Page 38 of Indiscreet

CHAPTER TEN

When the car door closed, Elliott got the driver to pass him a mask. “You’ll need to wear this. It’s part of the festivities. The one Dane gave you was for the men.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, not putting it on.

“To a party on a cruise, just outside San Francisco,” he answered, motioning to the mask.

“I can’t do that,” I said. “Tell them to take me home.”

“If you haven’t noticed, there are people with guns,” he said. “We don’t show up, we’re all in trouble.”

My mouth dropped open. “But—”

“No more questions.” He pointed to the window divider between us and the driver. “As soon as we can, you’ll be on the first flight back home.”

I followed Elliott’s lead and stopped speaking. We arrived at an airfield and parked with the other limos then waited with a few men and women to board. They were dressed formally with Mardi Gras type masks. A few glances came our way with my informal attire and mask, but no one bothered us. They appeared joyous, a complete contrast to what I had encountered with the guards, though they were standing by.

I caught a glimpse of Dane boarding, but Elliott kept us at the back. The flight took off almost immediately despite the weather. During the flight, I declined any drinks offered. My eavesdropping on the conversations of the few men and women on board didn’t set off any alarms. I didn’t know what to make of any of it. Was it a masquerade party? I’d have thought it was if it hadn’t been for more armed guards waiting by the limousines when we exited the private plane. The ride landed not far from one of the piers where we were all helped onto a private ship.

Once on board, we took an elevator a floor down, and it opened to a corridor of mahogany wood and Italian marble paneling. We stopped once we reached an ornate set of double doors at the opposite end. Elliott unlocked them and motioned for me to go inside, slamming the door behind us. Being alone with him didn’t make me relax. Elliott, like Dane, was a part of something that included men with guns who forced me to go along. The only reason I could come up with was crime, and that meant being with Dane and Elliott was unsafe. Still, I turned to him for answers, opening my mouth to speak, but he held up his hand to stop me.

“Stay where you are and don’t move,” he instructed. “I’m checking the room.”

My pulse quickened at yet another blow to my stability. I had taken his and Dane’s word that he was an interior designer and Dane an architect. Now I could only stare, dumbfounded as he did a sweep of the spacious suite, checking the small lounge, the built-in dining area, the side lamps by the large custom bed, the bathroom, and the glass-enclosed balcony. When he was satisfied, he went over to a suitcase, took out what looked like a flashlight that glowed red, and set it against the wall. “I was told this will disrupt any video, but that’s not one hundred percent. We are alone right now, so you can take off the mask.”

I reluctantly untied the fabric holding the mask to my face and placed it down on a nearby table. “Will you tell me what’s going on?”

“You’ll have to trust me when I say it’s better you don’t know.” He wiped his hand down his face. “The less you know, the easier it will be for you to go back to your life.”

I didn’t believe it could be so simple.

He sat down at the end of the bed, pulled off his bow tie, and rubbed his neck. “You may as well sit down.” He patted the space next to him.

I tried to ignore the interest that arose within me at his beckoning. It could lull me into a false sense of calm when this situation was nothing short of frightening. I took steps back to lean against the door, keeping my distance to avoid falling under his or Dane’s spell again. I also couldn’t remain standing there, acting like I was a guest. “You can’t expect me to just sit down and act like this is all normal. You and Dane are involved in something…illegal.”

He gave me a hard look, his jaw clenched tight. “It’s not what you think, but yes, there are things going on that make it so we can’t let you go safely.”

“Don’t you think I deserve to know instead of being left in the dark? Tell me,” I pleaded.

“You’ve gotten out of me more than you should have. Stop asking questions.” His voice was strained, and I should have stopped questioning him, but I couldn’t.

I walked over and sat down next to him. “You haven’t said anything, and you know it. I need to know more. I want to know if anything you shared about yourself was real. No one was surprised when Dane mentioned you procured me. Is that your real job? Is this what you and Liz were arguing about at my house? You acted like you didn’t know me when I came to the mixer—”

“At the orgy, I didn’t know it was you,” he interjected bluntly. “You weren’t going to get involved with what’s going on here, but then you showed up at Dane’s house out of the blue.” The derision in his voice intensified. “The Agency has zero tolerance for breaching security.”

I snorted. “So this cruise is part of The Agency? I’m a new member, so you should be able to share what you know with me. Now, tell me why I can’t leave.”

Elliott sat there with his arms folded like I was inconveniencing him.

A wave of apprehension swept through me as I waited for him to say more. Seconds stretched into minutes, and each one that passed felt increasingly more unbearable. I’d had enough. “Fine. I’ll come to the conclusions myself. Dane and you toyed with me, and the whole time you were scheming to take my company away from me. You forced me to come along in some sort of game you’re playing to continue to ruin me.”

“I don’t care what you think about me,” Elliott said before clearing his throat. “But leave Dane out of it. He’s trying to help you right now. You made him vulnerable by making him stick his fucking neck out for you, and I can’t even be in the meeting to help him.” He cursed and wiped his hand down his face

The blood pounded in my temples. “I’m supposed to feel sorry for you and Dane when Dane’s trying to take my business from me? I had no idea what was going on tonight. I still don’t. I came to negotiate for my company—”

“With what?” he interrupted. “We already know you don’t have the money.” A chill hung on the edge of his words.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. “How do you know that unless you’ve been investigating me? Is that how you procure—you look into my life for Dane?”

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