Page 39 of Alchemy of Secrets
For a moment it felt like a flashbulb second. Time stopped. Entirely. The bar looked like a still photograph. The background was a blur of grays and whites. Holland could see figures but not faces, except for Adam Bishop’s.
He was fallen-angel beautiful with his golden hair and devilish smirk.
He was also drunk and cavalier. Adam was not the calculated villain Holland had always pictured, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a villain.
In the book of Revelation, the devil was referred to as the great deceiver.
What if Adam had deceived everyone—January, the Bank, Holland?
“You’re looking at me as if I’ve done something wrong,” he murmured.
“I just really hate Shirley Temples,” Holland said, because suddenly she didn’t know what to say. Should she ask if he was the devil? Would he tell her the truth? What then if he admitted it?
“The Shirley Temple was supposed to be a joke.” A sheepish smile played across Adam’s lips, and for a second, he looked so innocent. He looked like the sort of boy next door who would sneak in through your window and steal a few kisses, not make a deal for your soul.
“Good evening, folks,” cried the singer on the stage. “Before I get into my next song, I just want to remind you all about tonight’s special. Bartender Bernard is visiting from one of our sister hotels in Charles ton, where he’s famous for making the perfect sidecar. I hope you all enjoy!”
The music started up again and Holland breathed a sigh of relief. “You ordered the sidecar because it was the special?”
A half smirk. “And it has a great name.”
“Have you ordered one before?”
Adam narrowed his hazy eyes. “Why all the questions?”
“No reason.” She started to pull away. Even if Adam wasn’t the devil, she couldn’t stay here with him. She needed to get somewhere safe to study her father’s screenplay pages. “I should let you get back to your—”
She caught a sudden flash of red out of the corner of her eye. Men wearing red ties, four of them, had entered the bar. The rest of their suits were still black and white, but somehow their ties were brilliant red.
The air in the bar immediately shifted.
The music on the stage stuttered.
The chatter of voices hushed.
The singer accidentally sang the wrong line of lyrics.
Adam was the only person in the room who didn’t seem to care. He pulled Holland back into a dance, giving her no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck, and when he spoke again his voice was almost playful. “I need you to tell me, did you somehow sneak in here without a key?”
“No—I have a key.”
“How did you get it?”
“It’s January’s.”
His eyes narrowed by a fraction. “Did she give it to you?”
“No, I found it.”
Adam gave her a look that made Holland think she’d given him the wrong answer, but there wasn’t time to explain. The red ties were at the edge of the dance floor now. People quickly scurried out of their way. Holland felt like she needed to run.
“Stay with me.” Adam held her a little closer. “If you don’t, those thugs will escort you from the Regal and prohibit you from ever returning.”
“And you think you can stop them?”
Adam scoffed, offended. Then he turned to the red ties and flashed the most confident smile Holland had ever seen.
The red ties stopped moving.
“Good evening, Mr. Bishop,” said the broadest red tie in the group. He was at least twice as wide as Adam, yet Holland swore there was a distinct tremor in his voice. The three others flanking him didn’t say a word, just stood there, rigid.
Adam made a vaguely annoyed sigh. “Did you need something?” He let the hand on the small of Holland’s back dip lower and lower.
A blush crept up her cheeks.
“Please forgive the intrusion,” said the red tie who’d spoken before. “Unfortunately, the young woman you’re dancing with is not a key holder or a registered guest.”
“Then put her on my guest list,” Adam said lazily.
“But—” one of the other red ties piped up.
“You heard what he said,” the first red tie cut in. “Forgive us once again for the intrusion, sir. Can I have some complimentary drinks sent to your table?”
Adam ordered two drinks, which weren’t sidecars or Shirley Temples. Then he waved a dismissive hand, and the red ties left as quickly as they’d come.
On the stage, the music returned to its regular tempo. Everyone was back to dancing and chattering, as if nothing had happened. But Holland felt shaken. She unwrapped her arms from Adam’s neck. “Thank you for your help. But I think I can manage on my own from here.”
Adam grabbed her hand and reeled her back before she could step away. “I don’t think you understand how this works. You’re my guest, which means if you want to stay in this hotel, you need to stay with me for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Why twenty-four hours?”
“It’s hotel policy. Official key holders can stay as long as they want, but guests are only allowed to stay twenty-four Regal hours.
So, until then, I say either we get drunk at this bar, or”—Adam looked her straight in the eye, and every hint of charm and carelessness vanished—“you tell me what happened after I got shot and why you look as if you’re running for your life right now. ”
Holland froze. She was tempted to tell him something along the lines of what she’d said to Eileen. She’d only met Adam yesterday; trusting him didn’t make any sense. But her sister trusted him. Her sister had sent him.
Holland had a lot of questions about a lot of things, but she knew all the way down to her bones that her sister loved her. Whatever secrets she’d been keeping, it was for a good reason, and if she’d sent Adam Bishop to keep Holland safe, that was for a good reason, too.
“I’ll tell you what happened,” Holland said. “But I don’t think we should talk here.”