ZARA
Even Lucifer began as an angel. Or masqueraded as one. No one can be trusted.
I am surrounded by demented beasts. Locked in a den that is a mix of the lions I would usually hunt and the tigers that should be my pack. If I’m not careful, I’ll become the prey. In some respects, I already am.
“You should have received it with the file I sent,” I say in German into the burner.
I’m in the open green space behind the resort again because I don’t trust that my suite isn’t bugged. I’m speaking German this time to change things up because I don’t trust that someone isn’t eavesdropping, even though I’m alone in the dark. I don’t even trust the people I’m on the phone with, but I won’t be revealing that to anyone.
From this point on, I am my own agent.
“Yeah, I have it,” Tripp replies. “And all these names can be marked as innocents? Mercy Noire?”
“Everyone here is corrupt, but she isn’t worth a deeper look, nor are any of the others I sent over. None of them haveany hidden takeover schemes, let alone connection to some nefarious media conglomerate.”
Tripp grunts, gearing up to challenge my judgment. “Are you bonding with them beyond what is necessary for the mission, Zar? That is the quickest way for mistakes to be made.”
He isn’t completely off base. I am growing attached—to the people and the atmosphere. But since he focused specifically on her, that’s his own prejudice toward this family. He’d probably turn all the Noires over to the client to avenge Mom, but that would make him no different than her killer. And one of our founding principles is to never act in anger.
God only knows how Mercy got mixed up in this world, but she’s too pure for it. I won’t budge on that. “If you don’t respect my opinion, then get me the fuck out of here. Otherwise, you’re stuck with what I provide.”
“She’s right,” my father chimes in. “Between members and employees, there are too many. She needs to be narrowing it down. Her instincts are sharp. Let’s move on.”
My instincts aren’t all that sharp. Axel offered to wed me to some Mafia asshole. What the hell was that? I don’t know what solution I expected, but it wasn’t that. Especially after he nearly made me come.
It’s been two hours, and I can still feel him.
I was so undone that I would’ve let him fuck me. With my gun stuck in his ribs, sure. But he was so rough and tender in the same breath. Angry. Turned on. Savage yet controlled. I wanted to push him to his brink, but also submit to him. He smelled crisp and sinister and inviting, and somehow, it felt like he saw me. No one ever really sees me, which is how it’s meant to be. But he did, and I craved whatever he was willing to offer.
Of course, then he morphed into a domineering dick, leaving me needy after having been the one to start it in the first place.The thought of his punishment—or rather, earning his approval and rewards—left me even headier.
This mess is my own fault, letting my heart drum faster every time he swaggers into a room. Seeking out the heat of those sapphires. Taunting him with cherries and fantasies he tries so hard to resist. He had his damn glasses on the entire meeting though. It was a fight-fire-with-fire situation. Still …
None of that is where my focus should be, but there was this notion that we were in this together somehow. He kept me alive and permitted me to return to La Lune Noire. If I fuck something up, turn on the wrong person, betray KORT, I’m sure he’ll be held accountable.
It did create a bond I shouldn’t have formed, until he uttered the wordmarriage. Now I’m back to hating him.
I thought he’d suggest erasing me again. It’s a last resort in my profession since it rarely works for long. Everyone is eventually found. But I might have considered it because I have a hunch that my father’s back is against the wall. And when that happens, it’s always mission first. That’s part of our code. It’s a hard pill to swallow. Part of me was naive enough to believe I’d never be in this position. I’m the daughter of the chief warrior, and I have an impeccable record. But on some level, I’ve known since the day my best friend didn’t return to camp.
And yet still, Axel offering to marry me off to some monster speared me more. I’m not sure if I’m more disappointed in him or in myself for the imprudent belief I placed in him.
“The arbitration meetings are scheduled at random,” I explain, keeping to my assignment, “through the head concierge butler. A different room for each one. All of them are in secret passageways that members are guided to. It’s as covert as it comes—to offer a sense of top-secret security and likely to prevent someone from sabotaging anyone involved. Just finding that out was precarious. I don’t see how I get into a meeting. Andeven if I could bug Axel, I wouldn’t do it without an extraction plan in place. If anything came from it, I’d be his prime suspect.”
My first attempt at trying to gain intel about the arbitration meetings was to talk to the scheduling department, claiming a member had asked me how to get a private conference with Axel. I was shut down quickly and told to send them to Bernard. I knew he’d give me nothing and would probably make my time here even more restrictive, so that was out.
I’m confident he alerted Axel about me in the first place. And while I may have formed a tentative alliance with the Noire king, Bernard isn’t buying it. I really like the old guy. He’s the eyes and ears of this entire empire. Too bad he’d probably be in favor of my execution.
If they weren’t watching me so fiercely, I would have swiped a computer-access card and tried to see if it was in there, but I doubted those meetings were easy to find, and the risk was too great. I put a call into Beck, but he’d never needed the arbitration service, so he didn’t have much to offer. Then, after I left Mercy, Tessa, and Jax in the Underground, I grabbed a cocktail at The Blind Tiger—the bar that was the original Noire speakeasy—because I spotted a member drinking alone. He was chatty but useless.
The only way I managed to obtain that information was engaging in a conversation with Stella earlier today—the same receptionist who’d spoken about Axel’s NDA in the restroom. I knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it in if she had any knowledge of how it worked, so I caught her doing her makeup in the same secluded powder room and played the I’m-new-here card.
Stepping up to the sink, I sighed in the universal gesture of overwhelm and plucked my lipstick out of my purse. “This job is a lot. Axel is … intimidating.”
Her eyebrows shot for the ceiling, mouth slightly agape. “Tell me about it.”
Since I had a hunch that she was going to reveal more sex stuff that would make me want to gouge my eardrums out of my skull, I quickly went with, “Just the thought that he sits up here in the conference room and arbitrates meetings with some of the most volatile crime syndicates gives me chills.” I feathered my gloss onto my lower lip. “I hope I’m never around for one.”
“Oh, girl, it’s not here. Thank God. It’s a whole lot shadier than that.” She moved closer to me and proudly spilled it all.
