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“Marty, Jen Schwartz is returning your call,” she said, like she was unsure what to do. “Shall I have her leave a message?”
Dropping her shoulders, Martina shook her head. “No. Some of us actually work when we’re here.”
The insult was a fiery sword plunged straight into Lola’s chest, decimating her resolve to keep it professional. As Martina took long strides past her, Lola gathered every particle of rage in her body and trained it on her. She opened her mouth, ready to throw Martina out of the office, to fire her for insolence and disrespect regardless of her express authority to do that. Adriana could give someone the boot. Why couldn’t she?
But then Carmen’s cool fingers were wrapped around her wrist and her voice was a soft shock to her system. “Fortune drugged us.”
Lola whirled around to find herself trapped under Carmen’s bright hazel eyes, greener today than usual. “What?” she snapped, confused and disoriented. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Carmen looked behind her, but the receptionist was busy on the phone and wouldn’t hear them. She moved closer to Lola, bringing the heat of her body and the clean scent of her floral perfume dangerously close.
“Last night,” she whispered. “I think she drugged us.”
The events swirled in Lola’s mind, one more improbable than the next, until she understood what Carmen meant. Understood that there must have been something in the powders and smoke and oils.
Lola’s eyes widened when Carmen’s words fully registered. “Motherfucker.”
CHAPTER15
Gettingpermission to access Bamford’s office on the penthouse floor at the top of the forty-story building was surprisingly easy. All Carmen had needed to do was inform Bamford’s assistant that Fortune had seriously crossed a line with her alternative therapy. She’d been ready to say more — to cite statutes and threaten legal action — but the moment she’d mentioned Fortune, the young man was all too eager to grant them elevator access.
“I can’t believe this shit.” Lola paced the elevator like the tiniest bull ready to flatten any matador crazy enough to test her.
Carmen had been as angry as Lola when she bolted for Dominion, angrier even. But she hadn’t expected to be so disarmed by a less intense looking Lola. Hair down, and strong legs visible thanks to an incredibly short skirt and heels so spiked it was a wonder Lola could stride around so easily.
And then the redhead in Dominion’s waiting room had tried to test Lola, and it had taken all of Carmen’s self-control not to tell the woman to back off on Lola’s behalf. It was one thing to torment her, and quite another to let some else do it.
“Maybe it was something like LSD?” Lola tossed the possibility over her shoulder while pacing, reminding Carmen what they were there to deal with.
“Like one of those micro-dosing things with mushrooms,” Carmen agreed. “Or maybe Ayahuasca or something like that. Fortune seems like the type to appropriate something she doesn’t understand to appear more mystical.”
Lola nodded, her thick, perfectly shaped brows pulled together in consternation. “Yeah, exactly. Something like that.” She stopped and turned to Carmen, her brown eyes like polished bronze against her makeup and dark lashes. “Why else would we have…” her voice trailed off and got lost somewhere in Carmen’s chest.
The elevator doors opened with a jolting ding, sharp and chilling. For a brief and beautifully insane moment, Carmen almost moved closer to Lola. Almost confessed that she wasn’t so sure about her theory now, but then she realized that whatever Fortune had given them probably had lingering effects. She wasn’t herself. Her thoughts and desires weren’t her own.
“Ms. Vargas,” a man waiting for them on the other side of the elevator greeted Carmen first before turning to Lola, “Ms. Barros, please follow me.”
Lola barreled out of the elevator like a cannonball with a target. Carmen followed her into the penthouse’s reception area. All polished marble floors and outrageously high ceilings adorned with ornate crown molding and chandeliers. It looked more like pre-war Manhattan than Miami.
She’d only been up here a couple of times, but never gotten as far as the rich, brown leather seating on either side of the assistant’s hand-carved desk. Carmen couldn’t imagine the space designed to accommodate twenty was ever full. Every time she’d been up there, it had been empty. Just like now.
“Ms. Bamford and Ms. Firestone are ready for you,” the man said when they reached a set of massive doors carved with something that looked like a runic map suited for a Lara Croft adventure.
“How did she get Fortune here so fast?” Lola asked before Carmen could open her mouth.
The assistant hesitated, his eyes flicking toward the door and back at them. The pause told Carmen everything. He had a thousand things he wanted to say, but wouldn’t dare utter one.
“Ms. Firestone is Ms. Bamford’s trusted advisor,” he said, as if a smile might conceal his real opinion. Carmen understood he meant advisor in the same way Jafar advised The Sultan.
Glancing at Lola, Carmen shook her head while the assistant pulled the door handle. Her concern was reflected in Lola’s shrewd eyes. This was going to be more complicated than they anticipated.
Lola charged into Bamford’s private office, ready to unleash hell on Fortune. But they both stopped short when they stepped inside. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered stunning panoramic views of downtown Miami and Biscayne Bay. But that wasn’t what gave them pause. The entire space, as big as Carmen’s entire firm’s office, had been transformed into an elaborate indoor desert habitat.
Dry air assaulted them, threatening Carmen with an immediate nosebleed. The complete lack of humidity in their tropical climate wasn’t the strangest part.
Mounds of red sand and rock formations created dunes and cliffs at least ten feet high. Prickly cacti and succulents sprouted up in artful arrangements. The centerpiece was a crystal blue pond fed by a cascading waterfall. Small brightly colored birds flitted overhead, giving Carmen the impression that other animals were scurrying through the terraformed landscape.
“Holy shit,” Lola whispered.
