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Before I can second guess myself, I dial his number, prepared to warn him off, but he doesn’t answer. After trying several times, I wish I had his father’s cell number. There is no way I can leave a voicemail or text — those would be too dangerous in the wrong hands.
Maybe I could get through to them through Dex. I don’t have his phone number either, but I could call The Whitney, and ask them to track down the owner and have him call me, but all of that would take time. Time Atlas and his father may not have.
I am only a dozen blocks away and I also know what Atlas’s planned timeline is. Armed with those details, I know I’m the best chance of getting to him before the assassin does.
I throw on my ball gown and grab my clutch and phone as fast as I can. When I get downstairs, I’d planned to hail a cab, but when one isn’t readily available, I pull up my Uber app and schedule a pickup with a driver only two minutes away.
As nervous as I’d been for tonight earlier, my anxiety is now off the charts. Will I get there in time to warn the men? A few months ago, I might have cheered at finding my biggest competitor dead in a pool of blood, but here…tonight…the thought has turned me colder than the autumn air.
Chapter Fifteen
ATLAS
Valentina Key is the modern day Cinderella. She steps out of the back of a car wearing a blue dress that flows around her like a cloud of perfection. Magical, illuminating, intoxicating. The night hasn’t even started, and I’m already captivated by her beauty.
This is dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
We have a job to do and I’m already picturing how that dress will look bunched up at her feet as I’m licking every square inch of her body. The word distraction would be an understatement.
I considered going into the gala before Valentina arrived so I could case the party, the room, the staff, and some of the early guests, but decided against it to wait outside for her arrival so we could enter together. I want to watch the way she cases the scene from the moment she enters. I want to study her eyes as she examines the exits, the entrances, the security, and every little detail needed to pull off this job successfully. I want to scrutinize how she readies herself before we take action. Frankly…I simply want to case Valentina rather than the job.
I approach her with a smile and my hand extended to escort her into the party, but she doesn’t take it. Instead, her eyes dart around to see if anyone is within earshot as she leans into me and says, “We need to talk.”
She marches over to a grassy area under a tree near the entrance, private but not too private. It’s clear she doesn’t want to draw attention to us. I follow her, unsure why and a little concerned that she’s so edgy before we pull off a heist. I always figured Valentina for a cool and collected woman. I can’t do work with someone who is nervous or paranoid.
Fear gets you caught.
“We need to leave. Now,” she says in a low voice the minute she feels no one can hear us.
“You changed your mind?” I also didn’t pin Valentina as someone that would back out in the final hour. “It’s an easy job.”
I shouldn’t have to convince her, but there is a part of me that is disappointed she doesn’t want to partner up tonight. I was looking forward to it.
“You need to get out of here,” she says as her eyes look over my shoulder, scanning the guests mingling around us. “The hit is planned for tonight. The assassin is here. At the gala.” Her words are breathy, her eyes are jittery, and I see her fingers fiddling with each other.
Inhaling deeply with a sense of relief that this has nothing to do with her fear about the job, I say, “Valentina, you don’t need to worry about me. If someone wanted me dead, it would have happened by now. And trust me, many have tried and—”
“It’s going to happen tonight,” she snaps in a near whisper. “I know for a fact they are coming after you and your father tonight.”
As if on cue, I hear my father’s voice behind me as he approaches. “What are you doing out here? People are arriving and the gala is getting full.”
I turn to face him with a smile. “Valentina and I were—”
“Yes, I can see exactly what you and Valentina are doing,” he interrupts, glaring at Valentina as he does.
Ignoring the daggers that are being cast her way, Valentina cuts in with, “I was just telling your son that you and he are in danger tonight. There’s a hit planned for both of you at the gala. You need to leave now.”
