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“Howlong?”
He looked at Julia, impressed that she’d remembered to use the Czech accent she’d practiced when they’d been running Anuska Král’s background. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough for anyone who might overhear or for anyone trying to make small talk withher.
“Soon,” hesaid.
They’d argued about which of them would create the distraction that would get the other one upstairs until he realized he wouldn’t be happy with any of the potential solutions unless they involved Julia not being at the party at all. Finally he’d had to agree that it was best for him to create thedistraction.
The less attention paid to Julia at a party like this one thebetter.
She would use the time to slip upstairs via one of the three back staircases. Once there she would search the rooms for Elise, freeing anyone else she might come upon at the sametime.
Ronan would keep everyone occupied downstairs for ten minutes, after which he would meet Julia — and hopefully Elise — at one of the predetermined meetingpoints.
It wasn’t as clear-cut as he would have liked. In fact, it was a lot like the way he worked when he was alone, when he had to remain flexible, roll with the punches of whatever awaited him: fine under those circumstances but not ideal when he was worried about getting Julia outalive.
There was no way around it. There were too many wild cards at the party, too much they didn’t know. It would take weeks to case the Florence parties adequately enough to come up with a solid plan that took into account the number of guards, the weapons they carried, security cameras, and all the other factors that went into developing a foolproof exitplan.
Elise didn’t haveweeks.
“Don’t forget to mark the time,” Ronan said quietly. “Ten minutes. That’s it, whether you find her ornot.”
It was his biggest fear: that Julia wouldn’t stop looking once she started, that she would search under every bed and in every closet once she was upstairs, even if the clock ran out. It would force him to go up after her, endangering them both, making it less likely that he would be able to get her outalive.
She’d promised to take her cues from him, to follow his orders once they were inside, but he knew all too well how the desire to save someone you loved could make you do stupid things, rashthings.
He’d done those things in Erin’s name. He was doing them now forJulia.
Julia gave him an almost imperceptible nod. It was as close as he would get to anassurance.
The number of guests making their way into the house from the foyer had slowed to a trickle. The party was well under way, the murmur of conversation a hum that vied for attention with the music — an unexpected mix of EDM and techno-punk — that was being piped into the rooms through invisiblespeakers.
It wastime.
He sat his empty glass on a passing tray and spoke without looking at Julia. “See yousoon.”
18
Julia watchedRonan work his way through the crowd, purposefully jostling the other guests as he went. There was a hint of enjoyment in the way he shoved, sloshing flutes of champagne held in manicured fingers, displacing people who weren’t used to beingdisplaced.
She couldn’t say that she blamedhim.
She hated being here, knowing these people were using women like Elise, knowing the ones who weren’t were looking the otherway.
She looked at the faces around her and had to resist the urge to scream. They were polished and coiffed, wearing the latest designer fashion and swilling expensive champagne like water, but it was all a lie, a pretty veneer to cover up a corrupt and poisonous ideology that made them believe the rules didn’t apply tothem.
No wonder Ronan had shunned outward displays of his wealth. He’d seen the underside of high society more thanmost.
She trailed far enough behind him that it wouldn’t look like she was following, waiting to stop until she reached the arched doorway of the large room where they’d been standing. From this vantage point she could see the foyer — as big as her whole apartment in Boston — where Ronan had shoved into one of theguards.
The guard said something Julia couldn’t hear, his expression a warning to Ronan, who had adopted a look of belligerentaggression.
A ripple moved through the people in the foyer, two men and a couple who’d just arrived moving toward the room where Julia stood. They looked from Ronan to the guard, then continued into the house. Julia caught the scent of expensive cologne as one of the men passed within feet of her, Ronan’s disturbance already behindhim.
These were people used to having messes and unpleasant circumstances cleaned up by others. It probably wasn’t the first time someone had gotten confrontational at a Manifest party: their members were rich but they were stillhuman.
Julia removed a compact from her clutch and pretended to check her face as Ronan shoved against a second guard. The first guard spoke into the mouthpiece of a headset tucked into his ear. Less than a minute later, two more guards appeared from the back of the house and moved in around Ronan, muttering something unintelligible to Julia’sears.
Ronan caught her eye just before his arm shot out, his fist landing in the middle of the first guard’sface.
