Tiberi looks as well, but his expression is far less intense.
“You need to find out what they’re talking about,” Tiberi tells me.
Carmine nods. “Yes. Meet with…Trevor in his hotel room. Find out what the Carvels want. The last thing we need is them getting involved in all this,” he says.
“Got it,” I agree. “After what they did to you and Soren…they’re lucky we haven’t killed them all.”
Nikolas comes up near us holding his own drink, and I really don’t care whether it’s virgin or not.
He looks a bit…less weak than usual, and I can tell that the workouts we’ve been doing have been working. What they haven’t helped, though, is the anxious look in his eyes.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asks.
Carmine glances at him, and then at me. Clearly, he’s decided that the teenager is my responsibility now.
“Go try to get information from the guests about the Calvers. Be discreet about it,” I tell him.
Nikolas nods and looks behind his shoulder at Beau nearby.
After he walks away, I shoot Carmine an annoyed look.
“Why did you bring them?” I ask. “They could get us in even more trouble.”
He shrugs. “They need to learn how to blend, how to talk to people at these kinds of events, and how to do their part.”
“You realize the task I gave him was just to keep him busy, right?”
He chuckles. “Yes, but it’ll be good practice anyway.”
I sigh and look away from them.
I need to get out of here.
After shmoozing the receptionist of the hotel that is hosting the guests of the charity ball, I find out thatTrevoris in room 302B. On the third floor.
I wonder briefly if Aleksandr has noticed I’m missing yet, or if he even cares. It seems like everyone involved in this situation with the Bianchis has some kind of secret they don’t want to share, and I know Aleksandr has one. Maybe more than one, if the Carvel’s are talking to him.
With a little jerry rigging, I manage to bypass the card lock on the door and get into the room.
The room is empty, not even a suitcase at the end of the bed or anything that could tell me I’d gotten the right room. I just have to trust that the receptionist didn’t steer me the wrong way.
Still, I creep around in the darkness of the room and try to find anything that might belong to Aleksandr. I find nothing, so I sit down in a chair by the window, the moonlight the only light peaking through the curtains.
As I sit here, I’m forced to think about all that could have gone wrong tonight. He could have been killed by Petra and Raff. Aleksandr could have turned on us…been killed by my own brother.
People from the gala could have noticed what was going on and gotten involved. There could be a lot more death than necessary.
My jaw shifts and muscles tighten. I shouldn’t care, should I? Aleksandr is a means to an end, that’s all.
Yet, I find myself now thinking about Lucas clearly flirting with him. How close their faces had been and how for a moment I thought Aleksandr might actually be falling for it. Whatevergames the Calvers are playing, I know he won’t fall for it, but…I don’t know what it is yet. I don’t know what they were talking about.
So, all I can imagine is the two of them together.
I slam my fist down on the arm of the chair.
“Shut up, stop it,” I growl to myself. “Stop thinking about it.”
My mind quickly shifts gears, and it’s not any better.
