Page 107 of Brushed By Moonlight

When she ran her hand over his chest in an easy, intimate gesture, my heart stopped. This wasn’t her first time touching Marius. She knew him. Intimately.

Bile rose in my throat.

“Who’s that?” I asked Henrik

He turned to look with the same dull,what do I careexpression, then blanched.

“Celeste.” His tone dropped dangerously.

“And she knows Marius?”

He snorted. “Oh, she knows him, all right.”

Then it hit me. Celeste — Marius’s ex.

“Will she cause trouble?” I asked, though I already knew.

“That woman is nothing but trouble,” Henrik sniffed.

At last — something we agreed on.

Over by the far wall, Roux looked equally shaken.

“Does she know you? All of you, I mean?” I asked.

Henrik grimaced. “Yes. She works for Gordon too.”

I grimaced. “What crime did she commit?”

Henrik scowled. “She doesn’t have to work for Gordon. She chooses to.”

My gut roiled. It was bad enough to discover that Gordon dealt with arms dealers, vampires with ambiguous morals, and other criminals. But somehow, Celeste made it even worse. I didn’t know much about her, but one thing was clear. Thewoman was a crocodile creeping through murky waters, waiting to prey on unsuspecting souls.

“Come along, come along,” Dobrov called.

Henrik shot a last look at Celeste, then tugged me along.

“Come along, darling.”

Conspiracy theories flashed through my mind. What if Henrik was in cahoots with Celeste? What if they were plotting some kind of double-cross?

Marius looked more thunderous than ever, and his eyes telegraphed urgent messages.Stop. Don’t. Danger!

Two burly security types stepped into the hallway, blocking my view of him.

Henrik shot me an icy look that echoed what he’d said before.Not the time for second thoughts.

I sucked in a breath, though my throat was dry and tight.

For Dad,I reminded myself, following Dobrov, Henrik, and the others into the library.

The moment I stepped inside, guards thumped the heavy oak doors shut behind me.

Chapter Twenty-Three

MARIUS

Watching Mina with Henrik was torture, especially with that bastard playing up every touch and gesture.