Page 31 of The Twilight Theft

“What about the bathrooms?” Jayce must have snuck in while I was covering my lapse. She continued taking deliberate steps along the back wall.

“We’ve arranged for lavatory attendants,” said Liana. “For hand towels and lotion, not as security.”

“It’s an obvious staging point.” Jayce didn’t write anything down and didn’t have her phone out to take notes. Was she recording everything in her head, or was it all a show? “Changing outfits, prepping decoys, or hiding stuff. If they can keep an eye out for suspicious behavior, that should suffice.”

Gideon pulled out his phone and made a call, asking someone about attendants for the party. The conversation carried on and he excused himself, stepping outside onto the patio.

“There’s some loose spots on the carpet here.” Jayce was on her knees in the back corner. “Looks like some damage from a leak. Might be somewhere to hide something, too.”

Liana’s brows drew together. “There will be too many people here for someone to crawl around and hide things under there.”

“You’d be amazed what people overlook when the room’s crowded and the alcohol’s flowing freely.”

I said, “Or when there’s only two people in a bathroom?”

“And that’s why you always need an attendant.” Jayce rocked back on her haunches, flipping her short hair from her face. The grin she shot me sat low in my stomach. “So, I get the artsy thing where you don’t want to reveal too much, but can you confirm if someone can easily remove the chip from your sculpture?”

“They cannot.”

“And will the sculpture be more or less than twenty-five pounds?”

Liana’s gaze rose to the ceiling again. “More than.”

“I can work with that.” Jayce dug a thumb into her left quad, just above her knee, and stood. “I’m done for now. Scarlett will want to do a walk-through with me once everything’s in place. What’s the schedule, Liana?”

“Everything will be set up by Friday for a preview that evening.”

“I’ll be back that afternoon with my team.” She gave me a faux-salute and wandered toward the exit. “I’m going to the coffee shop. Meet you there.”

Don’t get into trouble.

Once she was out the door, Liana tilted her head. “She’s a clever one, isn’t she?”

“She is.” And dangerous. I had to do something about how she constantly distracted me. Was there any way I could get past Rav and Malcolm so I could pair up with Scarlett for the gala? No, probably not.

Don’t let her get to you, Drew. You’ve been trained to shut down your feelings.

Unfortunately, the training wasn’t working.

“About the preview,” I said, dragging my attention away from where Jayce had vanished through the main dining room. “I’d like to discuss some changes.”

Chapter 13

Jayce

Isteppedintothesunshine outside Mosaic, let out the longest breath I could, and sucked all the oxygen back in. My head was a jumbled mess. Climbing hadn’t fixed it. Inspecting the restaurant hadn’t fixed it. Chatting with a billionaire and his wife hadn’t fixed it.

All I needed to do was survive one car ride with Drew.

He’d drop me off at the hotel where the team was staying and I wouldn’t see him again until tomorrow. I’d work withmyteam—the one that didn’t make me feel like I needed to run—and we’d review everyone’s separate meetings from this afternoon. We’d make plans.

My phone buzzed and my stomach dropped.Shit.

Scarlett’s message was predictable:Brie’s still waiting to sync up with G’s phone. Are you having connectivity problems?

She’d told me to get close enough to Gideon’s phone that Brie could try tapping into it. All that Drew energy in the room made me forget.

What was I supposed to do now?

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