Page 31 of A Shade of Myself
“Of course not. I’m of paramount importance.” Tatiana patted her hair coyly.
I dropped my lipstick into my purse. “Can we take Giselle on rather than Boris Badanov?”
Tatiana snickered, then smoothed out her expression. “Stay professional, Miriam. Fine. But if my reputation suffers, I will throw you to the wolves.”
I snorted and she glared at me.
“You know what I mean.”
“I won’t screw up.”
She ran a finger through the condensation on her gin and tonic. “I haven’t been to Moscow in a while. This might be the perfect time to visit. Dust off the old skills.”
“You want to get back in the game firsthand?”
She shrugged. “Not permanently, but your drive to get the most out of every case is contagious. I’d forgotten how fun it could be.”
I opened my mouth to protest that I wouldn’t call murder, manipulations, and threats by vamps and Lonestars fun, except that wasn’t exactly true. “In that case, you’re welcome.”
“Suck-up,” Emmett said under his breath.
My boss glanced up. “Ah. Here comes Giselle. I’ll tell her the good news.” She got out of the banquette and went to speak with our newest official client.
Tatiana had given me a long leash, but it still was a leash. She could strip away safety measures and alliances I’d built up should she choose, not to mention place roadblocks in my path to find my parents’ killer. If Giselle’s case was a bust, Tatiana wouldn’t shrug and move on. Would she shorten the leash? Or strangle me with it?
Emmett nudged my foot. “Assume the worst, prepare for the worst.”
“That’s not the saying. It’s ‘hope for the best but prepare for the worst.’”
“Not the way Tatiana sees things.” Emmett saluted me with his drink. “L’chaim.”
