Page 87 of Scattered Glitter

“What now? Is she leaving?”

“No, she’s… holy shit,” Koen’s voice cracks with disbelief. “She called him agood boy.”

I can’t help it. My lips twitch, and a laugh bursts free. “No way.”

“I swear to God. He’s eating it up. He handed her his card. And… yeah, she’s walking away. Ric, she’s got it.”

“Fuck.”

“Fuck indeed.” There’s a moment of static, then urgency. “Wait… she’s darting off. I gotta move, or I’ll lose her.”

“Crowded on the Strip?”

“When is it not?”

My phone buzzes in my hand, vibrating against my palm. I glance down, and the image of Belmont’s business card fills the screen, his scrawled handwriting adding a number and a hasty ‘call me’ on the back.

Ew.

The word slips into my mind unbidden, my lip curling.

What a desperate fuck.

I forward the image to Sylus when another message from her comes in.

Maybe you’ve got a shot with him after all, Captain Bossy.

He’s a little sub.

Captain Bossy?

I stare at the words, the corners of my lips twitching upward despite myself.

What a little brat.

The audacity of her, she’s risking everything out there, and here she is, giving me a nickname as though this is some kind of game.

I type back quickly, my fingers a blur over the keys.

Ready for the next one?

Bring it.

Good.

Belmont was only the warm-up. The real task is next. If she can’t pull a switcheroo off, she won’t be of any use to us. If she can… well, maybe she’s got a place in our plans after all.

I tap out the next set of instructions.

Switch the Elvis sunglasses with the sunglasses of one of the security guards at The Harrington Heights Casino.

You want me to flirt my way through security now?

My eyes narrow at the message. I can almost hear the sarcasm in her voice. I type back quickly and curtly.

If that’s what it takes.

I honestly don’t care how you do it. Just do it.

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