Page 56 of Toxic Salvation
“Where’s Vesper?” I don’t bother with pleasantries.
The pause that follows is about three seconds too long. “Uh…”
Pavel’s face goes white. “Oh, shit.”
“Where the fuck is she, Oley?” I growl. “You were supposed to be her shadow. Her fucking guardian angel.”
“She tricked us, boss.” Oley sounds like he wants to crawl through the phone and disappear. “Made this big show of telling us she was going to spend the morning in the gardens, you know? Reading and relaxing. But when we went to check on her, she was gone. Security cameras show her slipping out through one of the side gates around 10:32 this morning.”
“The woman is four months pregnant!” My voice echoes through the car. “She’s highly visible, moving slower than usual, and you still managed to lose her?”
“She’s smart, boss. Smarter than we gave her credit for.”
“No, you’re just fucking incompetent.” I take a deep breath, trying to keep from completely losing my shit. “You’re off Vesper’s detail, effective immediately. Don’t let me see your face again today.”
Pavel ends the call without being asked. “So that’s definitely Vesper in the Mini Cooper behind us?”
“I’m sure of it.”
“Why would she want to follow you around all day? What does she think she’s going to discover?”
“Because she doesn’t trust me,” I murmur. “She thinks I’m lying to her about the Keres.”
I pretend not to notice Vesper trailing us as I drive to the Krayev offices, park, and go inside. I take my time in the lobby, chatting with employees, shaking hands with executives, making sure I’m visible and predictable.
Sure enough, about five minutes after I arrive, Vesper appears.
She’s dressed head-to-toe in black like she googled“how to dress like a spy”and followed the first WikiHow article she found. Her blonde hair is tucked under a dark knit hat and oversized sunglasses cover half her face.
Pavel sidles up to me, trying not to laugh. “What’s the plan here?”
“Nothing complicated. She’s going to do all the work herself.” I raise my voice slightly and start walking toward the elevators. “See you on the ninth floor for the meeting, Pavel.”
“Five minutes! Ninth floor! Copy that, boss!” he crows back so loudly and stupidly that I can only shake my head and try not to laugh.
Precisely five minutes later, Vesper steps off the elevator looking awkward as hell but undeniably sexy in her all-black ensemble. I can barely tell she’s pregnant—the loose sweater hides her growing bump perfectly. I stay tucked in the empty office with asight line to the elevator area as I pull out my phone and call her number.
As predicted, she hasn’t bothered to silence her phone.
And also as predicted,“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”starts blasting through the quiet hallway at full volume. Vesper panics and drops her phone like it’s on fire, the device clattering across the floor.
I walk over calmly, pick it up, and offer it back to her with a straight face. “Your phone, ma’am.”
“Oh, erm, thanks.” She tries to hide behind her hat brim, lowering her voice to what she probably thinks is a convincing disguise. It’s not.
“Are you looking for someone in particular?”
She seems determined to keep up the charade. “Uh, no, no one special. I’m just… I was just leaving, actually.” The fake deep voice she’s attempting makes her sound like she’s been chain-smoking for forty years.
“Or you could stay until I’m done with work, and then we could head to your doctor’s appointment together.”
She freezes mid-step. Her head snaps up so fast I’m worried she might give herself whiplash. Those bright blue eyes meet mine through her ridiculous sunglasses. “You know it’s me.”
I reach over and pull the hat off her head in one smooth motion. Blonde hair tumbles out of its messy bun, cascading over her shoulders. “For the last hour. What the hell do you think you’re doing, Vesper?”
“Nothing…”
I toss her hat aside and step closer, backing her against the wall. Not aggressively—she’s carrying my child, after all—but with enough intent to make my point. “You ditched your security detail, escaped from the house, rented a car under God knows whose name, and spent your morning following me around the city. That’s not ‘nothing.’”
