Page 151 of The Masks She Wore

?My eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

?“You’re here with your friend, I assume trying to get answers, and here I am, doing the same.”

?I searched his eyes. “You’re on assignment too,” I realized.

?“Ding ding ding,” he hummed. “I wouldn’t be in this…unholyplace if I wasn’t.”

?I pressed my lips into a thin line. “Jack didn’t say you were on assignment in California. You’re usually out of the country.”

?He chuckled. “’Out of the country’ is how they compensate for having no control over me. Everyone under Malachi’s wing has a leash, even dear old Jack. I hold no such weakness. Now, can we all just be transparent and admit that mustering up courage to talk to a girl is not worthy of calling an assignment? You’re Charlotte Alascer, you’ve been doing this since you were born, so drop the Rae act and get to it. Otherwise just admit to yourself that you’re not ready to be back in the game.”

?I glared daggers at him. “I’m notscaredto talk to her. I’m worried she’s working for my father and will get back to him before Jack and I have any real plan.”

?“Plans,” he purred. “Who needs plans?”

?“Intelligent people who don’t want civilians to die.”

?He smiled. “And that’s where we differ. I don’t care who I have to kill so long as I get my work done. Dear old Charles doesn’t have a real army behind him, no matter what he might believe. Dear old Charles just wanted you to suffer because it was fun. Because he wanted to get back at his wife for having an affair with my boss. Revenge isn’t the way to fight but sometimes there are exceptions.”

?I searched his eyes. “Do you want to know what she found out that made us go into hiding?”

?He smiled then, and it was the creepiest, spine-tingling smile I had ever seen off-screen. “I’ve known for quite some time now. Here,” he said, placing something into my hand. “Until next time, daffodil.”

?Without another word, he slipped into the crowd like the Ghost he was.

?I lifted the bracelet he had given me only to find that it was the exact same one I had worn to the cathedral the night I had been drugged. I had never found mine when I had gotten up the next morning.

?A second later, Jack appeared at my side, sliding his hand around the small of my back. “Where did he go?”

?How did Azrael get that? “That way,” I gestured vaguely before turning to find Viv who was tongue deep in some guy.

?“What did he say?”

?“That I should go talk to her and what ‘out of country’ means regarding him.” I handed him the bracelet. “He gave me this.”

?Jack studied it a moment before turning back to me, his eyes hard.“He’s a loose cannon,” he finally said. “We can’t always control him.”

?I could see that.

?I inhaled deeply and rubbed the back of my neck. “Okay, I’m going to tell Viv I’m ready to leave and start up that conversation with her.”

?Jack nodded and leaned in to kiss my head. “I’ll be behind you,” he said and disappeared back into the crowd.

?My shoulders fell. Dammit, there went our chance at roleplay.

34

Rae

February 7th, 2020

We hadn’t been at theclub an hour and Viv was already drunk. She had no idea what time it was, which was great for me. I didn’t need her whining about us leaving ‘so early’ right now, I just wanted to get her back to her place without incident so I could talk to her before she passed out.

?I managed to get her in the car and driving back to her place, glancing in the rearview to see Jack’s car not far behind.

?No, I didn’t need backup, but it felt nice knowing he was right there.

?I glanced over at Viv who had her forehead pressed against the chilling window a smile on her face, her hot breath fogging the glass. “How are you?” I asked, slightly worried that she had hit the alcohol way too fast.

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