Page 76 of Master of Lies

She laughed at me. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“What could I say that would make you less nervous?”

“I’m just afraid of jinxing it,” she said. “Like I’m tempting fate by feeling this happy. It’s bad luck to take anything for granted. Even this.”

I nodded. That made sense to me on a visceral level. First, a guy had to slay the dragon. Then, he got the fair maiden. Then he protected her and stuck by her and hung on to her for as long as he possibly could. Preferably until death did us part.

“Yeah,” I said. “First, we neutralize Boer.”

“Yes. But the important thing is that we do it together.” She squeezed my hand in hers, staring intently into my eyes. “We work together. Respecting each other’s areas of expertise.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, wary of a trap. “Ah…meaning…?”

“Meaning, we trust each other, Jed. As real partners.”

“Only if you’ll be reasonable about stepping back,” I told her, resolute. “I’m the one with the combat training. And it’s hard as hell to defend you and hunt Boer at the same time.”

She nodded. “Okay. Just share your thoughts. Let me in. Like last night. I don’t even know what happened after you left. Did you learn anything useful?”

“Yes, actually.” I proceeded to tell her about my exploits the night before. Grifo’s house, his practice, the Moulin Pastisserie. The gala, which took place that very night. And Rachelle Grifo’s lactose-free Neapolitan pastry.

“So the Grifos will be there,” she said, thoughtfully. “Obviously, we have to be there, too.”

“Clark and Ramona will not be thrilled to see me again,” I said.

She gave me a disapproving look. “True. And I could have helped you with that last night, if you’d been thinking clearly. I could have asked all the questions and begged to see the colleagues, and I wouldn’t have raised any red flags. Nobody gets intimidated by a chirping blonde. But oh, no, you had to swagger in with your brawny six-foot-three bod and your beard and your tattoo and your Viking warrior mane.” She stopped short, studying me with a speculative eye. “We need to get some breakfast right away. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

“Oh, do we?” I asked, alarmed. “A big day of what?”

“Shopping. You need a makeover. And then, we’re going to the gala.”

CHAPTER27

Freya

“Istill think you should have let me bleach it,” I bitched, snipping at his hair. “It’s another degree of removal from your previous look. If you think Ramona won’t recognize you, even without the beard and hair, think again. Women remember hot men, even if they look scary. No, correction.Especiallyif they look scary.”

“I’ll try to avoid Ramona,” he said.

“She’ll notice you,” I warned him. “Every woman in the place will notice you. The whole plan sounds haphazard with you in the mix. Let me go alone.”

“I’m not letting you go anywhere alone.” His tone was adamant. “Don’t bother suggesting it again. I just need to drop that trace into his pocket, and then I’ll get the hell out of there and follow him tonight. Find out where he’s hiding.”

“I’ll put the trace on him,” I told him. “Really. I should be the one to do that.”

He made a disapproving growling sound in his throat, but he couldn’t say I was wrong. It would be far simpler for me to get closer to Grifo than for Jed. Blonde cuteness combined with perky boobs, that was an unbeatable card, and I could play the shit out of that card when I wanted to.

“When did you learn to cut hair?” He was clearly trying to change the subject.

“I had two brothers,” I replied. “Somebody had to groom them, or they would have looked like a couple of St. Bernards. I got pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. Okay, turn around and tell me what you think.”

Jed twisted around and stared at himself in the mirror, startled. “Holy shit,” he said. “That is…wow. My hair has never looked like that. Even before prison.”

“It’s excellent, if I do say so myself,” I said, preening. “It’s been years, but I’ve still got it. Of course, you can make an orange prison jumpsuit look good. But even so.”

Truth to tell, Jed looked amazing. He had before, even with the beard, and that thick, wild mane of hair. But the crisp, elegant haircut was as good as any he’d get from a professional upmarket salon, and the smooth shave showed off every detail of his bone structure; his hawk-nose, his sharp cheekbones, his square, gorgeous jaw, his full, sexy lips, the thick, sweeping slash of his black eyebrows. Now, instead of a Viking warrior, he looked like a brooding, seductive movie vampire. Unfortunately, both of those looks were big attention-getters. But the man couldn’t help being gorgeous.

Unfortunately, the cut also showcased his bruises and revealed more of his tattoo. But I had plans to remedy that. I’d gone hog-wild at the mall make-up counter.

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