Page 127 of Retribution

'You will be on the dance floor,' Sauvage says to Blake finally. 'Go straight that way. It is easy to find. Try to blend in.'

To me, he gives his arm. ‘Come, chéri. We find you a tray with a drink to put your Aqua Tofana in.’

I go with Sauvage. My heart is hammering hard in my chest. Perhaps I should care that I'm about to kill a man but, I reason, I already spent ten years thinking I had, and then I shot that other guy to save Blake, so it’s not my time.

The Frenchman takes me to a bank of elevators and we go up. The club music is much louder now. When the doors open, I’m momentarily blinded by the dazzling strobe lights, but when I see past them, I find a sprawling space of the packed club. I’m urged across it, and when we finally get to the other side, Sauvage leads me toward a back stairway. A sign on the wall points upward and says ‘VIP’ on it.

We reach the next floor. Ahead of me is a high rail that looks out over the huge dance floor. It follows the perimeter of the main room all the way around with private rooms on either side and then seating areas and bars on the ends.

A waitress with pin curls sidles past us with a deferential nod to Sauvage and a round, black tray in her hands. There’s a single glass tumbler on it with what looks like a scotch on the rocks.

Sauvage takes the tray from her and sends her on her way without a word. She doesn't even bat an eye. He hands me the tray, and after retreating back into the stairwell for a moment, I reach down into my bra. I draw out one pill and put it into the drink. It fizzes a little but quickly disappears.

'You are a femme fatale,' Sauvage says with a grin. 'I shall let you do the rest, my petite assassin. Go. I'll be in my office.' He taps his ear. ‘Listening.’

I must show my surprise that he’s just leaving me to it, because he smirks.

'You think I would take this occasion from you? No, chéri, this is your time. Your salvation.'

He turns away, going back downstairs.

'Can you hear me?' I ask into the earpiece, hoping my voice doesn’t shake.

'Loud and clear, gorgeous,' I hear Blake say above the din.

I glance over the balcony.

'I can see you. I'm by the speakers.'

I look down and locate Blake, dancing with a drink in his hand.

'I'm on your level to your left,' Shade says, and I glance behind to the left to find him sitting in a chair close to the bar that overlooks the entire club.

I peer out over the dance floor.

'Is our club going to look as good as this?' I ask with a grin.

I can almost see Shade's narrow-eyed gaze.

'If you want it to, Tulip,' Mav says. 'I'm in place. I can see the asshole. He's in the third room behind the curtain—looks like he's waiting for someone.'

'That Terry guy who showed me up said he's waiting for some escort he lined up, but they've already turned her away,’ Shade murmurs over the feed. ‘No one will interrupt.’

I let out a breath and turn toward the rooms on my right. They’re separated from the rest of the club by thick drapes over the entrances. The first one is open, but the second, where Mav is hiding, and the third are closed.

I walk toward the third room, but just as I get there, Joe’s bodyguard, Jacob—the man who held me down the day of the Stinger, but actually didn’t do much else, so he’s not high on my revenge list—comes into view. His face is bruised, and he has a white bandage on the bridge of his nose. I wonder if Joe punished him for losing me as well. If so, he’s lucky to be alive. I wonder if he knows it.

I try to stay nonchalant, hoping he doesn’t realize it’s mein the low light and, I think I’ve gotten away with it, when he stares right past me at first.

I go to the thick velvet drape of the third room with my tray and, as I do, my eyes flick to him. He’s staring at me now. He realizes who I am.

He glances at the entrance to the room, and then at me again. He’s going to sound the alarm.

But, then, miraculously, he looks the other way and takes two steps down the walkway as if intently staring at some other potential threat. He’s letting me do this.

I let out a breath and remove him from my revenge list completely, trying to still my humming heart, my shaking hands.

Don’t want to drop the tray and wreck my chance!