Page 32 of Deception & Desire

I reach for her hand and place the card in her palm, ignoring the way something in my soul sings at the physical contact. “I’m not paying my wife a ‘forward’. This is your money now.”

Very hesitantly, Mia curls her fingers around the card, barely brushing my hand as she does so. Her throat bobs as she swallows hard.

“Okay. What do you need?”

9

MIA

Idescend the staircase of the brownstone on Saturday evening, still attaching a gold hoop to my ear. Late, late, late.

Leon messaged me to say my equipment had arrived this morning, but I’d lost the day compiling as much information as I could on the Rubios. By the time I’d shown up at the door, I was already behind schedule.

Carmen had texted me the address of her apartment so we could ride in together. It was halfway across town, and I had exactly eighteen minutes to get there.

“The camera took forever to charge,” I say to the back of Leon’s head—the man has apparently been pacing since I arrived. “I’ll keep it plugged in on my way over and turn it on when I arrive.”

“You’ve got the…” he turns just as I take the final two steps. My gold heels click along the wooden floor as I approach. “Um…”

I push my hair over my ear to conceal the earpiece and brush down my dress for good measure. It’s a simple black number, with a long slit in the side that allows me some semblance of mobility.

“Um?” I press. I really am running late.

His eyes snap up to meet mine, his mouth a little wide. Was he just… “Tracker,” he blurts out. “The tracking deVitale, did you manage to?—”

I turn to my side to hoist up my dress a little to reveal the garter underneath. Knife, tracking deVitale, and three doses of GHB.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I swear I hear him mutter as my eyes snap up to his. By the time I look at him again, his back is straighter, his face unemotional.

“I’m on channel three.” I indicate my ear before checking the slim, gold Cartier watch on my wrist. “And I’m late, so…”

“Right.” Leon steps to one side, clearing his throat as I pass him. “I’ll be here, keeping an eye on everything. Dante is–”

“A half mile away if I need an extraction, I know.” I tap my foot impatiently. “Can I go?”

I don’t miss the way Leon swallows, dark chocolate eyes taking me in unashamedly. I notice the whiteness of his knuckles as he clenches his fists. He doesn’t like this, that much is obvious. But he’s letting me go anyway.

“Be careful, Mia,” he sighs.

A shiver runs down my spine at the soft caress of my name.

“I will.”

“Oh! And horses,”Carmen says as we walk up to the front door of the mansion in Bayswater.

The Cartel debutant is in a breathtaking golden gown, fiddling with the tiara resting on top of her beautifully defined curls. The headgear might have looked a little tacky on anyoneelse, but it’s a simple, modern band that’s definitely sporting a few diamonds and it suits her.

“Horses?” I repeat as I reach over to settle the tiara on her head, pushing away her fussing fingers.

She relents and allows me to help her. “I was a part of the equestrian team at Princeton. Do you ride?”

“No,” I admit, taking a step back to admire my work. “But I would have come to see your shows. Dressage, right?”

Carmen nods eagerly, but thankfully, the tiara stays exactly where it should. She sighs and throws her hands out a little awkwardly. “How do I look?”

It’s very hard not to feel a sense of fondness for the girl. Well, woman, really. She looks so nervous, yet there’s a twinkle of excitement in her eyes, and that same enthusiasm is evident in the way she bounces on her heels slightly as if she can’t quite stand still.

“You’re going to knock them out,” I tell her, not needing to lie even a little.

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