Page 19 of Sweet Nightmares (Wicked Mirrors #2)

“Oh, did I interrupt something?” Emrys asked in a far-too-satisfied tone. The dick. “I see you had a fun night and morning, Francois, but I have business to discuss.”

“Get out.” Francois’s tone was harsh, and at first, Jane thought he was talking to Emrys, but then the girl almost whimpered, and it was clear that Francois was throwing her out like trash. “There is some money on the table.”

“I am not a courtesan.”

“Perhaps you should be. You’re very talented with your—” A crashing noise and glass smashing shook the wall behind Jane’s head.

Emrys let out a deep chuckle. “Oh, this is very entertaining.”

“Fuck you.”

Another smash and a bunch of clumsy sounds floated out into the hallway, as if someone was hurrying to get dressed.

“Get out and don’t come back.” Francois’s voice was dark and dripping with fury.

The girl scoffed. “Francois Jules Visage. Mark my words, I will break you.” Then the girl—a brunette in her early twenties—marched out of the room, holding a sheet to cover her breasts, her head held high but tears lacing her eyes.

Jane had to stifle a gasp when she saw her face.

It was Giselle Reyes-Vega, a close friend of Jane and her sister.

She must not have been successful at covering up the gasp because Giselle looked in her direction but blinked a couple of times in confusion when she didn’t find a source for the noise.

Jane had done it. She was invisible.

Before returning to solid form, Jane cracked her neck and shook out her arms. As she reappeared, Giselle squealed but immediately slapped a hand over her mouth. She clearly didn’t want the gentlemen in the next room to know she was still out there.

“You’re Mirror-Blessed?” Giselle breathed.

No . But Jane said, “Yes.”

“Invisible, huh?”

Jane nodded. “Are you okay, G?”

Giselle’s throat bobbed. “Yes, of course.” The words were a show, and neither girl believed it, but they still pretended all the same.

The candles flickered in the cave hallway. They clearly didn’t believe her either. It was then that Jane’s gaze caught the red on the sheet. Giselle had been a virgin, and she’d given her first time to a man who didn’t deserve it. Jane knew what that felt like.

Giselle followed Jane’s gaze, and when she saw the blood, she let out a sob.

Giselle was the emotional one. Her feelings were like waves crashing on a sandy beach.

They were always there, always coming, but usually stable—even when large.

But sometimes, the waves grew and crashed into more than just the sand.

Sometimes, they destroyed everything in their path.

One of those waves was coming, and Jane knew she had to comfort her friend. So she gave her a big, warm hug.

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Jane said into Giselle’s hair. A sob shook the brunette’s body, but she still tried to make no sounds.

Giselle hiccupped and said, “I am going to destroy him.”

“I would prefer that you not.” Jane squeezed tighter. “He is my boss. Albeit a dick.”

“You work for him? Why?” Giselle asked.

“It’s too long a story for right now.”

Giselle nodded into her friend’s chest. “Yeah, now might not be the best time for stories.”

Jane laughed. “Probably not.”

Clapping sounded within Francois’s room, and both girls’ attention drew back to the doorway, and they stepped apart.

“Well, that might be some of the best entertainment I’ve had all week, and that’s saying a lot because I dropped by the morgue to torture the little redhead ballerina again.”

Jane gritted her teeth. She was going to kill him.

“If you wanted to torture a redheaded ballerina, we do have one on staff.”

“Yes, but Jane is so… serious.”

“Your little ballerina never smiles and always scowls at you.”

“Isn’t it great?”

“So when are you going to fuck her?”

Jane flashed Giselle a, Sorry, I have to handle this look before stepping through the doorway and saying, “Touch her, and I will kill you.”

“I would enjoy watching you try.”

Emrys stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against one of the four-poster banisters, his body pointing at Francois, who was sitting at the table next to his bed where he typically took his breakfast and did his morning job tasks.

As his room was in the Russet, the walls and ceilings were still formed from rock crystals.

“Ah, Jane, just the person I wanted to see,” Francois said. “I believe there is a fiery brunette storming through the casino at the moment. Will you handle that?”

Jane’s eyes flew to the ceiling. Men. Always so dramatic. “There is no need.”

“So you have already handled it?”

“I don’t need to. She is not going to break anything at your casino.” Jane rubbed her face, exasperated. “If I know her well—and I do—she will go home and plan a long and torturous way of getting her revenge on you, which you will deserve. A virgin, Francois? You’re better than that.”

Francois sat back in the chair next to his bed. “And how do you know all that?”

“She’s my sister’s best friend. The sister”—she glared at Emrys—“who you are going to stay away from.”

Emrys’s eyebrows wiggled, and he flashed a taunting smile. “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. I do love to fuck…”

“He has no qualms about deflowering virgins, either.” Francois tapped his fingers on his table.

“That’s the difference between him and me.

I don’t fuck virgins—save the mistake that just walked out of my room—and I don’t sleep with a new person every night.

She was the first one I’ve been with in nine months. ”

“If you’re superior to me, then why toss her out? Half naked, I might add.”

Francois dragged his finger along the wooden edge of his table. “Because while she was fascinating, she was also the most tempting piece I’ve had in a long time. She’s a distraction and not worthy of my time. She’s not…”

Emrys crossed his arms across his chest. “For often being the smartest man in the room, you can be very obtuse.”

“You’re saying I’m smarter than you?”

Emrys let out a deep chuckle. “On many occasions, yes. Today, you were not. You were cruel.”

“No more than you are or anyone else here. I am a businessman. I run nine immensely successful enterprises. Some legal, some illegal, I don’t have time to deal with the emotions of a girl I fucked, no matter how good it was.”

“Seems wasteful.” Emrys shook his head. “If she’s a good fuck, you should have kept her around for a while. But you wouldn’t do that because then you might grow attached.”

“I’ve only been attached to two people in my life.” Francois’s voice darkened. “One’s in prison, and the other one is dead. I have no interest in attachments now.”

“Your loss.”

Jane stepped into the room closer. “If you two are done. I have some business to address.”

Francois pitched his chin down slightly and motioned for her to go on. So Jane gave her fully practiced speech, going over all three issues she needed to address.

Francois moved quickly on her information, particularly about the traitor in their organization.

An hour later, Jane stood next to him in the deepest parts of the Casino, beneath the water pools and gorgeous sights—in the pits of despair—as he tortured his underling, who was tied to a chair, into a full confession.

The whole time, Jane stood stoically by her boss’s side, even handing him tools when he needed them.

It only took ten minutes for him to start saying everything. Apparently, he preferred keeping his fingernails and teeth on his body.

“Jane, shoot him in the head.” Francois removed his gun from its holster and held it out to her.

Jane swallowed and stared first at her boss and then at the gun dangling from his hand. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Without any more hesitation, she grasped the gun from Francois, cocked it, pointed at the man’s head, and pulled the trigger. He should have known better. Everyone knew stealing from a gang was punishable by death.

“Good.” Francois dipped his chin in approval. “You will take over the Black Market.” With that, Francois turned on his heel and walked out. Not cleaning up his mess or saying another word.

Jane gulped and looked at her murder victim, but dread didn’t slide over her body. She didn’t feel anything. But goosebumps rose on her flesh. Not because she was a killer, but because the honor that Francois had just bestowed on her was massive.

It was a symbol of his deepening trust for her. It would also piss off Harlowe Merriwether, which was why bile climbed up her throat.

Harlowe was a vicious monster. But maybe Jane might become one just as frightening.