Sydney had watched some of Winter’s performances before theybegan their mission, had studied the way he moved and done her due diligence in researching him. But she’d never seen him perform live before. And in that moment, every dismissive thought she’d ever had about him vanished from her mind.
This wasn’t the boy with the sarcastic grin and the quick mouth, the one she couldn’t seem to stop bickering with.
This was the superstar.
They tried to catch him, but he turned into the air
Turned into the water, into the sea between you and me
Now the backup dancers arrived, stealing through the aisles in dark figures until they reached the stage. Sydney picked out Dameon and Leo instantly. As the chorus to the track kicked in with a thunderous beat, the dancers slid into a formation around him and then all synced in movement.
In spite of herself, Sydney could feel her heart racing.
They tried to stop me, but I came all this way, all this way
Leo tossed him a bouquet of yellow and white flowers. Winter grabbed it, then hopped off the stage in a fluid move. The audience stirred in delight, parting and drawing forward as he headed toward Penelope. The spotlight followed him.
Came all this way, just to wish you
He stepped right up to her. Under the light, Sydney saw Penelope inhale and give a little laugh.
Just to wish you a happy birthday
The audience burst into a round of laughter and cheers at the tweak in the lyrics that Winter had made for Penelope. He offered her the flowers. She covered her mouth with both hands, trembling, while the friends around her screamed and shoved her in delight. Then she took the bouquet without looking away from him. He smiled sidelong at her and shifted back to the stage as the music changed yet again.
As he turned, his gaze latched on to Sydney.
In spite of herself, Sydney felt her breath hitch at the sear of his attention. He hadn’t looked at her like this before—fully entrenched in his stage persona, the light glinting hot in his eyes. For an instant, she felt chained into place.
Then, in a flash, he was back on the dais and joining his dancers in a furious, fast-paced track. The beat shook the floor under Sydney’s feet. The lights switched to red, bathing the entire space in scarlet—and then some invisible hook propelled Winter from the stage floor to high up in the air. The audience shrieked.
Sydney let her breath out slowly. What an absolute bastard of a flirt. If Penelope wasn’t cheered up after this, then she couldn’t be swept off her feet by anything in the world.
A slight movement in the darkness of the audience shook her back into place. She glanced over and across the dais to where Eli Morrison sat. He had risen to his feet along with Connor Doherty and a third man. They exchanged a few more words.
Sydney itched to get closer. But it would be too obvious here if she, Winter’s primary bodyguard, left now. She had no doubt Eli’s men were watching her from a dozen different spots in the room. So all she could do was let herself steal glances toward Eli and the others.
Then she saw Connor lean toward Eli and, as Winter segued into his final routine, murmur something to the man. She narrowed her eyes, reading his lips enough to decipher the words.
“It has to be tonight, sir.”
Eli frowned back at him as the theater shook with the opening bass beats. “No. The meeting is tomorrow.” Then came some words she couldn’t make out.
“I’m afraid we can’t, sir.”
Eli was one of the most intimidating men Sydney had crossed paths with, but something in Connor’s quiet, pleading gaze seemed to make him think. He didn’t answer right away. His eyes followed Winter’s movements on the stage, then turned to the silhouette of his daughter.
Sydney counted out the seconds in her head.Eight, nine, ten, eleven.
At last, Eli said, “Tonight, then.”
There was an urgency in the words, a tension in his body that made Sydney’s heart beat a little faster. Something was happening that felt like a ripple in their plans. Her expression never changed, and neither did her gaze, but Eli Morrison’s words echoed in her mind, solid and ominous.
Tonight, then.
She had some tailing to do.
17
