Page 88 of Hell to Pay

I didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror. Where was the girl who worked at the Dive and lived on canned soup? The girl who kept her head down and tried not to be noticed?

The woman in the mirror was beautiful and powerful, and I couldn’t help wondering if I’d been those things all along.

I took a deep breath and lowered the mask, carrying it in my hand as I left the room on the second floor of the safe house where the Bastards had left me to get ready.

I felt like a princess descending the staircase, although there probably weren’t any famous princesses who’d had to put themselves up for sale at a party run by sex traffickers.

The Bastards were in the foyer of the house, looking at the footage from the drone. They looked up as I came down the stairs and froze, their eyes riveted on me as I stepped carefully in the strappy black heels I wore with the dress.

And they weren’t the only ones staring. I’d seen the Bastards in all kinds of attire: tactical gear on their way out to work, sports gear on their way to climb, wetsuits to surf, sweats and shorts and jeans and the nicer clothes they’d worn to dinner in Greece before everything went wrong.

But I wasn’t sure anything compared to the sight of the three of them standing side by side in tailored tuxedos.

“That’s not a dress, it’s an homage to an old movie,” Nolan said.

I laughed. “I think I agree.”

“Jesus, boss.” Jude’s eyes were glued to my body. “I’m not sure I’ve ever worked a mission with a hard-on before, but I guess tonight’s the night.”

Rafe held my gaze as I stepped off the last step, but he didn’t say a word. The look in his eyes said everything I needed to know, about the dress and what had begun to happen between us.

“Did you find out about the masks?” I asked.

“Looks like dealer’s choice,” Jude said. “We’re good to go.”

“And the exit car?” The questions were beginning to come naturally, and I realized I was getting used to the way they lived, to the rules and the preparation and the potential pitfalls.

“Parked a half mile away from the estate and hidden in the trees,” Nolan said.

I hoped it wouldn’t come to a frenzied escape from the party, hoped we’d be able to find the proof we needed without creating a scene, but the Bastards had taught me that it was always wise to have a backup plan or three.

“And the limo’s out front,” Rafe said.

The limo had been a guess. What kinds of cars would rich people drive to an illegal party with trafficked women? Probably the tinted-windows-with-driver kind.

“So we’re ready to go,” I said.

“We’re ready to go,” Nolan said.

They picked up their masks: black skulls with ornate gold detailing around the eyes, nose, and jaw. Unlike my half mask, theirs would cover their full faces, all the better to hide identifying features like facial hair.

I shivered thinking about the Bastards in the masks, all of us entering enemy territory. Would we find Rain Adakai? Would we make it out alive?

I had no idea, but whatever happened now, we were in it together.

57

LILAH

I lookedout the window of the limo, my stomach in knots as the driver pulled up a long driveway behind a line of other limousines. We slowed to a crawl as we approached a massive stone mansion, lights gleaming from every window, the limos working their way around a marble fountain at the center of the circular driveway.

Nolan took my hand. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“I’m nervous,” I said.

He squeezed my hand. “Understandable.”

“We can turn around, call the whole thing off,” Rafe said.

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