“Out.” She pointed at the door. “I’ll call you in once I’m dressed.”
I left and closed the door behind me, leaning against the wall beside it. Willow walked by, her expression curious, but she didn’t stop to talk. When Fiona tapped on the door and told me to come back in, I almost swallowed my tongue at the sight of her. The green dress was short, as she’d said. The hem rested midway down her slender thighs, and the neckline plunged deeper than I’d expected, giving me a tantalizing glimpse of the creamy skin of her cleavage.
“Too much?” she asked, worrying her lower lip.
I scanned her from head to toe, noting the sky-high stilettos she’d put on. “You look incredible, but we’re trying to blend in and not draw too much attention. In that dress, all eyes will be on you.”
She flushed, her eyes shining. She looked almost bashful. But she must know how gorgeous she was. “I’ll try another,” she said. “Shoo.”
I left, and returned when she summoned me. The next outfit was a better fit for the occasion. She was still beautiful—she wasalwaysbeautiful—but the dress was black and drew less attention. It sat higher across her chest, with small sleeves that made it more demure, and a skirt that swished around her knees. She’d swapped out the stilettos for a pair of kitten heels. She looked classy, but less of a stand-out than she had in the green dress.
“Perfect,” I said. “We’ll need to get your hair and makeup done too.”
She took the shoes off and set them to the side. “I can do that myself.”
“You could,” I agreed. “But you shouldn’t. I’m willing to bet that every other woman there will have theirs done professionally, and they’ll be able to tell the difference. We need to look the part.”
She sighed. “Fine. I’ll arrange it as soon as we’re out of here.”
“Good.” I stepped closer and smoothed my thumb over the line between her brows. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to change your mind.”
To my surprise, she leaned into the touch.
“I’m nervous,” she said. “But I can do it.”
She held my gaze, and there was something so fierce about her that my heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t help feeling like if I got too close to Fiona’s fire, I’d end up burned. But hell, what a way to go.
I cleared my throat and pulled my hand away. “Let’s get ready then.”
A few hours later, we were both dressed in our chosen outfits and sitting in the back of a luxury sedan on the way to Sears Bay Marina. Kade was on standby if we needed him, and I’d assured Fiona that we wouldn’t end up trapped if things went wrong. That said, she didn’t know the whole plan either. I didn’t want her to get into her head about it and for her worry to throw her off her game. I was confident we could pull it off, and she’d be safe. That was what mattered.
The marina was one of the smaller ones in the Chicago area, frequented only by those who could afford to pay the exorbitant mooring fees. I spotted theClaudetteas soon as we arrived. It was one of the largest yachts present, and twomen in dark suits with poorly concealed weapons stood on the dock in front of it. They must be security. According to our research, they weren’t Laurent’s personal employees but a local team he’d hired for the event. We’d decided it would be too risky to try to sneak past them so my team had been working on making sure we were on the guest list. Hopefully the hired security wouldn’t know enough about Laurent’s business or what was going on aboard theClaudetteto be suspicious of us.
The car stopped and I turned to Fiona. “You ready?”
She was pale, but she nodded. I opened the door and got out while the driver held Fiona’s door for her. Then I took her arm and mentally crossed my fingers that my team had figured out a way to get us on that list.
