“Of course not.” A steady beat filled my ears. At first, I thought it was the sound of my heart, but then, a languid, high-pitched voice mingled with the thumping, and I realized it wasmusic.
“Just checking. Don’t want to get in trouble with the boss. Should’ve checked sooner but I was . . .distracted.”
I slid the palm that wasn’t still wrapped around my cell phone over my skirt to rid my skin of itsclamminess.
“You have a slight accent.American?”
Did I? “Yes.”
He led the way toward yet another door. “Where inAmerica?”
As I walked alongside him, I caught movement in my peripheral vision. A man dressed in a black suit detached himself from the shadows and threw a bladed glare our way. Tristan nodded to him, and the man ducked back into obscurity. Another black-clad figure prowled the opposite wall. I was suddenly incredibly thankful for my chance meeting. I wasn’t sure how I would’ve gone about entering Jarod’s domain if it weren’t for the man besideme.
“New York,” I finallysaid.
He knocked twice on a nondescript door. “And how old areyou?”
“Oldenough.”
His lipsquirked.
What had prompted me to answerthat? Nerves. I wasnervous.
A man clad in a bespoke suit filled the door frame. “Back so soon,Tristan?”
“Do I ever truly leave?” my escort answered good-naturedly.
“Unfortunatelynot.”
Tristanchuckled.
“Who’s the girl?” the big manasked.
“A friend,” Tristan said slowly. “A friend who’d like an audience with theboss.”
The man studied me a long moment before stepping back to let me through. He nodded to my bag, which I opened to prove no weapon was stashedinside.
He grunted. “Elle est mignonne, celle-là.”She’s cute, thisone.
My spine tingled from the derogatory comment. “Celle-là parle le Français.”This one speaks French,I shotback.
The man’s lips flattened. “Your bag. It stays here. As well as your phone. Muriel!” he calledout.
A woman sporting a fitted, knee-length dress and auburn hair coiled in a sleek twist parted a set of heavycurtains.
The guard nodded to my outfit. “Tu t’occupes d’elle?”Can you get herready?
Muriel’s heavily made-up eyes glinted in the dim lighting of the vestibule as she looked me up anddown.
“See why you didn’t have to worry about your outfit?” Tristan whispered into my ear, making goose bumps spring across mycollarbone.
I almost took offrunning.
Almost.
Asherceleste.
I stashed my phone inside my bag before handing it over to the burlyguard.
