“Anything else?”
“Maybe a sleeve for her to travel with.”
Coco looks at me in confusion. “A sleeve?”
“It’s like a little purse for your computer.” The saleswoman saves me. “Let’s go over to the other wall and pick one out.”
Coco and the woman scurry away, and I weave my way toward them just as Coco zooms in on a hot pink sleeve and snags it off the wall. “This one.”
“We’ll take it.” I reach in my suit jacket and pull out my business credit card before handing it to the saleswoman.
She stares down at it for a moment, reading over the details. “I’ll get it wrapped up for you Mr. Ash.”
After she walks away, Coco elbows me in the ribs. “You know your fake name is kind of dumb, right?”
“Shush it, kid.”
“I mean, Phoenix Ash? Come on. It can’t possibly be real. Even I know that.”
“Why don’t you go sign the receipt and get your computer so we can hit Saks.”
She smiles widely. “I’m going to be a kickass Ginger,” she says, referencing the character Stone plays inCasino,but she doesn’t realize she’s closer to the Ginger fromGilligan’s Island. There isn’t a badass bone in Coco’s body.
An hour later, I’m standing outside the dressing room in the women’s department in Saks, waiting for Coco to try on her third outfit out of about twenty, when someone in the distance catches my eye. Maybe it’s the glint from her lips when she speaks or the sound of her laugh across the room, but I know I know her.
“What do you think of this one?” Coco asks as she steps out of the fitting room dressed in a gold and white dress that’s similar to the one worn in Casino—only shorter and with a faux fur wrap.
I resist the urge to run up to her and cover her breasts that are halfway exposed by the deep, plunging neckline. “It’s nice, but a little over-the-top.”
She spins in a circle and pulls the fur tighter around her shoulders. “I feel so badass in this, Nix. I want it.”
“Fine. Fine. You’re an adult, Coco. Get what you want.”
She runs up to me, squealing like a little kid. “Anything?”
“Anything.” I smile and glance over my shoulder, spotting the familiar face again. “I’m going to head over to the men’s department. You okay over here?”
“You don’t want to see what I’m buying?”
I shake my head. “Get anything you want and put it on my card.”
“You’re the best.” She stands on her tiptoes, and I lean over, letting her kiss my cheek before she strides back into the dressing room with her head held high.
I’ve created a monster. I know I have. Since the day I brought her home, I spoiled her and indulged her every whim. The kid had been so deprived of everything that I overdid it and took everything to the extreme.
Standing behind a pillar, I watch the familiar woman. She’s browsing through a rack of cocktail dresses, oblivious to my presence. It’s her mouth that draws me in. That fucking mouth piercing keeps flashing in the lights like the beacon from a lighthouse.
When she tugs on it with her tongue and there’s a twinkle, it hits me where I know her from—Hassan’s arm piece but without the bright blue, chin-length hair. She’s more beautiful with the long, pin-straight black hair that sways each time she moves a new dress aside than with the electric-blue wig. Her eyes drift to where I’m standing, and I step to the side, shielding myself from her view with the pillar.
I’m not ready for her to see me. Staying hidden until I know she’s alone is more important than my need to speak with her. Reaching into my pocket, I grab my phone and open the camera. I need to get a photo of Eva and figure out who she is before I expose myself to a possible threat. Hassan follows his dick, but I tend to use my brain. But that doesn’t mean I won’t toy with her a little.
I weave through the racks of clothes and step behind her as she’s standing in front of a mirror holding a hanger with a sleek black dress pressed against her body. Her eyes catch mine in the mirror and widen in recognition. “Eva,” I say with a slight smile to her reflection in the mirror.
Her hand with the dress drops, and she spins around on her heel to face me. She smiles nervously and sucks that fucking ring into her mouth.
7
Kennedy
