Page 5

“OPEN UP!” a voice yelled. Then, after a second-long pause: “OPEN IT NOW!”

The stranger was in action again, his movements impossibly fast. He threw back a curtain, revealing another door. A secondary entrance... or exit, as the case may be.

Why didn’t I think of —

In a flash, he ducked through. He disappeared for a moment, leaving me alone, then popped back in with an exasperated expression and extended a hand.

“Here…”

I shrank away. I didn’t even know him! I had no clue who he was.

Then again…

“BACK AWAY!” I heard a voice in the hallway shout. “GET AWAY FROM THE—”

CRACK!

A shot rang out, loud and unmistakable. It was followed by another, and the sound of the door, rattling in its frame.

All of a sudden my decision became a lot easier.

“Now!”

Instinct took over, and I grabbed the stranger-who-I’d-just-fucked’s hand. We fled through another room, flying past stone walls and high vaulted ceilings. We ran over Byzantine mosaics. Around statues of Medusa, resting on polished marble pedestals.

Two archways later we burst into a secondary hallway, forming a T-shaped junction. The corridor was filled with light and warmth, the party below us. Left and right, the air was alive with the sounds of distant laughter.

Then our hands slipped apart…

And we both took off in opposite directions.

Three

ANDREA

I made three more turns before I knew where I was. I must’ve looked like a madwoman, sprinting in high heels. Flying full speed into a whole crowd of guests, who for some reason were milling around at the top of the main staircase.

I forced myself calm. My legs shook as I descended, step by step, peering over my shoulder the whole time. I grabbed a flute of champagne from the first passing server, being sure to turn my face well away as I muttered a ‘thank you’.

After all, it wouldn’t do to be recognized by one of my own co-workers.

It had taken me two months to get the job. Another three of living out the part, and actually working with the high-level catering company. That amounted to twelve solid weeks of serving and smiling and cleaning up afterward. Of dodging pinches and grabs from the richest old men in south-central Europe, while enduring the inevitable scathing looks from their wives.

Half a year wasted here already…

Hell, I wasn’t even guaranteed to get the assignment. And there was always the chance Kyrkos wouldn’t be attending the event here. There were so many variables. So many planets had to align…

Yet it had happened, all of it. Every gamble, every longshot. Xander Kyrkos had come to the gala, and I’d positioned myself to nail him once and for all. Everything had finally, at long last, paid off.

Except now I’d just blown it.

You didn’t blow anything, the voice in my head reminded me. Somehow he just got spooked, that’s all.

I was still going over everything in my mind. As far as I knew, I’d done everything right. Secretly I’d ditched my uniform, wriggling into the most stunning red dress imaginable. I’d used it to blend in with the party at first. Then, when I was comfortable, to meet and flirt with exactly the right henchmen.

The night wore on, and I was eventually noticed. I was taken to a small bar, set off to one side. Seated among a handful of other pretty girls, each of them awaiting the same thing I was.

As far as I knew, they were all still there.