“I can see if my friend can get us a booking somewhere,” Donovan said. “Jinksy?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he said, coming through my comms. “Does she want somewhere dark and discreet and out and open?”
Relying the question put a big smile on Maya’s face, to which she responded. “I want to be seen,” she said. “I need people to know I’m back in town, and I want the Ashford’s to be scared. Since I have the two of you, and all.”
A nervous tickle broke out in my throat. I didn’t know how much I liked the sound of that. To be provoking the family she was actively coming for—and one of the richest in the country. I went from excited about an expensive lunch to nervous I’d need to jump in front of a gun for her—or, in my mind I’d jump, then Donovan would jump in front of me.
We headed back out of the store with Maya leaving a thick envelope of what I knew to look like cash did. Donovan was already outside, checking to make sure we were clear to leave. And I’d stared at Maya a little too long. “It’s for Laurisa,” she said. “I can’t actually give it to her directly because it’s considered a bribe, and with you two as witnesses, but I can give it to someone else who can pass thisblessingalong.”
I nodded. “I wasn’t trying to pry.”
“Your face said otherwise,” she chuckled
“No, no, don’t listen to my face,” I laughed. “Did you give anything to Thanh?”
She nodded. “Yes, I’m just trying to help. I grew up relatively poor, and I always hated it when people said,money won’t buy you happiness, but I always found it brought mepeace of mind, and if that’s not happiness, I don’t know what is.” As she said it, I was already sucked in to everything else she had to say—it was also one of my beliefs.
Before I could say anything, Donovan beeped the car horn, and Jinksy came back with a restaurant. Physically jumping, she laughed. I had to be on guard all the time, and that meant being skittish on loud noises.
“Aurora & Ash,” I said to Maya as I guided her to the car.
“Oh, I love them. Owned by the Harrison group,” she said, climbing into the back of the car. “Rich, pretentious, exactly the right type of vibe and people I want to be seen by.”
“Good,” I said, closing the door and getting into the passenger side. I also hoped they had good food alongside it all—I didn’t want to be eating some type of foam on a cracker shit. No thanks.
16. DONOVAN
Aurora & Ash was one of Sanctum’s favorite places to take guests, I knew this because Mercy and her wife had taken a select few of us there on occasion. It was owned by some billionaire company as a hidden wonder of the city, the type of place paparazzi weren’t around, and you had at least ten escape routes at any one time.
I wished I’d been here as a customer instead, I bet I could’ve caught myself a whale of a client to work for. I complained about grunt shit like protection detail when it was for someone I knew was being funded—I’d heard a lot about Maya’s story, so I knew she wasn’t a trust fund brat, but maybe it was Artemis’s energy mixing in with her—the real bad influence.
Having lunch among all these affluent people was almost sending threat signals out. Maya sat and ordered pasta and a very expensive wine. Guards likeuswere supposed to blend in, and right now, we were sitting at the table, refusing glasses of wine. Almost everyone around us had a protection detail to them, standing out of view beside one of the Grecian statues dotted around the outer rim where the central light didn’t hit, but spotlights cast deep orange glows on all the focal pieces around the room—making it easier for someone like me to hide within the shadows even to someone staring right at me.
“We’re fine, here, right?” Artemis asked.
“As long as you don’t touch a drop of alcohol, we’ll be fine,” I told him. Although the real answer was that we couldn’t trust a single soul here—outside of Sanctum—purely from a no weapons perspective. You could never trust anyone more than yourself. “I want you to scan the room, without making it obvious, and count how many hidden people there are.”
“Hidden people?” he grumbled, leaning in.
“You know what,” Maya said with a giggle. We were probably the loudest table. “I think since we’ve got an open tab, we all get something extravagant. I’m thinking fajitas, they bring it out on a hot stone that keeps it warm and justsizzling.”
I nodded and smiled, I had to get control—but I saw her plan. “Good idea.” Trying to bait the Ashford family out in public. Her file was interesting, this wasn’t the first time she’d done something to get their attention, she’d vandalized many of their vehicles—she was never officially caught or charged for it.
“People are so quiet in here,” Artemis said.
Maya laughed. “What do you say we get some attention?”
I stood, knowing I was a looming force. “Let’s not do that here,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” Jinksy came through my comms. “I should’ve checked out who else was there. I’ve got their book open. Sienna Ashford has their private business suite booked.”
“Did you know?” I asked her.
She shrugged, grabbing her glass of wine. “Did I know what?” Her voice louder, people were staring. And I thought Artemis was bad—he’d never been this bad when it meant something. He even looked up at me, his big eyes as if he was in disbelief over what was going on. Maya had to have known.
“There’s—” I began quietly, sitting down. “Sienna is upstairs in their business suite.”
Sinking back the glass of wine, she planted it on the table. “Ugh, I don’t want to deal with that,” she said. “Should we get food to go?”
