She didn’t move as he halted a few paces away, though she let her gaze flick to his face. The collar of his jacket was turned up to hide his tattoo, and his hair was slightly mussed. His expression was cold and impassive, though the corners of his mouth hinted at danger in a way that she was coming to recognize as his signature.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Kane spoke without looking at Zaria. His attention was on the place where the man had disappeared, and if his words hadn’t made it exceedingly clear he wasn’t happy to see her, his voice did. “Who was that?”
She took another deep breath to calm her racing heart. It felt like something alive in her chest, rattling around wildly in a bid to escape. “No idea.”
“He would have killed you.”
“Probably.” Zaria didn’t know how she managed to sound so nonchalant. She wanted to scream. Perhaps it was the fact that Kane had hired her for her competency, and it wouldn’t have inspired confidence if she let him see how shaken she was. Working for the kingpin, he had to be accustomed to seeing people nearly get killed. So she tried to match his perceived energy just as she always did when she wasn’t sure how to navigate an interaction.
Kane frowned. Tonight the green in his eyes seemed brighter, ringed by a dark brown. “That doesn’t concern you in the slightest?”
“When did I say I wasn’t concerned?”
He shook his head, glancing skyward as if to appeal for patience. “Never mind. You still didn’t answer my question.”
“I can’t remember what it was,” Zaria admitted.
“What. Are. You.Doing here?”
“Oh, that. I was looking for you, actually.”
“What a very, very stupid idea.” Kane showed his teeth in a way that almost passed for a smile but was just a little too unsettling. “I’m not easy to find.”
“And yet I found you, didn’t I?”
“No, you didn’t.Ifoundyou, and if I hadn’t, you’d be dead right now.”
“I had everything under control,” she lied, unable to abide his self-righteousness.
“Really?” He laughed without a trace of humor. “Because it looked as though you were about to be shot by a man twice your size. What were you thinking, coming here by yourself in the middle of the night? You don’t even know where I live. Were you planning to wander aimlessly until you happened across me? When we came to an agreement, it was for us to work together. Not for me to rescue your sorry ass in the dead of night.”
“I didn’t—”
“I sincerely doubt I’m going to get any kind ofthank you, but you’d best be glad I showed up when I did. Now, if you please, I’d be interested to know who has it out for you. If we’re going to be working together, it could pose a bit of a problem.”
His dismissive curtness had Zaria’s back up before she could think better of it. She knew she’d been foolish. Sheknewthat. But it sure as hell didn’t mean she wanted to hear Kane Durante say it. “I didn’t ask you to rescue me, and I don’t know who that man was,okay? His face was mostly covered.” Her next exhale was uneven. “He knew me, though. I think he was sent to find me.”
Kane’s eyes were slits. “Start listing your enemies.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Everyone has enemies, whether they know it or not. Swindle any clients lately?”
Zaria scowled. “I’m notswindlinganyone, but my father used to require that his clients pay a deposit up front. Maybe someone thinks I don’t intend to deliver.” It was why she couldn’t simply ignore the deals Itzal had made before his death. He’d taken the money and gambled it away, leaving her with debts she had to pay with her life.
“You’re fulfilling his outstanding commissions,” Kane surmised. “If someone put down a lot of money and still hasn’t gotten what they asked for, that’s a good reason to kill you. But there’s more, isn’t there?”
Zaria worried at her lower lip. She was loath to admit what she’d done, especially to Kane of all people.
“Tell me, Miss Mendoza.”
“Fine.” The word was a hiss. “I gave someone an unfinished commission the other night. I was out of soulsteel, but they’d made it clear they wouldn’t wait any longer.”
“So the item doesn’t work properly.”
“Correct.”
Kane whistled long and low. “Once again, what thehellwere you thinking? You don’t mess around with dark market buyers. You’ve put your own life in jeopardy.”
