Page 42 of Bloody Lace

I’m going to find my wife.

And then I’m going to put her fucking bodyguard in the ground.

16

EVELYN

Iknow Dimitri is going to be furious with me for slipping out without telling Gus. And I know, deep down, that I shouldn’t go out without him. After being cornered at the wedding yesterday by that man, who was almost certainly a Crow, I should be more worried about the danger.

And Iam. I’m not pretending that everything is fine, or that I don’t need to be careful. I hadn’t really planned on going out without Gus at all. But then Dahlia texted me, asking me if I wanted to get lunch with her and two of her other friends, and I stared at the screen for a long time, not wanting to say no.

I didn’t want to keep hanging around Dimitri’s penthouse, feeling out of place and uncertain what I should do, in a weird sort of limbo because all I have to do right now is unpack or wait on someone to call or email me with questions about the shop. It’s not cleaned up enough yet for me to actually have a hand in the beginning of the remodel, and so I’m stuck right now.

I also didn’t want Val or Bonnie to see Gus with me. Dahlia knows about him, of course, but there’s nothing I keep from Dahlia. She’s also the only person in my life who knows about my marriage to Dimitri. I can hedge around the topic of theshop, but if I show up at lunch with a bodyguard, that’s going to raise alotof questions. Questions that I don’t know either of the other two women well enough to want to share.

But I desperately want to go. Badly enough that I find myself upstairs after five or so minutes of dithering, texting Dahlia that I’ll meet them at the restaurant as I look through one of my garment bags for something to wear. I settle on a pair of sleek black leather leggings and a long, soft purple sweater, with chunky boots. Nothing that will make me stand out too much, but still stylish.

The only question is whether or not I really can slip out without Gus noticing. He said he wasn’t going to hang around the apartment, and he kept his word on that, leaving to take a loop around the building not long after we talked. Now, the penthouse is empty except for Buttons, who has found a spot on the couch closest to one of the floor-to-ceiling glass walls and is enjoying the view.

Dimitri is probably going to lose his fucking mind when he sees dog hair on the couch, but I’m too annoyed with him right now to care. And, to be honest, that annoyance is also probably part of the reason why I disregard the fact that I know I shouldn’t go out alone.

I slip my ID and credit card into my back pocket, so I have plausible deniability if Gus or one of the other guys catches me. I’ll just say I was looking for one of them, or just stepping outside for a minute. They’ll probably still be upset, but not as upset as they’ll be when they realize I’ve actually left.

I called an Uber, because I can’t wait for a taxi to come around. When I poke my head out into the hall, I see two of Dimitri’s guys at the far end, talking about something, turned partially away from me. The elevator is just ahead, and I grip the black key card that I found in Dimitri’s room—our room now,I suppose—quickly padding out into the hall and pressing the elevator button.

The chime of the elevator makes the two men at the end of the hall turn, but I move so quickly that I have to hope they didn’t realize it was me. Otherwise, someone will catch me as soon as I get down to the main floor. A stab of guilt jabs at me as the doors close and the elevator starts to go down, because I know the only reason I was able to find that keycard so easily in the bedroom is because Dimitri trusts me not to do something like this. After this, he won’t trust me so entirely.

That thought is almost enough to send me back up. But I remember how he acted this morning, and I’m pissed all over again. And I miss Dahlia already. I miss feeling normal. Nothing about the last couple of days—hell, the last couple ofweekshas been normal. Lunch with friends is what I need. I need to be myself again, just for an hour or two.

And that means going without a bodyguard.

I hurry through the lobby, glancing around. I hear footsteps, and I feel sure that someone has seen me—Dimitri mentioned that his security here is good at staying out of the way until they’re needed. But my hope was that if anyone did notice me, seeing me leave alone would confuse them just long enough for me to get out of the building. That they’d be too busy trying to figure out if anyone is following behind me, and who is responsible for leaving me alone, that I can slip away.

That seems to be what happens. I hurry towards the front doors, ignoring the echoing footsteps I hear thatmightbe someone trying to figure out what I’m doing, and bolt out into the cold. I see the black Toyota Camry that’s my Uber idling at the curb, and fling myself inside, confirming my name with the driver breathlessly as he pulls away from the curb,

In my periphery, I see the doors to the building open, and I know someone saw me. Dimitri is going to be furious. Buthe doesn’t know where I’m going, and I’ll have a couple hours of peace before I have to deal with the fallout. I’ll get him to understand, once I talk to him. And he’ll come around. We’ll argue about it, but isn’t that what married couples do?

Leaning back in the seat, I close my eyes and feel myself relax a little as the building fades into the background and we drive further downtown. I just want to bemefor a little while—to pretend like all the chaos and worry and fear of the past couple of weeks doesn’t exist. I want to push it all away, and the further we get from Dimitri’s penthouse, the more I feel like I can do that.

My phone buzzes, and I see that it’s Gus. I hitignore, quickly texting Dahlia and telling her I’ll be there shortly. And then I silence my phone, shoving it into my pocket. I’m sure that it will have blown up by the time I look at it again, but that’s a problem for me sometime in the future.

Right now, I don’t want to think about it.

Dahlia told me to meet her and the other two women at Sakura, a sushi restaurant we’ve been to before. The Uber driver drops me off, and I hurry into the building, glancing around before darting inside. I’m not completely oblivious to the fact that someone might be watching me, or that they might follow me. But as long as I don’t stay outside alone for too long, I’m sure I’ll be fine. And I won’t even be gone all that long—it’s just lunch.

Dahlia, Val, and Bonnie are already sitting at a round table near the back, and Dahlia waves as I get closer, pulling out a seat for me. They’ve ordered appetizers and drinks—Dahlia has a glass of sake, Val has what looks like plum wine, and Bonnie stuck with water. There’s a platter of sashimi and a dish of calamari with a trio of sauces, and my stomach grumbles. I haven’t eaten much today, and I’m suddenly even more glad that I decided to come out.

“How are things with the boutique?” Val asks before I’ve even fully sat down, and though I know she’s just trying to be nice, I can’t help but flinch.Of course that would be the first thing.

“I’m doing a little—restructuring,” I manage, deciding that isn’t exactly a lie. “Reworking the design, that kind of thing. You know, a refresh. It’s good to do from time to time, with how fast the fashion world moves. Especially with social media—” I trail off as the server comes by, grateful for the excuse to order a drink instead.

“That must be expensive,” Bonnie says, sipping at her water. “You must be doing really well these days.”

Dahlia chokes a little on her sake, coughing. Bonnie glances at her. “Are you alright?”

“Fine!” Dahlia manages, clearing her throat. “Just swallowed wrong.”

“I have an investor,” I say quickly. Which, again, isn’t exactly a lie. It’s just leaving out some key details, like the fact that I had tomarrysaid investor. “Things are a bit slow right now, actually. But we’re going to completely redo the boutique.”

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