Page 67 of Duality

He studied me for a moment longer, then nodded. Sebastian appeared at my side, his grin softer than usual, and extended a hand.

“Dance with me, my darling?” he asked.

Before I could respond, he twirled me onto the dance floor as the band struck up an upbeat waltz.

Sebastian’s hand rested lightly on my hip, his movements smooth and effortless. His breath brushed my ear as he whispered, “What did the dead man walking want?”

I laughed. “You and Alexander are just as bad as each other. I am perfectly capable of having a conversation with the man.”

Sebastian shrugged. “Alexander saw the same thing I did when Ryan looked at you.”

“I know,” I said softer. “And I’m not dismissing the danger. But I’m not a stranger to how he was looking at me. Like he wanted to kill me.” Sebastian stiffened at my words, and I squeezed his shoulder. “But I am capable of taking care of myself. Besides, after tonight, he won’t be a problem.”

My words sounded more confident than I actually felt. There was a lot riding on tonight, and there were a lot of variables in place. There were a lot of places for Citadel to evade us, and if they found out we were trying to take them down legally tonight, they had enough resources to disappear into the wind. Then we might never figure out who they were working with. I was also placing a lot of trust in Alexander’s read of the mayor and the police, and I hoped he was right. But if he wasn’t, we would take care of it. Together. Look at me learning to play well with others.

“I know,” he said. “But humor the overprotective men in your life?”

I laughed. “Fine. But don’t think because you four outnumber me that you’re going to get your way all the time.”

Sebastian smiled at me, a warm, affectionate look in his eyes. “You said four. Did Marcus grovel his way into your good graces?”

I rolled my eyes. “He doesn’t need to grovel. I understand why he responded the way he did .”

“I think you should make him grovel. Just a little bit.” Sebastian’s grin was diabolical, and I couldn’t help but grin back. Maybe just a little bit of groveling. Marcus had been an ass.

The music ended and we made our way back to the group. Marcus handed me a glass of wine, and I gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

Across from me, Sebastian mouthed,groveling, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Marcus looked between the two of us and frowned. “I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing when you two plot together.”

I raised my glass and smirked. “You’ll just have to find out…someday,” I said, throwing his words from last night back at him.

“Liam, have you seen Marshall or Julian?” Adrian checked in as he glanced around the room.

“Not yet.”

“Dinner is starting in ten minutes,” I murmured.

What if they didn’t show up? The whole plan revolved around them showing up so they could be arrested. If all three didn’t show up, and we only arrested one two of them, the whole plan would be blown.

“It will be fine,” Alexander said. “At the very least, we’ll take one of them down.”

I nodded, worrying my lip. If we missed even one tonight, the others would scatter like ghosts leaving behind no way to track who the client was and no way to know what they planned next. We had to get all three or the whole plan would unravel.

The emcee stepped onto the stage, and announced that dinner would be served in ten minutes. I needed to duck into the bathroom before then and maybe check in with the rest of my team and the Ghosts. Was Citadel planning on striking our safehouses tonight? Was that where the other two were? Fuck.

I excused myself from the group, ignoring their worried looks. “Bathroom,” I said simply.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll be fine,” I added, shaking the bracelet on my wrist.

Danny had given it to me after an early mission had gone wrong, and I had ended up taken and almost trafficked. I always wore it on missions. I was never going to be one of those people in books and movies who refused to wear a tracker and wound up kidnapped. Again.

The bathroom line was longer than expected, and I could hear the speakers from the ballroom announcing that dinner was being served. I patted my hands dry on one of the luxurious paper towels that all the fancy events seemed to have. When I finally exited the bathroom, the hallway was empty, minus a sole figure leaning against the wall. My stomach tightened as I recognized the silhouette.

“Mr. Jacobs,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. “Can I help you?”