
“Idid,” she groaned. “He had her, and then… he lost her.”
“Here in Vegas?”
There was silence for a moment and then she answered, obviously frustrated. “She’s alotslipperier than we thought.”
“I could’ve sworn I told you that.” I chuckled, shaking my head.
“Yeah, but you didn’t say the extent of it,” Alicia argued. “I knew she hadRoseink, but damn, I didn’t think she had the full training. We need to find her. You said she was at Rojas’ restaurant?”
“Outside it, but yeah. Which would make sense if he’s working with Renard.”
“Itdoesn’tmake sense though,” Alicia mused, almost like she was talking to herself more than me. “Why would she be on Renard’s side?”
“Who says she is?” I countered. “Maybe she wants his head. Would you blame her?”
“Not remotely,” Alicia said. “I’m surprised you aren’t chomping at the bit to get him yourself.”
I pushed out a breath. “In due time. That aside, we need to know why she’s here; she’s another loose end.”
“True. Are you also a little scared she wantsyourhead?”
“Why would she?”
