And I hadnt known his mistake was possible, because Kori Daniels wasnt possible. She was dead. Every single one of Aarons sources had said the same thing. Shed been a fixture at Towers side for yearsa strategically visible threatthen shed disappeared several weeks ago. Gone, with no trace and no explanation.
In the syndicate, that can only mean one thing.
Yet there she stood, clearly alive and breathing, and waiting for me to shake the hand she held out. So I did.
She let go of my hand almost the instant we touched.
Kori will be your tour guide, Tower continued. She will also be your assistant, your chauffeur and your personal security while you are here. Anything you want, Kori will provide.
But Kori looked like shed rather perform CPR on a leper than ever touch me again, even if only to hand me a cup of coffee.
My thoughts raced while I struggled to recover from surprise and frustration, without showing either. You have security experience? I said as if I didnt already know the answer, grasping at the only reasonable excuse I might have to reject her services. There had to be a reason she was no longer guarding the boss, and if he didnt trust her, why should I?
Six years on my personal security detail, Tower said, and I was starting to wonder if my new liaison even had a tongue. I assure you, Kori is everything you requested, and more.
Something silent and angry passed between Tower and the taller, older Daniels sister as her jaw clenched visibly and his gaze went hard. Kenley Daniels stared at her feet in the awkward silence, and Jonah Tower smirked when Kori flinched first, and looked away from her boss.
Well, then, Mr. Holt, I believe were scheduled to discuss business later, but tonight is for drinking, and dancing, and mingling. I have some other guests to greet, so Im going to leave you in Korinnes capable hands for the moment. Please make yourself at home in my home.
With that, Tower guided his wife toward a couple I vaguely recognized from the cover of some financial magazine, and the rest of his entourage followed. Leaving me alone with Korinne Daniels, who held an untouched flute of champagne but showed no sign of sipping from it. Or of acknowledging my presence.
How could she be alive? Where the hell had she been for the past few weeks? Id made sure that none of the other women photographed with Tower recently had pale blond hair, specifically to avoid this kind of mistake.
Weeks of research and study, down the drain.
So I said, watching Kori watch the rest of the room, trying not to let frustration leak into my voice. Youre one of Towers bodyguards?
Was, she said, and her posture tensed almost imperceptibly as she stared at something over my shoulder. I twisted to see Jonah Tower guiding her sister through the crowd with one hand at her lower back, and when I turned back to Kori, I found her eyes narrowed, one fist clenched at her side.
Were Jonah and Kenley involved? If so, Kori clearly didnt approve. Neither did I. Jonah Tower didnt like me, which could make it very hard for me to get close to Kenley if they were together. Unless her sister trusted me
I studied Kori as she watched them wind their way through the crowd, trying to assess her more clearly now that I was over my initial surprise at being saddled with the wrong Daniels sister.
Korinne was slightly taller than her sister, but much thinner. Too thin, really. Her hip bones showed through the material of her dress and the points of her collarbone looked like they might pierce her skin at the slightest pressure. Her makeup was expertly applied, but couldnt quite cover the dark circles under her eyes or skin that looked sickly pale, in contrast to her sisters naturally fair complexion.
Still, she was pretty, in a hard-edged, angry kind of way.
Kori glanced up and caught me staring, and I held her gaze. What do you do now? I asked, trying to pick up the thread of a conversation that already seemed destined to unravel.
Now I babysit you, she snapped, and I blinked in the face of such candor. Then almost laughed out loud. Id expected Towers people to be overaccommodating and ingratiatingly polite. Perhaps even sycophantic. Unvarnished honesty was a surprise.
I meant, what do you do for Tower? Whats your role in his organization? When my question produced only a blank, half-puzzled look, like she wasnt sure she even knew the answer, I tried again from another angle. Would it be impolite of me to ask about your Skill, considering you already know mine?
Hell yes. She flinched and rubbed her temple with one hand. Then she rolled her eyes at nothing. Im a Traveler.
A shadow-walker, just like Aaron.
