Page 53 of Kissing Danger

The box was stored carefully in my pocket, while the paper was unceremoniously thrown away without a second glance. I didn’t need to see it again. The names on the list still hovered in my mind like a phantom.

The fifth lab on the list was one I knew, because it was one of my own.

Specifically, it was a lab run by my own organization. My suspicions were confirmed. There was a traitor right under my nose.

I scanned the crowd looking for Deacon. He should have been back already. When I didn’t immediately see him, worry gnawed at my gut.

“Lose something?”

Agent Belden’s voice grated on my nerves more than usual, like sharp cat’s claws dragging along my spine.

It was a miracle I didn’t flinch as I turned to face her.

“Agent. I’m happy to say no one has been murdered this time, which means you can’t be here in a professional capacity. So, it must be personal. Are you a fan of fashion design?”

My flippant tone clearly annoyed her, and for a moment, I saw her hand twitch toward her gun.

Surely, she wasn’t going to draw a weapon in the crowded ballroom. With so many people around, even if there wasn’t a single bullet fired, someone was bound to get hurt. Crowds were dangerous things when people started panicking.

Before her hand made contact with her gun, she crossed her arms instead. “I don’t waste my time with frivolous things.”

“Oh.” I shook my head sadly at her. “But frivolous things can be the most fun.”

“Does your little pet know that? He seemed very serious about you. Pity you don’t return that commitment, but then I’m not surprised. It’s in your nature to sacrifice anything that isn’t useful for you anymore, and the poor thing’s usefulness seems to have run its course.”

I grabbed her arm hard enough that I could feel the outline of muscle under her clothes.

“What are you talking about? What have you done to Deacon?”

Something bad had happened to him. I could feel it, like a sixth sense crawling up the back of my neck. It wasn’t a surprise. I hadenough enemies that someone was bound to target him as soon as they realized he was important to me. I just hadn’t expected Agent Belden to be the one to act first. As a member of law enforcement, harming civilians should be out of bounds for her.

Perhaps, now that Deacon had committed a crime, she no longer saw him as an innocent bystander. There was no evidence proving that Deacon killed anyone, but there was no evidence of my own crimes either, and she was still certain of my guilt.

Agent Belden didn’t try to pull away from my grip and looked me up and down with a critical eye.

“Perhaps he hasn’t lived out his usefulness after all. If you want him back, here.” She pulled a hotel key out of her pocket and handed it to me. “Although, I would hurry. He was fine last I checked, but there’s no telling how long that will last.”

My teeth ground together so hard that my jaw ached, but I didn’t dare voice my thoughts at that moment. I contented myself with imagining all the painful ways I could kill her as I took the hotel key.

It was for the Bellagio’s penthouse.

Turning so quickly I probably left a friction burn in the carpet, I shouldered my way through the crowd, back through the door, and out into the hall. It was an infuriatingly long ride up to the hotel’s top floor, especially since Agent Belden insisted on joining me in the elevator. My own security was posted all over the building, but I didn’t bother to tell any of them where I was going or what I was doing. They were professionals and didn’t need me to micromanage them.

Besides, they probably wouldn’t be much help this time.

I tapped my fingers restlessly against my crossed arms as I waited for the elevator to finish its assent. Barely two feet away, I could feel Agent Belden watching me, taking obvious delight in my agitation.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

If the person waiting for me at the top of the hotel was who I thought they were, then things weren’t going to end well for her. Unfortunately, the agent was too wrapped up in her obsession with me to see the wolf’s den that she’d walked into. I almost felt sorry for her, but there was no room inside me for any other emotions. The worry and anger I felt over the threat to Deacon consumed every last drop of my emotional tolerance.

At the top of the elevator, I was met with more security. Not my own personal security, but faces I recognized.

With rage burning through my veins, I swiped the key over the lock to the penthouse and practically kicked the door open as soon as the light turned green. Inside the penthouse, I found exactly what I expected, but that didn’t make the bitter pill any easier to swallow. Even more security stood around the room and Caprice loitered off to one side, unfortunately still alive.

The security approached me, reaching toward the gun hidden under my jacket.

I grabbed their wrist before they could get close. “Touch me. See what happens.”

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