Page 18 of Kissing Danger

I knew all traces of humanity had vanished from my face. One look at me caused the man to immediately stop fighting and go pale. I’d been told that my “serious face” made me look like a creature from a horror movie that would stalk a person down a dark alley.

“I’m not going to kill you. I’m not sure what will. Maybe the blood loss, or the heat. Maybe you’ll just starve to death. But, either way, it won’t be my hand that ends you. I can only guarantee my own actions. I can’t make promises for the rest of the natural world.”

When my people and I finally left the shack, we locked the door behind us. It was an abandoned building in the middle of the desert. No one ever came out here. Based on the state of the place, I had probably been the first person to set foot inside the building in months.

Maybe even years.

Still, for courtesy’s sake, it was best to lock the door. We wouldn’t want someone to accidentally stumble upon something they shouldn’t see, after all.

The afternoon sun beat down upon the earth, baking sand into clay, and I was already on the verge of sweating just from thefew minutes I’d spent in the shack. Thankfully, my driver was competent enough to have the AC in the car already on when I climbed inside.

A brilliant invention, air conditioning. There were people who lived back in the old country who scoffed at others for indulging in such “frivolities”, but I would never deny myself the simple luxury of controlled temperature.

There was already enough suffering in the world.

Why endure discomfort when I didn’t have to?

“Where to, sir?” the car’s driver asked, keeping their words as simple and straightforward as possible so they didn’t risk bothering me.

I thought it over for a moment. There was plenty I needed to do and plenty of places I needed to go. I would definitely have to pay Caprice a visit at some point, to let her know her message was received, and it wasn’t appreciated.

However, there was only one place I wanted to be right now. Everything else could wait.

“Take me to theFantaisisteoffice. I need to... inspect the new talent.”

CHAPTER 9

Nathan

The studio was a mess.I’d never actually visitedFantaisiste’sstudio before, but I was certain it hadn’t looked like this a few days ago. There were boxes everywhere, to the point it was hard to see the floor. Several mannequins stood off to the side in various stages of assembly, their plastic limbs and heads scattered around like an odd imitation of a murder scene.

Standing at the center of it all was Deacon, surveying everything happening like an Emperor admiring his domain. At his side, in a true reenactment of royalty, Deacon’s assistant stood beside him actually controlling everything.

What was her name?

Kiki.

Deacon had insisted that she be hired along with him, and I was now seeing why. He may provide the artistic talent, but she was obviously the one who got things done.

I’d never really had an assistant I could trust like that. There had been times in the past when I had tried, but it never worked out. They all either ended up betraying me, or they couldn’t handle living in the shadows, as I preferred. They wanted their position beside someone so powerful to be known, and the lack of recognition led to discontentment and mistakes.

Deacon noticed me after a moment, and even from across the room I could tell there was something off about his reaction to my presence. When I last saw him, we parted on good terms, with an eager anticipation for the future. Now, he almost looked upset, though he tried to hide it.

The hiding was the part that bothered me most. If something had upset him, I wanted to know. Hiding his reaction from me meant that I was likely the cause of his upset.

I couldn’t think of anything I’d done that would upset him—at least nothing he would be aware of—and I hated not knowing things. It was like an itch under my skin that couldn’t be relieved no matter how hard I scratched.

For a moment, I wondered how to separate Deacon from the chaos surrounding him, but he solved the problem for me. Nodding off to the side in an invitation to follow him, he headed to a door that led to the studio’s private office.

As I picked my way between boxes, I heard Kiki delivering orders to the various staff and other designers employed at the studio.

“Careful with that. It’s Vicuna. Literally, the rarest fabric in the world. If you damage it, I’ll use your skin to replace it.”

I couldn’t help smiling as I passed. I liked this Kiki woman. If my previous assistants had half her attitude, they might have actually lasted at my side.

I was also glad to see my gift being treated with the care it deserved. That Vicuna fabric had been a present from me to welcome Deacon to his new studio. Not knowing anything about fashion or fabric, I’d simply gone with the rarest, most expensive thing I could find. Thankfully, it seemed to be as impressive as I’d hoped.

Inside the office, there were still a bunch of boxes, but the furniture had been here before Deacon came, and so far, it had remained untouched. Between the desk, the chairs, and the couch, there were plenty of places for Deacon to sit, but he chose to stand in the center of the room with his back to the door. He didn’t even turn to face me when I entered the office and closed the door behind me, just remained facing the large window that looked out over the Las Vegas skyline.

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