I assume youre good with a gun, since you used to be a bodyguard. Any other special skills? But I could tell with one look at her closed-off expression that Id picked the wrong approach.
Kori Daniels didnt want to talk about herself. She didnt want to talk to me. And she certainly didnt want to relax. She looked a little like she wanted to rip my head off and spit down my throat. A special skill?
I nodded, and too late I realized shed found innuendo where I hadnt intended it.
I shook my head and tried to rephrase the question, but then she stepped closer, until she was in my personal space, not quite touching me, but so close air couldnt have flowed between us. She went up on her toes, like she might nibble on my ear, or share some dirty little secret. Then she whispered, so softly no one else could have heard.
I do have a special skill, she murmured, her breath warm on my neck, her voice soft and low-pitched, with that hot, gravelly quality some women get when theyre really turned on, and my pulse raced a little in spite of my very clear objective. Im pretty good with knives. Im so good, in fact, that I could sever your testicles with one hand and slice open your throat with the other, and youd go into shock so fast youd die without ever knowing youd spilled a fucking drop of blood.
Korinne settled back onto her heels and smiled up at me like shed just promised to fulfill my dirtiest, most secret desire, and I felt the blood drain from my face.
This was not the woman Id ordered.
Three
Kori
I sipped from my glass and enjoyed Holts shocked expression so much that Id taken two more sips before I remembered I hate champagne. And for the first time since Id woken up in the basement eight weeks before, I felt a little better. A little more like myself. Until I saw Jake watching me from across the room, fury dancing in his eyes. He couldnt have heard me, but he could see that Id scared his guest of honordisturbed him, at the very leastand he was pissed. Jake tossed his head toward an alcove mostly hidden by the curve in the staircase, and I had no choice but to obey the silent summons.
Be right back I mumbled to Holt, and cursed myself silently all the way across the room. Id known better. Id fucking known better, and I gave in to temptation anyway. I couldnt afford to scare off Holt or piss off TowerKenley couldnt afford my mistakesyet Id managed to do both after less than five minutes alone with the man whose Skill Tower valued more than he valued my life.
What the hell did you just do? Jake growled, hauling me into the alcove by one arm. I tripped over the stupid stilettos Kenley had insisted I wear and would have gone down on my face if Tower wasnt holding me up.
He asked if I have any special skills. He said it just like that. Like special meant depraved or perverted.
Was I not clear before? Jakes eyes flashed with anger. I only pulled you out of the basement two weeks ago for this job. For him. I dont care what he says, or what he does, or what he wants, he growled into my ear, squeezing my arm hard enough to bruise, though Id die before I complained. You will answer him with a smile, and the answer is always yes. Do you understand?
Yes, I snapped, and it felt good to throw the word back in his face, even if it tasted bitter on my tongue.
He let go of my arm, but didnt back down. Im not going to bother listing all the things you are not allowed to say or do, because I recognize that while unsophisticated and often crass, your mannerisms have a certain crude charm, and for all I know, Holt might actually want to play tame the beast. Thats up to you to determine. But however this plays out, I swear on every beat of my wifes heart that if you dont have Ian Holt eating out of your hand in forty-eight hours, you will pay for it with your life. And your sister will pay for it with the balance of hers. Do you understand what Im saying, Korinne? he demanded, and I nodded, but that evidently wasnt enough, because he repeated the question.
Yes. I fucking understand, I said through clenched teeth.
Good. He stepped back and eyed me from head to toe without a hint of desire. Tower, for all his faults, worshipped his wife like she shit gold and bled wine, and Id never once seen him even glance at another woman with any real interest. You look like a lady for once. Now go pretend to be one, he said. And try to remember that though a sledgehammer may be the most prominent weapon in your verbal arsenal, it is seldom the most appropriate.
Jake, please, I whispered, swallowing the lump of bitter pride in my throat. Im not the best woman for this job. If you really want him, you need a recruiter. Someone who was used to wining, and dining, and kissing arrogant ass. Someone who was good at it. Dont you think Monica would be better suited to this? Or Erica?
