Chapter 30
THIRTY
I slide out of the back seat of the Escalade, holding my hand out for Dani.
She easily slides out of the car, her burgundy satin A-line gown gracefully curving around her body.
There is a bright smile painted on her face as she poses for the camera, the paparazzi eating us up.
It isn’t often that I am photographed. Not unless I want to be.
Most people identify me as Kiernan Kavanaugh, next in line to inherit the Kavanaugh crime family, but to the rest of the world and the paparazzi, I am a business mogul. A billionaire club and restaurant owner who rarely likes to be seen in public.
Reporters line either side of the red-carpet entrance to the building, calling out my name as we begin our walk toward the ornate double doors that lead into the hotel.
I don’t stop to pose for any of them. I rarely do, and there is no way in hell I am going to put Dani in that awkward position.
Instead, I keep my gaze forward, ignoring the flashing lights around us.
“Your tickets, sir.” The man at the door smiles at me before his greedy eyes fall on Dani.
My cousin barely bats an eye at his obvious perusal.
Good. I brought her because she knows how to play the game we need played.
Father refused to allow Dani to be entered for sale, but he agreed to let her accompany me tonight.
Her father is a prominent doctor, and she knows many of the people in this social circle well.
It won’t look out of place to have her here.
“Have a good night.” The man’s face falls a bit when he realizes I am only wearing a bidder pin.
I don’t bother to acknowledge him any further as I lead Dani into the spacious ballroom.
The hotel is grand and historic. The room is cast in dark tones—aged wood with walls painted a dark mauve.
A string quartet sits on a recessed stage playing a melancholic tune that sets the mood perfectly.
Waitstaff circle the room, carrying silver trays of champagne and hors d’oeuvres to those who allow themselves to indulge.
My gaze searches the room, first finding Ava on one side with one of Matthias’s men.
The Italian—Leon or something like that.
They both hold a glass of champagne in their hands, but the moment Ava’s eyes land on Matthias, she downs the sucker faster than a shot of whiskey and reaches for another.
I’m not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Not tonight.
My gaze slides from my sister, searching the room for one last person. I move us around the room, nodding and smiling at the other guests as if it doesn’t pain me to be here. A few of them stop me for some mild conversation, which I reluctantly engage in until I find some excuse to slip away
“Where is—” A loud, obnoxious laugh draws my attention toward one side of the room.
My gaze catches on her immediately. She stands awkwardly with her hands at her sides, looking forward as the man at her side prattles on with another guest. He has one arm around her shoulder.
From the pained look on her face, his grip is no doubt tight.
The douchebag Drew.
Bailey looks gorgeous in the deep emerald satin dress she is wearing.
It is a long-sleeved split blouse with a satin pleated skirt that has a deep V-neck with a corseted top and a long leg split.
Her raven hair falls in gentle waves around her, framing her beautiful face.
My heart races inside my chest at just the simple sight of her.
But I can’t let that get in the way of what needs to be done.
“I’ve spotted her,” I whisper toward Dani to make it look as if we are having a conversation. “Let’s get everything moving.”
“Got it.” Seamus’s tone holds a note of bitterness and reluctance. He doesn’t like that we changed how everything is going down. “Her comm is now linked with ours.”
I let a moment pass before speaking.
“Bailey,” I say into the comm. Bailey’s head twitches, no doubt startled to hear my voice in her ear. “Hold out two fingers if you were able to get what we needed.”
Her hand tightens into a fist before two fingers descend.
Perfect. Now it is time to put the plan in motion.
“Meet me in the blue room just off the main corridor in ten minutes. We can exchange everything there,” I tell her. “Two fingers again if you understand me.”
Another two fingers.
I smirk. “Such a good girl.”
She lowers a finger, and I laugh at seeing her usual fire. The woman just flipped me the bird. Dani is barely able to hold her own laughter back. Brat.
“Why do you look like you’re about to do something you regret?” Dani asks as we make our way around the room again, my every-watchful gaze still following her around the room.
“Because I am,” I admit truthfully, an unusual weight bearing down on my chest. Dani halts her footsteps, looking up at me with a sad frown on her face.
“You can still change it.”
“No, I really can’t.”
Luckily, without Seamus looping our comms, Bailey herself can’t hear us.
I don’t get the chance to respond.
Eight minutes.
I turn to find Bailey. My gaze follows her as she makes some excuse to Drew before shuffling away toward the intended meeting point. With Dani on my arm, I go to follow, right past her intended ex-fiancé.
“Finally decided to slum it with the rest of us, Kavanaugh?” My fists clench at the sound of a man’s voice.
Fuck. He isn’t even a man. He is just a boy playing at being one.
Seamus and I took the time to suss out Crowe and Drew.
There were a few things Bridgett told us that didn’t sit right.
Parts that don’t add up when it comes to Bailey.
Drew’s affair with Bailey’s best friend is part of that. For years, they’d been meeting at hotels, a time or two in his office, but never at his condo. Bailey had a key and often came and went throughout the week when she was at work. It would have been too risky.
So why the sudden change of venue? Drew must have known the risk of Bailey stopping by.
Then there are the issues with the spark plugs.
The service receipt in her glove box that our mechanic dug up listed her last repair less than three months ago.
That explained why the spark plugs looked so new.
All except the one. It had been cracked and dirty, and Bailey wouldn’t have known to look for something like that. To her, it was just a case of bad luck.
Drew seems the likely suspect. According to our sources, he’s been avidly trying to search her out. Whether over guilt of the affair or something more sinister is yet to be seen. We’d been sure to cover our tracks when we took Bailey, and even when I outed her father, she still hadn’t given us up.
Why?
“I’m not quite in the slums just yet, Knight,” I sneer at him. “I’d have to sink a whole lot lower to hit your depths.”
“You’re nothing but a rat, Kavanaugh,” he hisses. “A rat thinking he’s better than everyone else around him when all he smells like is sewer.”
“Just because I don’t cover my scent in potpourri doesn’t mean I’m a rat,” I tell him. “It means I’m not a snake hiding in the tall grass until easy prey comes along.”
“Baby,” a reedy voice interrupts before the asshole can rebut. “There you are. The entertainment is going to start soon, and I want to get a good seat.”
There is no doubt in my mind that this is Brittany, the woman Drew cheated on Bailey with.
Everything about her is fake, and I can’t see the appeal.
Her platinum blonde hair is an obvious dye job, and her overly large breasts are too big on her stick frame to be real.
Her face is wrinkle-free and her lips look almost cartoonish with how plump they are.
“I don’t see your seller token,” I smirk, “yet I see you brought your whore with you.”
Dani snorts beside me, quickly covering it with a cough. The woman’s Botoxed lips curl with disdain, making her even uglier. Jesus, she looks more like a blow-up doll than a human.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Her expression is one of indignation, as if she can’t believe I would dare speak to her like that.
“I’m the man who’s going to take everything away from your boyfriend here,” I sneer. “So I’d get those Botox treatments while you still can. Not that it will change much about that sour expression of yours. There’s only so much surgery can help you with.”
Then I walk away.