But she kept an eye on the door too. She hadn’t seen Leo all day, and he hadn’t answered when she’d telephoned his place from the Chins’ restaurant. She told herself he was avoiding her—partly because that was better than worrying that something had happened to him, and partly because she couldn’t help wondering if it was true.
It wasn’t until the first soft notes of a waltz floated down from the bandstand, Bea humming the melody into the microphone in a melancholycounterpoint to the piano, that Vivian realized who else she hadn’t seen yet.
On a night like this, Honor would usually be working the crowd: glad-handing the wealthy visitors, watching anyone likely to make trouble, checking in with Mr. Smith on the bandstand. She kept the moods up, the customers smiling, the right people happy with cash or favors or just showing that they were important.
And tonight, she was gone. Instead of being behind the bar, Danny was drifting through the crowd in her place.
Vivian shook her head at her most recent partner, who was trying to coax her back onto the floor for the waltz. “You’re sweet to ask, but this sappy stuff is too tame for me,” she said, patting his cheek, trying to sound like she didn’t have a care in the world. “Come find me for the quickstep.” She blew him a kiss and ducked into the crowd before he could protest, making a beeline for Danny.
He saw her coming, but he kept a friendly smile on his face. He shook another hand and slapped another back, then gestured for one of the waitresses to bring a round of drinks to the well-dressed table of dancers resting their feet during the waltz. Only when they were settled, laughing and chatting, did he step away.
“Tearing a path through them, Viv,” he said softly. “You’re going to leave some broken hearts behind you tonight.”
“Where’s Honor?” she demanded. Her voice shook, but she held his eyes, refusing to let him look away.
He didn’t, but the sympathy in his expression was almost worse. “I don’t know. Hux said I’d be doing her normal rounds tonight. She had things to take care of.”
“What kind of things?” Vivian forced herself to ask. “And don’t pretend you don’t know, Danny. She tells you everything.”
“Not everything,” he said. “Not tonight. Go back to dancing, Vivian. Don’t waste—” He broke off, staring toward the bar. “Goddamn,” he whispered. “Does he even know who he’s serving?”
Vivian turned to see where Danny was looking, and she grabbed his arm without thinking, feeling cold all over.
The commissioner finished talking to the bartender, who was nodding pleasantly at him like he would any other customer. When they finished, the commissioner walked calmly over to a table in the corner. Two young men were already sitting there, but one steely look and a few quiet words sent them stumbling over each other to find somewhere else to be. The commissioner settled in to wait for his drink.
Danny cursed softly and thoroughly. “Why’d Hux pick tonight, of all nights, to have other business to deal with?” Vivian, her hand still on his arm, could feel the tension humming through him. Danny glanced at her. “Either we’re about to get raided, or you’re about to get arrested.”
“Neither.” Both of them jumped at the quiet voice behind them. Leo gave them a crooked smile that had none of his usual confidence. “That’s the good news,” he added, reaching out to slide Vivian’s hand off Danny’s arm. “Sorry I’m late.”
“What’s the bad news, then?” she asked.
His grip tightened. “I’m sorry, Viv. God knows we tried. When he called me in, I thought maybe I could still—” He broke off, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t need to finish. “I’m sorry,” he whispered again. “He’s waiting for you.”
When Vivian looked back at the commissioner, he was watching her. Someone had delivered his order; two glasses now sat on the table in front of him. He raised just one finger and motioned her forward.
“You should head back to the bar, Danny-boy,” Vivian said, giving him a nudge with her shoulder. “Don’t go looking for trouble if he’s not going to make it.”
“I told Florence I’d keep you safe,” he protested.
“She’ll understand.”
He hesitated, but at last he nodded. “Don’t leave without saying good-bye?”
“If I can.”
Vivian watched him head back toward the bar, falling in with a group of customers there, loose-limbed and smiling as if he didn’t have a care in the world. She wasn’t the only liar in the Nightingale that night.
“Do you want to talk to him alone?” Leo asked once Danny was gone.
“No,” Vivian replied. She wanted to say yes, wanted him to believe that she wasn’t afraid. But she was tired of pretending with him. “Stay with me.”
Leo’s hand tightened on hers again, and it took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t a gesture meant to comfort her. He didn’t want to go. Whatever had happened between him and his uncle that day, he wanted to be as far away from the man as possible, even if it meant leaving her alone.
“Never mind,” she said, after a beat of silence that felt like a lifetime. She wanted to cry at the thought of walking up to that table by herself. Instead, she gave him a smile. “I can handle him by myself.”
He let out a breath as he pulled his hand away from hers. “You can. You’ll be fine.” She didn’t know if he was trying to convince her or himself. “Thanks, Viv.”
Vivian had never felt so fiercely, painfully alone as she did crossing the room to the commissioner’s table.
