A male reporter stood up and said, “And what about the person responsible for the kidnapping? Do you have any leads?”
Cotter’s expression hardened as he gripped the podium and leaned forward. “Yes, Caroline had a wealth of information about her location and her kidnapper. Even as I speak, we have men on the ground, moving in to capture the person responsible and bring him home for justice.”
The music came back on, obliterating the rest of the Senator’s words, but Nightshade had heard enough. She tried to focus on the tiny droplets of water forming on her glass as she fought to catch her breath.
It was a trap. They were trying to use her as bait to pull her father out of hiding. If he saw that press conference, she knew exactly what he would think. He’d think they found out her true identity and turned her. And he would come, his thirst for revenge against Tom Cotter overpowering everything else.
She had to figure out a way to get a message to him, to warn him it was a lie before he blew the whole mission. Beforeeveryone would know the truth.
Before Merc would know the truth.
But Nightshade had agreed before the mission that she would go completely black — no tracking devices, no anything that could be used to trace her back to Mankel. After the palace explosion, she had no way to contact her father. Their plan for complete secrecy would be their damnation.
Nightshade swallowed, but for some reason her throat refused to cooperate.
“Hey, drink your champagne. Celine will be fine.” Merc leaned down to whisper in her ear as his fingers teased her thigh.
Nightshade fixated on his hand, knowing that if he'd done that five minutes ago she would have been squirming in her seat with need. But now… now she felt empty, hollow and scared.
“Talk to me. You look like someone just shot your best friend. You want me to have the waitress remove the champagne, just say the word,” Merc whispered in her ear, and she could hear the concern lacing his words.
She had to keep it together for now. As far as everyone at this table knew, she was Caroline Cotter. Her only hope for salvaging the mission would be to locate her teammates and get them out of hiding before Mankel had a chance to fly back to the states and infiltrate Cotter's residence himself.
She plastered on a smile. “It's all right, I don't want it anymore. What are we ordering for dinner?”
She knew by the frown he gave her that he didn’t believe a single word she said. “It's okay if you're upset about this. You've been through a lot. It's better if you talk about it.”
She kept the small smile in place even though it felt like it would crack at any moment. “No really, that was careless of me. I should’ve considered their feelings.”
“I'm so sorry, Caroline,” Celine said. “Please enjoy your champagne. Forget I even said anything.”
Kate broke into the conversation, too. “It’s just a little bubbly.” She punctuated that statement by taking a big gulp of her beer.
The thought of drinking or eating anything right now turned her stomach, but if she didn't take a sip of the champagne, she worried it would turn into an even bigger ordeal and draw even more attention. “If you're sure you don't mind.”
She reached for the glass, determined to put up a good front, and took a sip. Crisp fruity flavor filled her mouth, the bubbles tickled her nose. She glanced down in shock at the delicious drink. Hesitantly, she took another sip and then another, savoring each new burst of flavor.
“I think she likes it,” Merc said with a crooked grin that tugged on her heart.
“I think she likes it, too,” Nightshade said with a huge smile plastered on her face.
Merc chuckled and threaded his fingers through her other hand. “There’s the smile I was missing before. Now, have you ever had buffalo wing sliders before?”
“Nope.” What was a slider?
“What about fried pickles?”
“Yuck, why would you want to fry a pickle?” Feeling distinctly more relaxed, Nightshade tipped up the champagne and finished it off, frowning at her now empty glass.
Merc chuckled again and lifted his hand, ordering her another drink.
“See, I knew you were distinctly lacking in your education. We’re going to have to come back to this place again,” Kate said.
Nightshade took a sip of her second glass before answering, “Definitely.”
The rest of the evening went off without a hitch, passing by through the fuzzy rose-colored glasses of champagne. Nightshade floated home high on Merc's touch, giggling right along with the girls over the stupidest things.
Aaron parked the SUV and they barged into the house. Nightshade stumbled over the threshold and Merc caught her before she hit her knees. “I think someone had too much champagne.”
