The way his eyes keep drifting to me and then away, too quickly, like he's counting something.
I know that look. Rich men use it before they ask housekeeping to ignore a broken lamp, a bloody towel, a woman crying in the bathroom.
"Bathroom," I say, pushing back my chair before anyone can protest. "Try not to sell my organs while I'm gone."
Sylvie laughs, bright and easy, the way Sylvie always laughs. "If they offer enough, I'm taking a cut."
"Rude."
Mick smiles like he thinks we're both adorable. Or stupid. Hard to tell which.
I weave through the crowd, heart still thudding from that stare across the room.
The hallway to the restrooms is dimmer, quieter.
The music fades to a muffled thump behind me.
I reach the sign for the bathrooms and turn toward the familiar door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.
A hand closes around my elbow.
Not rough. Not gentle.
Possessive enough to make my skin crawl.
I turn and find Mick at my shoulder, that easy smile still pasted on his face.
"Wrong way," he says. "They've closed those tonight for a VIP event. Use the ones in back."
I narrow my eyes. "I work here. I just cleaned those two hours ago."
"Management changed the policy," he says smoothly. "High-profile guests mean high-strung security. They don't want staff and guests mixing in the back corridors right now."
He tilts his head toward the bar, where men in suits and heavy watches still sit like the world belongs to them.
"You don't want to cause trouble for your boss, do you?"
My jaw tightens.
Something prickles at the back of my neck. He's not wrong about the rules. The Belvedere has a hundred of them. But somethingabout the way he's standing, angled just enough to block my retreat, makes every quiet alarm I own start to hum.
"I can find my own way," I start.
"Come on. It's just through here. I'll show you. You'll be back before your friend finishes that drink."
His hand stays on my elbow.
I look down at it.
Then back up at him.
"That hand important to you?"
His brows twitch. "Excuse me?"
"Because if it is, I’d move it."
For a second, I think he might laugh.