Towers gaze went hard, and I knew Id overstepped. Again. Without a doubt. But he doesnt want Monica or Erica. The only other person in my employ who fits Holts description of his ideal physical type is your sister, and even if you were willing to let her wander all over town alone with a man she just met, I am not. I need her here, doing her job, where I know no one else can get to her.
I wanted to protect my sister from the realities of life in the syndicate. He wanted to protect a very valuable asset from being poached or exterminated. Still, in the end, our goals were the same, so I couldnt argue.
Now take the man a fresh drink and apologize like you mean it. And do not give me a reason to have to repeat this conversation. Thats an order. With that, Tower stepped out of the alcove and back into his party, smiling at acquaintances like hed never had a sour thought in his life.
I started to make my way back to Holt so I could publicly choke on the crow Jake had shoved down my throat, but when I scanned the crowd, checking on Kenley out of habit, I found her with Jonah Tower, who smirked at me silently while he rubbed her bare back with one hand, until she shrugged out from under his touch.
And suddenly I wanted to vomit.
I backed into the alcove again and stayed there for another minute, fighting the flashes of memory that played behind my eyelidsa montage of pain and humiliation, overlaid with the terrifying certainty that if I failed, it would all happen again, this time to my little sister.
I swallowed compulsively to keep my dinner down, breathing deeply, like Kenley had showed me. So far, when the basement resurfaced in my head, the only thing able to beat it back when I couldnt take out my rage on the nearest boxing dummy was steady, measured breathing. Balancing each inhalation with an exhalation.
Kenley said I was imposing calm on everything else by instituting order in the most basic of involuntary functions. Or some shit like that.
I didnt care how it worked. All I cared about was that it did work. Usually.
When I opened my eyes again, the buzz of conversation and laughter roared back into focus and the looming darkness of the basement was gone, at least for the moment.
Remember who you were before, Kori. I had to remember and become her again, or I might die without the chance to claim vengeance or reclaim the woman Id been.
I straightened my dressstupid fucking sequinsand squared my shoulders, then took one more deep breath and stepped back into the fray.
That was the only way I could think of this night and hope to succeed. The party was a battle to be fought, not with bullets, but with pointless social gestures and small talk. I could do this. Every polite smile would find its mark. Every swallowed curse would block a blow. And every bitter concession made to polite society would bring me one step closer to the goal. To signing Ian Holt and protecting my sister.
If the party was a brawl, then Holt was my enemy, but he couldnt be beaten with fists or knives. He could only be lulled into submissioninto lowering his guardwith subterfuge. With careful answers and gestures of compliance.
I could play that part. Id have to play that part. Starting now.
I watched him as I closed in on my target, dodging hits from other combatantsJake would call them guestseven as I armed myself with two fresh glasses of champagne from a tray carried by a passing waiter, an unwitting accomplice in my campaign.
Holt wasnt bad-looking. In fact, he was actually kind of hot, blessed with broad shoulders, a strong chin, and the smooth, dark complexion only mixed parentage could give. Or maybe that was the champagne talking. I could toss back vodka all day long, but Id never been able to think clearly on anything fancy. Probably from lack of practice.
While I was still several feet away, two familiar silhouettes stepped between me and my goal. They were both brunette and curvy, and less than two years bound, yet eager to make names for themselves. They were also on Jakes shit list for refusing to believe after one crack at him that he could not be tempted to stray from his wife, even for a double dose of sin served hot and ready.
Within seconds of their arrival, Holt looked ready to flee the premises. I exhaled slowly and donned my mental armor, then stepped back onto the front lines, right between the two brash sluts, who gaped at me like Id just insulted their strappy footwear.
Youll have to excuse us, I said, handing Holt one of the glasses so I could link my arm through his. I couldnt come up with a believable reason why theyd have to excuse us, so I didnt bother. I just steered him away from the wild hyena women and through the crowd, half enjoying the angry looks they shot my way.
A victory is a victory. The venue is irrelevant.
Not that I dont appreciate the rescue, Holt said. But Im forced to ask, in the interest of self-preservation exactly how well armed are you right now?