Page 87 of Heart of a Villain

Sayeda looked at the closed door.

Based on what she’d seen so far, there seemed to be a threat, but when it came to these guys, it wasn’t easy to decipher at what point “significant” came into play.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

Joel stood at the end of the VIP platform. Adrían tipped his chin in a man’s direction, and Joel squinted at the man before shaking his head. Apparently, a man had cornered Ayesha and Sayeda on the elevator, and it wasn’t clear whether the man was simply flirting or was someone they should be worried about.

When Joel relayed the information to Gage, Gage suggested that they keep their eyes peeled. Despite what they’d told everyone else, they were partly there to do surveillance. While they were honestly celebrating Ayesha’s birthday—and possibly Sayeda’s, too—surveillance also needed to be done. Whenever they stepped foot into the real, moving, living, and breathing world, they were on surveillance.

Adrían made his way over to their VIP section with its plush bench seating, velvet ropes cuffed in real gold, private bar, and crystal chandelier. At the same time, the rest of the team, minus Mike and Giorgio, emerged from the recesses of the dimly lit nightclub interior. Mike was busy searching the building for any sign of a man with low-cut hair, who might be with a twin brother and who, according to Ayesha, “has eyes like a wildcat.”

But she didn’t mean color.

His eyes reminded her of a predator.

“Where’s Pozza?” Adrían asked.

Had it not been for their luxury section carving a notch in the room’s stuffiness, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to breathe. The place was packed from wall to wall. While the team had orchestrated the entire outing, there wasn’t much they could have done about restricting the guest list unless they’d wanted a night out with just their small group, including Mike and Xara’s childhood friends. While Joel had assured them Ayesha wouldn’t have cared, they’d all wanted a normal experience that didn’t have them ducking and dodging Central’s illusory fastballs.

“At the door,” Gage said. “Both him and Thanasis.”

Adrían’s eyes bugged. “So, no one’s coming in.”

Gage ran a hand over his head. “Wouldn’t be a bad thing. Place is already packed enough as it is. I don’t mean to be cliché, but I’m definitely too old for this shit.”

“Did you club a lot when you were younger, Gage?” Adrían asked.

“Early twenties, yeah. I’m still trying to figure out why. Every week, it was the same people. The shit started to get real when one of them came up to me like, ‘Hey, mate! You’re back.’”

“A fellow Aussie?”

“No, but I was there so much, they knew I was.”

Adrían laughed.

Dez pointed to a man near the bar closest to the entrance. “What about him, Joel?”

Joel studied the man in question. “No, he has the wrong build. This guy was north of six feet, and he didn’t move like he spends a lot of time in clubs. Eesh said he mentioned being a twin. Now, I’m wondering if he’s one of the twins Trevor mentioned. Memphis and Dallas.”

“That would mean Gamma’s in the building,” Mike said, and it wasn’t clear at what point he’d returned, never mind joined them. “If Gamma’s in the building, we might be dealing with more than just the crazy Egyptian twins.”

Ant grabbed a glass from a passing server. “Who’s Gamma?”

“A team like ours,” Julien answered. “Except, they have a schtick. They always travel in pairs.”

Ant groaned. “Ahh, shit.”

Mike patted him on the back. “You’re always ‘ahh shitting’ when nothing’s even popped off yet.”

“If something does, I’m probably dying. I’m not on y’all’s level.”

“We’re hiring.”

Ant grunted and sipped his drink.

“See that statue over there?” Gage asked, pointing. “I recognize it from one of our ops. I think it’s worth north of ninety million dollars.”

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