Chapter 6
“ C an he do the risotto without the butter?” Paul Preston the Third demanded, peering over the menu.
I wanted to stab the pretentious ass with my shrimp fork. We were at the most exclusive seafood restaurant in the city. The chef wasn’t just a cook, he was a damn artist.
“That is not possible, sir.” The waitress needed the largest tip ever. Dealing with us was no joking matter. She was handling it beautifully, and I tried to put her at ease with another friendly smile.
Paul sighed dramatically. “I’m lactose sensitive. I will have the greens, but no butter.”
“I’ll make Monsieur Durand aware, and he’ll amend accordingly,” the waitress promised.
Paul rolled his eyes but turned back to me. “As I was saying, the Germans have a decent handle on such precedents, but they are inferior to the Danes on the issues of transportation rights.”
I tuned him out, taking a long sip of my water, wishing it was something stronger. When we’d first sat down, and I ordered a glass of red, Paul immediately pointed out that I was only nineteen and not allowed to drink. Then the prick ordered a rosé.
Looking over the restaurant, I fumed. This was what I got for missing a social function. Last Saturday, I stayed in bed with pretend cramps, because I couldn’t risk going to the gala with my parents and running into Leonard. That was the trickiest part of my plots and plans. The dodging and hiding would only work every so often.
But soon, I wouldn’t have to hide.
The waitress came by with a carafe of rosé. As she moved to pour into Paul’s glass, the prick put his hand over the cup. It was the universal signal for declining the pour without interrupting the conversation. It was hard to say if the waitress was nervous or simply distracted, but she didn’t see the hand motion.
And poured over the knuckles of the trust fund brat.
“You idiot!” Paul shouted.
Eyes shifted in our direction.
Groaning, I held out my napkin. “It’s fine. It was an accident.”
“The hell it was! This klutz is done.” Paul rounded on the pale waitress. “Done! You hear me?”
“It will be okay,” I promised.
Paul demanded to see the manager, and the poor creature fled.
If my stomach wasn’t sick already, that was the last straw. I stood and tossed my napkin onto the table. “I have to go.”
That shut my date up—for a few seconds.
He began to blather about my obligation to stay now that the food was ordered, but I tuned him out and left. There was no force on earth that could make me stay in his company. I didn’t care that our parents were close friends.
As I pushed through the front door, ready to find a taxi, a dark shape moving in the street made me step wrong.
My heel twisted violently to the side, but the sharp sting barely registered in the storm of adrenaline coursing through me. Panic erupted like wildfire in my veins, consuming every thought and sense. I had to get out of here!
Leonard hadn’t seen me, and there was no good excuse for why I was here. Not without revealing too much of my personal life. I scurried back into the building and slipped into the bathroom. When I was sure the coast was clear, I peeked outside.
Leonard stood chatting with a group of men in expensive suits, his tall figure commanding attention even in this crowd of power players. I pressed myself against the wall, heart racing. This was exactly the kind of coincidence I’d been trying to avoid. Weeks of careful planning and secrecy, of late-night dates and midday coffee meetings, all potentially undone by one unlucky dinner reservation.
“Miss? Are you alright?” A concerned server approached me, noticing my odd behavior.
“Fine,” I whispered, waving her away without taking my eyes off Leonard. “Just waiting for someone.”
The group he was with moved toward the private dining rooms in the back. I let out a long, steadying breath. If I timed it right, I could slip out now while they were being seated.
As I inched toward the exit, my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
Shadow Prince: Can I see you later?
I sagged against the side of the building, my taxi four minutes away. In this game of hide-and-seek, tonight was a close call. We couldn’t keep dodging one another. I was either going to have to come clean, or end this game.
Neither were options I was ready for.
Such a simple thing, going to my bedroom after the disastrous date with the young Preston, but it required even more sneaking about. While my mother was out with one of her committees and thankfully wasn’t there to intercept me with a demand as to why I was back so early, my father was unfortunately home. I tiptoed past the living room, but the baritone raised in anger made me stop short.
“I know what promises I made you, Alfred, but I can’t take out their businesses without reasonable causation.”
My father’s voice dropped to a menacing tone. “When I got you elected—”
“Hey now! That’s not fair,” the other male protested.
“Jeffry, be reasonable. You wouldn’t be in office if it wasn’t for me,” my father sneered.
Jeffry Parkers, the mayor, was here.
I frowned.
We knew the Parkers on a friendly level since we all moved in the same circles, but the way my father called this man out for his actions led me to believe there was a deeper relationship. And the only reason to keep such a connection out of the public light had to be due to a more twisted motive.
“I want the crime lords to pay,” my father insisted.
“And I can’t launch a full-scale war on the mob, Alfred. They cover their tracks well. There’s no legal route to take them out.”
“No legal route? Raid their businesses! You’ll find all the nefarious evidence you need.”
My heart, which had only just calmed down on the drive home from the date from hell, began to patter wildly again. I sank deeper into the shadows, peeling my ears for any drop of information.
“And if I can’t find anything, this will backfire on me with the public, and, what’s worse, put a target on my back from the mob,” Mr. Parkers insisted.
After a moment’s pause, my father snarled, “Then we’ll plant something. You owe me this, Jeffry.”
The mayor sighed. “I know I do.”
Having heard enough, I turned and bolted. Back in the garage, I slid behind the wheel and gunned the engine. Growing up, my father always had something to say about dirty politicians, sleezy businessmen, and yes, the mob. I found it only too funny that my best friend belonged to a crime family, and my father never knew. But tonight, I might just be able to save her.