“Eleven it is.” I hold my hand out to him.
He shakes it limply. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.” I track him through the crowd as he moves clumsily back toward his wife and friends.
“What are you playing at?” Eliza asks.
I allow myself to observe her then, taking in every blemish on her face, which she’s left natural and make-up free tonight. “I told you. It’s for me to know and you to wonder.” I glance at her hand. “How’s the hand?”
“Like you care,” she says, shaking her head. “I hate the way you act here in public. It’s so false.”
I smile. “And would you prefer I was acting like the monster I really am, baby girl?”
Her cheeks flush red and she shakes her head. “I would prefer that I didn’t have to be around you at all.”
The tips of my fingers are practically tingling to reach out and grab her forcefully. To wrap around that slender, breakable neck and fell her pulse quicken. Instead, I ball them into a fist. “I’ve got a few people to speak with. Why don’t you go get a drink and look pretty.”
The anger in her dark eyes is intoxicating as she makes a little frustrated sound and then marches away into the crowd. It’s risky allowing Eliza the freedom to walk around the party alone, but I’m sure she’s not stupid enough to try to escape. At least, I don’t believe she is.
Pushing the doubt from my mind, I head toward Jason Devereaux, the city’s richest entrepreneur who has a huge pharma company that practically runs Chicago, renowned for getting his hands dirty in his climb for the top spot. The information I have on him could wager the best deal the North American branch of the Estrada Cartel has ever brokered.
“Mr. Devereaux, do you have a moment?” I ask, forcing him to turn around.
His brow furrows as he regards me. “Do I know you?”
“Not yet, but you’re going to want to.”
He sighs, as if he’s used to hearing that line all too frequently from men who want to get into business with him. “I’m not interested. Sorry.”
I grab his forearm before he can turn and lean closer. “You might want to rethink that. Does the name Kevin Davis mean anything to you?” I say, only loud enough for the two of us to hear.
He straightens, turning pale as his eyes dart toward his wife. The poor, unwitting woman who doesn’t realize she’s married to a man who prefers the sexual company of his longtime best friend Kevin Davis.
A man who has been given a high position in his company, no doubt so Jason can have him at his beck and call. “Of course, let’s speak somewhere more private.” He leans toward his wife and whispers something in her ear.
She nods, smiling at her husband with blissful ignorance. If she saw some of the rather revolting images that my spy acquired for me, I’m certain her sweet disposition would soon turn hysterical toward her husband.
“Follow me,” Jason says, leading me toward a meeting room.
I shut the door and lean back against it, watching as Mr. Devereaux paces up and down. “What is it you want?”
“A business deal.”
His eyes snap up then. “What kind of business deal?”
“A merger between my company and yours.”
He stares at me as if I’ve lost the plot. “I don’t even know who the fuck you are.”
I cross my arms over my chest and straighten. “Adrik Volkov. New CEO of Estrada Holdings Inc.”
Jason pales further. “The cartel,” he mutters under his breath.
“Indeed.”
He shakes his head. “My business is legitimate.”
“Is it, though?” I tap a finger on my chin. “I have details of all the not so legitimate deals you made to get you where you are today. Every single one.”
“How?” he asks.