“You want me to send backup?” Gray asks.
“No. I’ll handle it. Keep eyes on him, let me know if he leaves the area.”
“Will do.”
I quickly walk to the stairs that descend into the aquarium. The sound of my heels is drowned out by the number of people talking and laughing around me.
When I reach the bottom, the crowd disperses, and all that’s left are small groups scattered around the exhibit. Many of them socialize around a temporary bar set up in the middle.
Walking to the tank of sea anemones to the left of the bar, I pretend to study them as my eyes travel around in search of the familiar face.
My heels click along the floor, audible now. I make my steps slow and purposeful as I round the corner into another section of the aquarium. The deep-sea exhibit. There is almost zero light.
I know he’s here before his snakelike voice sounds over my shoulder. “I know who you are, Miss Riley. The question is, does Owen?”
Turning slowly, I find Peyton Radd standing close. Too close. He presses a blade lightly into my side.
“Does he know whoyouare, Mr. Radd?”
Payton laughs, but it’s humorless. “That’s not my real name.”
“Nor is Miss Riley my real name, but you already knew that. Why don’t you get to the point?”
Peyton laughs again, and the sound grates against my nerves. I’ve encountered many men like him. Too many. But the visceral reaction I still have to them never ceases to amaze me. My brain wants me to run, but my body wants me to fight. It wants me to eliminate every single one of them.
“He thinks he knows who I am,” Peyton says. “Just as you think you know who I am.”
“So he didn’t hire you?”
“I didn’t say that.” He pauses for a second, changing the subject. “I’ve been keeping an eye on him for a long time, Miss Riley. I know more about his life than anyone actually in it. I know what makes him angry, what makes him happy, and what he desires.” Peyton leans in and licks up the side of my ear.
It takes all of me not to kill him. I clench my fists and grit my teeth. “You speak in riddles. Who hired you?”
Peyton pulls away, but only slightly, and laughs again. “One favor for another, Miss Riley. You know how this works.”
“What do you want?”
“You see, I know far more than you probably do. So I’m not sure what you can offer me.”
“How about I don’t kill your ass or put you in jail?”
“You amuse me, thinking you have any power in this situation. You are sorely outmatched, and you have a little rat in your midst.”
That information should surprise me, but somehow it doesn’t. My gut has been telling me something isn’t right for a while. This only confirms what I feared.
“What do you want?” I ask again, this time ready to put him on his ass regardless of the people and the charity event going on around us.
“Five minutes alone with Mr. Mills.”
“So you aren’t working for him, then?”
“Once again, I didn’t say that. I only asked for a meeting with him. Alone. Tonight.”
“And you think I have the power to give that to you?”
“You may be the only person in this building who holds any sort of power over Owen Mills.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I hiss.
