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He stares at me, his eyes questioning. "Okay," he whispers, sliding into the car.
I slam the door and jog to the driver's side of the first vehicle. I start the engine and pull a cigarette from my pack, lighting it as I roll down the window. Vlad slides in next to me, his eyes cautious.
"You okay?" he says.
"Not really."
"This was your idea."
"Doesn't mean I like it," I snap, whipping my head around to face him.
"I know. Just try not to lose your shit tonight."
"I'll do my best, as always."
He smiles, as I bring my watch up to my mouth. "We ready to move?"
Dresden and Sammi give the all-clear and we pull into traffic.
†††
The event isn't as crowded as expected considering it's a children's fundraiser, but it's enough to put me on edge. We're three hours in and that bitch feeds Blake cocktails like gas through a rice burner. He's drank three glasses of wine, two mixed drinks, and god knows how many beers. I stopped counting after his fourth.
I'm not sure who I want to hit more, him or her, but it's a good thing Dresden's doing the close contact monitoring. I'm stationed a few feet from the table, against the wall. Dresden is less than a foot away from Blake, his eyes constantly watching him, his date, and surrounding tables.
"We thank you all for your generosity, and we'd now like to open the dance floor for the next few hours, to allow you all time to enjoy yourselves. Again, thank you and have a wonderful night," the Master of Ceremonies says over the microphone.
As he walks off the stage, there’s a chorus of scraping chairs and voices. The band plays an up-beat Top Forty number, and many patrons move to the dance floor. I scan the room, looking for anyone suspicious, but sense nothing out of order. I glance back at Blake in time to see Miranda pulling him from his seat, his hand in hers.
The blood drains out of my face. If I trusted anyone else, I'd sit out of these events all together. I'd be a hypocrite for showing my anger. Dresden moves to the edge of the dance floor, keeping close to Blake and Miranda.
"Viper," Dresden whispers through my earpiece.
"Yeah?"
"She's trying to talk him into finding an empty room."
I take a deep breath, blowing it out, making my cheeks puff. "Well, that’ll be his choice. Can't stop him, but you'll have to stay posted outside the door."
"Are you fucking kidding?"
"Nope."
"So, you expect me to just stand outside while he cheats on you?"
"If that’s what he chooses to do, yes."
"Lily, he's drunk for Christ sake, and she's a gold-digging whore," Dresden snaps in my ear.
"Not my fucking problem," I hiss. "Maybe he should’ve stopped drinking five beers ago."
I try to look anywhere but at Blake through the next three songs. Miranda is really putting the moves on him, and from what I can tell, he's enjoying it, which means I'm about one more song away from going out there and kicking her in the face. I stare at the entrance, scanning the neck of each person walking in, eager to see a glimpse of a blue tattoo.
"Lily, we got two Taurus on the floor, moving toward Mason. One of them is Khoui," Dresden says in my ear.
I whip my head in that direction, locking eyes on Khoui. His eyes are on Blake, and I push through a crowd of people. Blake and Miranda stop dancing and turn toward them. Dresden steps up beside Miranda, his hands loose at his side.
"Hello, Mr. Mason, nice to see you again," Khoui says.