Elias was a bit soft for Aya’s typical tastes. And while she’d found herself exhausted next to his sweaty body twice in the last week alone, their time was coming to an end. Elias would make a decent match for someone who truly wanted one.
Besides, she could only imagine his shock at the number of blades she had strapped beneath her leather pants and tight cream sweater tonight.
Stifling a laugh, she turned to tell Tova she’d rather spend the night watching her wreak havoc with her dancing when a gravelly voice cut in.
‘Aya. A moment?’
Mathias Denier stood at her elbow, dressed as finely as any merchant or nobleman. His black jacket hugged his tall, leanform, the silver threads matching his cropped hair. The crime lord was strikingly handsome, and he wore it as a mask the same way Aya had learned to wield clothes as weapons – all to hide the monster that lurked beneath.
His pale, angular face was clean-shaven and stoic as he bowed once. ‘I hate to interrupt, but it’s urgent.’
Aya glanced around the square. It wasn’t the first time she’d been approached by the king of Dunmeaden’s underbelly. She knew better than to have this conversation here. ‘Of course. Somewhere more private?’
He nodded, turning on his heel to lead the way.
‘What happened to a night ofnotworking?’ Tova grumbled. Aya just shook her head.
‘I’ll be back in five minutes. Besides, what are you still doing here? Danté’s been eyeing you since we arrived. Spare him his yearning and go dance with him.’
It was true. His eyes had found Tova immediately, and it was no wonder why. Tova looked resplendent in a red dress that hugged her lean, muscled figure. Her hair was pinned to one side, showing off the long column of her neck. And Danté, in a tailored red jacket embroidered with his merchant house’s sigil and a crisp white shirt that was unbuttoned just enough to show the dark skin of his chest, looked every bit the perfect gentleman to court her. He ran a nervous hand through the thick waves of his black hair as he eyed her again before pretending to seek interest in the conversation.
‘Who can blame him? I look fantastic.’
‘You do. Now go. I’ll be back soon. And after this, I promise I’ll enjoy an evening of debauchery.’ It was an empty promise – they both knew it. Aya had never been the vibrant one. But Tova nodded anyway, giving her a small wave as she made her way across the square.
Aya followed Mathias down the alley she’d seen him disappear into. She felt eyes on her, but when she looked over her shoulder, Tova’s gaze was planted solely on Danté, who was leading her into the center of the square for the next dance. Aya scanned the area again, her attention snagging on Will.
With his raven-colored hair, his fitted black jacket and his black pants, he looked sculpted from night itself. He leaned against the stone face of a shop, shifting forward to hear a pretty redhead as she spoke over the music. He must have just arrived. She’d noticed he hadn’t deigned to attend the priestess’s ceremony. Typical of him to only care about the frivolity afterward.
His head tilted back as he laughed at something the woman said. Aya wondered if, like those intense spikes of pain he couldn’t shield against, he could feel the woman’s desire.
Aya could see it from here.
She shook off the thought and ducked into the alley.
Mathias waited in a small alcove, his tall frame partly hidden in shadows. ‘Make it fast, Mathias,’ Aya sighed. He bristled at the command, his jaw tightening as he stared down at her. At forty, Mathias was nineteen years older than her, and he wielded that age difference like a knife.
‘Ronan is dead.’
Her blade was in her hand before she could think, her body slamming his into the brick wall as she set the knife against his throat.
‘What did you do?’
Mathias held up his hands, his palms facing her in a gesture of innocence.
‘Nothing, my dear. I merely meant to inform you so there isn’t any, ah, confusion about who is responsible. I can assure you my men had no hand in it.’
‘Bullshit.’
Blood beaded on the knife.
‘I swear it before the gods. Narina found him in his hotel room this afternoon. She had a standing appointment with him. It appears he was stabbed and died days ago. He checked in over a week back under a false name. She left him for your inspection.’
It explained why Ronan hadn’t been at his post at the Squal.
Mathias gripped her knife arm lightly, and she allowed him to pull it away from his neck.
‘As you know, we don’t leave such traces.’
