“Someone who raises a child to care about wealth over everything else.” James’s voice seemed to shudder at that. “Even the lives of innocent children hoping for a piece of candy when their parents are finished shopping. Someone who created a monster.”
Right. Sola reminded herself why she was there. As fascinating as it was in this crystalline globe dotted with billionaires and sharks, her job wasn’t to people watch. Except something about Cash’s dear old dad kept drawing her gaze. He was surrounded by gorgeous women, all of them together probably not much more than him in age. And the way he sat—reclined, splayed, and completely inattentive—spoke of power and sloth. If he was a puppet, he was a damn good one.
She would have asked Jordan a few more specific questions about the man if she’d had some cover, but just then an admittedly handsome man in a tuxedo approached. “Not too shabby, huh?”
It had been so long since she’d flirted with someone, Sola had to dig deep. She hit him with a dazzling smile and a bit of innuendo as she let her gaze wander over his fine form. “Not at all.”
“I’ll be playing at the high-limit blackjack tables if you want to come cheer me on. I could use a good luck charm like you when I start bidding at a hundred thousand a pop.” Oh, blech. Did women really fall for that?
Sola tuned out as he tried to strike up a conversation with her. Mostly about how much money he’d brought to flush down the toilet at the inaugural run of the tables.
If she’d ever found men like him attractive, she couldn’t possibly anymore after she’d gotten to know Aarav. He might not be as tall as the guy in front of her or as debonair, but he was an unpretentious compact ball of muscle and raw, naked energy.
Compared to Aarav, this guy appealed as much as flat, grocery store champagne would have after whatever the hell expensive shit she was sipping.
As if her thoughts drew him, Aarav came across the comms, making her heart speed up in a way this man hitting on her had no chance of doing no matter what small country it was he seemed to practically own. “I’m in place. This is sketchy as fuck, but I think I can make it work. The wind is gusty. We’ll have to hope it settles down, even for a few seconds, when we need it to most.”
“You’ve got this.” Jordan never doubted his Shields, even when they weren’t so sure of themselves. And he’d never been wrong yet. Not about their capabilities and not about the subjects of their hunts. So Sola dusted off her unease with one last glance at Cash’s father, who was staring in return.
Shit. The very last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself.
Sola smiled at the man across from her and lifted her glass. “Excuse me. Need to go fix my lipstick after this.”
Before he replied, she had already left him behind, heading toward the balcony for a better view of their main stage. The entire casino seemed like a reverse snow globe, surrounded by three hundred sixty degree views of the cerulean sea beyond a brief tumble of greenery and boulders down to the waves surrounding them. It could have been gorgeous if it weren’t built from the blood of innocents.
“Yo, Jordan. Are wesurethe dad’s not dirty too? He’s giving me bad vibes and gross looks from across the room. Maybe I can take him out before I bail in the confusion of things afterward…”
“That’s not the plan. It’s too dangerous to add objectives now.” The response came not from Jordan, but from Aarav. “But if he looks at you like that again, I won’t feel bad about sending two bullets that way instead of one.”
“That’s not necessary.” Jordan weighed in. “We have no reason to believe he’s involved. Every bit of intel we have says it’s Cash who’s made the deal with these devils.”
With two against one, Sola squashed the tendrils of doubt trying to grow within her as she had with similar feelings about her relationship with Aarav these past months. Her team was right. Nothing fucked up an operation worse than an agent going rogue and deviating from the plan. Sola clicked her comms twice to indicate her agreement.
Jordan continued as if reading and she could hear papers fluttering in the background. Was he double-checking the information they’d been given? She wouldn’t doubt it. He was meticulous with both their objectives and with the safety of his operatives. Probably because he’d lost a lover to an ambush on assignment back when he worked for the government, which now hired them to do their dirty work in the gray areas of the law.
Jordan continued, “This all started because Cash likes to take odds he shouldn’t. He’s a wild card. Too risky. And when he made book on a giant international match and the underdog won in some fluke, he ended up having to strike a deal with the gunrunners to keep afloat without letting his father figure out how much trouble they were really in. Once you get tangled up in that shit, it’s awfully hard to get out again. If he even wanted to.”
“Damn it.” Sola rubbed her hand over the hairs trying to stand up on the back of her neck. She had to keep her focus and resist distraction simply because Cash’s father was slimy, if not evil.
As she faced out the window, imagining Aarav splayed, clinging to the top of some cliff as he lined up the casino in his sights, a movement in the corner near the door out to the landing caught her attention.
“Got him.” She stood straighter as she squinted, trying to get a better look at a man who was already dead, even if he didn’t know it yet. He was somewhere between Aarav and the guy who’d been hitting on her in height, lean but well-muscled, with short dark hair and a beard that would have reminded her of Aarav’s if it had been somewhat wild instead of neat and tidy.
Unlike his father, Cash was alone. Tucked into what few shadows there were in the place as if he didn’t care for the spotlight or the cloying attention of socialites. He scowled as he surveyed the crowd, his face only relaxing when he turned toward the waves slapping the rocky shoreline.
Sola could relate. Too bad she couldn’t spend some time out there hiking with Aarav and figuring out where the hell things between them were going.
Cash huffed powerfully enough to haze the glass in front of him before letting his head fall forward and his forehead bump into the window. It wasn’t the move of a man who dealt in lost souls or formed alliances with gunrunners for profit. That kind of man would never dare to show weakness while hiding from the crowds of adoring sycophants in the other room.
“Jordan?” Sola hissed, trying not to move her mouth much despite her position next to a gold pot housing a mammoth plant with fronds that dangled around her, providing some cover from onlookers.
“Yeah?” His question was clipped, as if he could sense the tension in that one word.
“You’re sure? Absolutely?” She’d never questioned him before. Just…staring at the man they’d been sent to take out didn’t instill her with the same sense of righteousness she usually felt on assignment. This had more in common with kicking a stray puppy.
“It went through the channels. Came from a trusted source, but with the reception and the time constraints we didn’t have a chance to do as much cross-checking as usual.” Jordan groaned. “Everything I’ve seen looks in order. Let me check on—”
James cut in. “I’ve got him on surveillance. Entering the balcony. Aarav, status.”