Page 141 of Violent Pawn

“Tell me about yourself. Hobbies. Your family.”

“I have no hobbies,” she replies, winding a finger around her bracelet. It isn’t the first time she’s done this, and I’ve noted which questions make her nervous or that she may have lied answering. “My family is dead to me. Haven’t seen them in years.” Another fiddle of the chain.

Liar.

“Alright.” I pause, letting the unknown of my response linger. “We’ll call you with our decision.”

“Thank you.” Her grace continues across the room to take both our hands in a well-practiced handshake that draws my attention to the diamonds again. She leaves with a final wave, and Sasha follows her out, watching her exit the building from the doorway.

Once she gives the sign that Ella is gone, I call Lev.

“What?” he barks in a manner that would trigger a snarky reply if I wasn’t so focused on the situation.

“I finished interviewing a potential hire for one of the clubs that I want you to look into. She’s American.”

“Alright.” Clicking comes through the speaker. “Name?”

“Ella Dubois.”

“Give me a bit. I’ll see what I find.” He hangs up, and I return to reading over her answers, trying to make sense of everything within them. Every letter, searching for something about this girl.

Wealthy and running away from her problems or something much more sinister?

Lev calls back within ten minutes, and I throw it on speaker so Sasha can hear his report. “The few Ella Dubois in America are either dead, too old, or too young to be your hire. I checked Canadian databases too, figuring same continent, but nothing came up there either. Youngest I have is thirty. Were you off on her age?”

“Nah, she’s definitely closer to twenty than thirty.” Sasha nods, backing me up on my opinion. “No more than twenty-five.”

“Then I can’t help you.”

No, something isn’t right. I feel it in my gut. “Check again.”

“How about I don’t and say I did. You don’t believe my systems?”

“I do.” Responding any other way earns me a Lev-level rant, which my head doesn’t need. “Just…this can’t be accurate.”

“What if Ella isn’t her real name?” Sasha offers, tapping her finger on the desk. “Think about it. American girl, probably running from someone or something… You wouldn’t give a real name.”

If so, this whole thing could be more complicated. “We have her cell number, Lev. Maybe you can find something with that?”

“I’ll give it a go.” He sighs, but more typing starts up as Sasha recites the digits.

After a tense few seconds that have me literally clinging to the desk, he grunts. “Nothing. Seems like a burner phone, so this is looking more likely she’s a runaway.”

Fuck. “Thanks, Lev.” My gaze lifts from the screen to Sasha, standing in front of my desk. “Hire her for now, to keep her close. Have her begin work immediately and shadow one of the girls you trust to report back to you about every move and everything she says. Vanessa returns tomorrow, coincidentally, from the States, so I’ll see how she wants to handle this, if at all.”

Sasha nods and disappears to make things happen. Once alone, my lungs contract with a long breath. “Why is nothing simple?”

“Simple is boring,” Lev replies before hanging up.

68

NERO

The lights glint around the room, masking the shadowy corner alcoves I’ve watched couples disappear into over the few minutes of standing on the balcony that overlooks the main floor. My scan passes over the guests and staff, not paying anyone in particular attention as I search for the only woman here I’d like to give me a private tour of those back rooms sometime.

She ushered me upstairs earlier when I arrived before Vanessa and Zeno were due to come, tossing something that sounded like, “I’m busy working” over her shoulder. Her dedication is another thing to love about her.

I find her in the corner of the bar, leaning over to speak with the bartender. Her corset-style top rides up, revealing her lower back to the guests whose eyes wander. My fingers tighten around the railing, and I straighten, prepared to go down there and rip their eyes out if they don’t find a new view in the next three seconds.