She cocked her head and gave me a saucy smile. “Then stop giving out IOUs. Just because someone saves your life once or helps you walk across the street after a long day doesn’t mean they should command any of your time in the future. Pay them back in kind. With something small. Not like, ‘Sure I’ll watch your daughter at a big event and make sure no one tries to kill or kidnap her. Oh, and it’s okay to neglect to mention that your child is a handful with a coke fiend boyfriend.’”
“Right,” I grumbled. “And she was such a sweet kid.”
“Take off those rose-colored glasses. They don’t look good on you.”
“I hear you.” But I repaid favors. No matter what.
I let out a sigh and put my mind back on work. I looked at Sparrow and Olly and said, “Get her back to the plane safely. Check in when you’re done. And since you’ve been on it tonight, have Max do the report.”
She grinned at me then, and it occurred to me that Sparrow was actually beautiful. Sure, yes, she was attractive. Dark hair, green eyes. Medium-deep skin. Fit. Amazing cheekbones. But beyond the regular physical characteristics, when she smiled, her whole face lit up. And she could warm up a room with that smile alone, but she didn’t show it much. Sparrow was my focused one. If shit went down, she was the one I would likely call first. She wasn’t my most senior team member, but she was the one who would have the ultimate focus during any mission. She worried about getting the solution first, no emotions. Or at least she kept them tucked neatly away. I respected that.
Like you’re an expert at tucking away your emotions.
I was. I could be. Just every now and again, they reared their ugly heads.
“All right, good job today. Check in when you get her on the plane.”
“Will do.” She wagged her finger at me. “Oh, don’t forget to collect the check. That’s my favorite part.”
I grinned. “I’ll admit, it does give me a boost too.”
I stood back as Sparrow climbed into the follow car while Olly stayed at Lilith’s side as he led her to the limousine. Marcus and Aiden were with Sparrow. Max and Nicolai joined Olly in the Limo. Little Miss Coke-Habit was going nowhere tonight, and her loser boyfriend/dealer certainly wasn’t following. Olly and Sparrow would stay in Paris for a few more days to make sure any evidence of Lilith doing anything wild were wiped from all memories and potential mobile phones as well as CCTVs.
“Okay, time for you to get some rest,” Sparrow said from the window as she shot me a look that said she was the one in charge of me…which she wasn’t. At least, most days.
She had a point, but my system was still charged with adrenaline. Didn’t mean I had to like it. I glanced around, sure there must be something else that needed my attention. That was the thing about having a good team. You delegated a lot. And even after a night like tonight when I had to be in attendance because of committed partnerships, it was like my body got geared up for the fight, but then there was no fight. So every time I turned around, I expected something to jump out, something to not be right, something to go dreadfully wrong. But still…nothing.
I headed to the east parking lot, passing women in their fashion-forward glitterati outfits. Some with barely-there swathes of fabric covering nipples and snatches. Others wore flowing evening gowns but with daring-enough slits to make a man look twice. And still others had that fashion-forward vibe but were more covered up. That was the life of fashion shows. Everyone dripped in diamonds, smelled of the most expensive perfumes, and had more skin than clothing showing.
Most of the women had on so much makeup that I had no idea what they actually looked like under all the war paint. Were they that tanned? Or was that healthy glow thanks to a good contourist? Was that even what they were called? Who the fuck knew?
I found my black BMW i8 Roadster right where I’d left it, and I couldn’t help but do a sweep around the car. Checked the undercarriage, searched for explosives, double-checked that everything was, in fact, as I’d left it.
Old habits died hard. Besides, those old habits kept people alive.
Not always.
I swallowed the bite of guilt and regret, used my fingerprint to open my door, and climbed in. There was a sense of familiarity in the car. It was ridiculous to have it flown over for just two weeks, but I’d been hoping for the opportunity to take a few days off and have a drive. It was always best with your own wheels. Getting it shipped back home would take a lot longer, so I’d have to use one of the company cars until then. But it was well worth the luxury of having it in Paris.
At the security exit, I pulled out my ticket, showed them my ID badge, and then was waved through. I drove out onto the teeming streets of Paris. The city was bustling. The venue was a stately affair. Lit up elegantly. The Carrousel du Louvre was the historic primary location of Paris Fashion Week. Every night, the streets of Paris filled with people. Many stopped to take photos in front of the Louvre. Models teetering on their heels like the leggy giraffes they were.
I knew for a fact that Fashion Week wasn’t over. There were more parties, more places to see and be seen. Luckily, I didn’t have to do any of that. I headed out of the central part of the city and away from all the people.
After all, it was Paris, so there were people everywhere all the time. I took my car toward the 16th arrondissement. I was familiar enough with the city to know where I was going without needing GPS. I took the back streets, staying off the main roads. I made a turn at Avenue Foch and took in the sights of the city, trying to figure out how to bring my adrenaline down. It always took too long, and I certainly didn’t like taking sleeping pills. They made me too groggy. And then there were the nightmares that I couldn’t wake up from.
After I made the turn on Avenue Foch, I took a sharp left down one of the quieter streets and headed out of the city. Maybe if I could just get a drive in, open the car up a little, I’d feel more like myself.
I took the next right and drove without much thought to where I was going. It was early fall, so there was a nip in the air. I rolled down the window, letting the chill cool my body. I made a left and a right, getting onto the expressway, and then took an exit I wasn’t familiar with.
It led to a suburb, which surprised me. I knew I would definitely need my GPS heading back to the hotel. I frowned as I came along a deserted tree-covered road between two neighborhoods. The quiet solitude should have calmed me, but instead, my adrenaline spiked. A dewy mist rolled along the edges of the trees, giving them an eerie quality, making my hair stand on end.
Jesus Christ, Kannon, get it together. Nothing was urgent. I didn’t need to focus on anything. There were no bad guys tonight, and I could deal with that.
The road curved to the left, and that’s when I saw headlights up ahead. They illuminated the road, but they weren’t coming from the road. I approached slowly and then parked about fifty feet from where I saw the headlights.
The car had slid into a ditch. Fucking hell. I parked and then ran around to the back of my car to grab a rope and my rappelling equipment.
Not knowing how far down the driver was, the equipment might come in handy.
I ran to the edge of the road. “Hello? Anyone down there?”
There was a soft voice. “Yes, over here.”
A woman. God. My heart hammered in my chest, and I clenched my teeth. Calm down. It isn’t Phoebe. What the fuck was the woman doing out here? Was she drunk? How did she fall in here?