Page 93 of Thief of Night
From his wallet, he took out the credit card that Adeline had given him and placed it on the counter.
Charlie nearly choked. He’d just wiped away her need to fix things with Topher’s credit card.
“Here’s your key, Mr. Carver,” the woman said. “There’s a private butler that services the cottage. I am sure you’ll have everything you need, but if not, you can call me.”
“I should have copied down your personal number,” he said, in a tone that was as privileged and flirtatious as Charlie could have asked for.
He was good at this. Good at improvising. Good at acting relaxed, like someone who had come to Solaluna for a restful, restorative weekend, not to steal shadows from the Cabals.
The woman behind the desk met Charlie’s eyes, guilt in her expression. Charlie wasn’t sure that meant the receptionist wasn’t tempted, though. Remy Carver seemed like a terrible boyfriend, but an interesting one-night stand.
Maybe Red looked very comfortable playing the part of the rich socialite because he was one.
If he took everything that was being offered to him like he said he was going to, it wouldn’t be pretend. Assuming he could escape the Cabals, that was.
The woman went on, “We’ll have your things brought to the cottage, but in the meantime, you’re free to tour the main building and the grounds. If you’d like someone—”
“We’ll show ourselves around,” Red said, with maybe a little too much firmness. He softened his words by slinging his arm around Charlie’s shoulders, leading her off in the direction of the library. “Come on, darling. Let’s get lost.”
Her neck went hot with what felt like forbidden pleasure. She hadn’t worked like this with anyone since—well, ever. With Rand, she hadn’t been his equal and hadn’t had a choice. With Mark, he’d been too much in competition with her for her to trust him to back her plays. Even with Vince, they had been pretending too much to see one another clearly until the very end.
Charlie and Red passed the entrance into a dining area. It was mostly empty, save for an elderly couple silently sharing a large teapot and a three-tier spread of sandwiches. They weren’t dressed formally and no labels were obvious on their clothing, but they still exuded the gloss of money.
She wondered how far off the mark she’d been in her own styling. Her hair was wrong, she decided. But, of course, Charlie didn’t need to pass as a wealthy girlfriend. Only the girlfriend of a wealthy man.
“We need to find where they’re keeping the shadows. If I could look at the bookings at the front desk, maybe I’d recognize a name.” She’d told Redabout her visit to Mr. Punch on the way over. “Otherwise, we’re going to have to search rooms.”
“The registration for the conference itself might be easier to get to,” Red said.
Charlie thought it was unlikely that Cabal attendees would be listed in the registration rolls with everyone else, but it would be foolish not to check. “Let’s go befriend someone who can get us access.”
He smiled back at her, one wolf to another.
The wood-paneled library featured a long bar with a gleaming pewter top running along the far wall. Cream-colored leather love seats were arranged around low coffee tables with rose quartz tops. Candles flickered in pink glass vessels.
Charlie thought she heard the word “penumbra” from a table of middle-aged men. That was promising.
If she paid close enough attention, she could pick out more conference attendees. She needed to know if they had badges or anything else she could easily forge.
A woman in a button-up white shirt with a tie came over to their table and handed them drink menus with gilded edges. Charlie ordered a glass of rosé that she didn’t intend to drink. Red asked for a martini.
She raised her eyebrows at him when the woman left.
“Let me guess—not my usual order,” he said. “But then, I am not my usual self.”
“I like all of your selves,” Charlie said.
Red smiled. “Some better than others.”
“I likeyou,” she said.
He looked away, like he couldn’t quite believe it. Or maybe he just didn’t want to hear it from her.
Charlie made her voice light and changed the subject. “Don’t look, but I think those gentlemen over there are here for the retreat.”
Red kept his eyes on her.
Charlie opened her mouth to say something as a man stopped beside their table. He had on a white polo shirt and another of those Solaluna hats.
