Page 28 of Vex
Luisa groaned and clutched her head in her hands. This man might kill her.
She forced herself to focus on organizing her equipment, shoving data chips and surveillance devices into their proper compartments with more force than necessary.
It felt safer to sit in the living room. She didn't see the attendant, but she was sure he was around somewhere, especially since there was a steaming cup of the tea she liked sitting on the table opposite the couch.
Constant surveillance had a few perks.
She curled in on herself and pushed away any thoughts of the night before, even as her body luxuriated in the ache and stretch of seldom used muscles. She was just starting to convince herself that things might work themselves out when she spotted the white rectangle sitting on the floor by the door. It was so out of place that, for a moment, she didn't realize it was a card.
She crossed the room and picked it up. The words were blocky, the handwriting impossible to identify. But the words made it very clear.
"Lu—Long time no see. Meet me in the Frost Lounge at 4 PM. We have so much to catch up on."
The card felt like ice in her fingers. Her vision tunneled as panic crashed over her. The facade she'd built, the reputation, the safe distance from her past, all of it crumbled in an instant. She was back in the undercity, bloody and broken, listening to Tallyer's promises about what would happen if she ever crossed him again.
Her hands shook so violently she could barely hold the card. Every muscle in her body went tight with remembered fear. She'd been so careful, so thorough in covering her tracks. She'd paid good money for confirmation that Tallyer was dead, had built her new life on that certainty.
But there was no mistaking the handwriting. The same hand that had written her death sentence three years ago was reaching out from beyond the grave.
How long had Tallyer been watching her? How much did he know about her new life, her work with the IDA, her partnership with Vex?
Everything she'd built, every careful step toward legitimacy, could be destroyed with a few well-placed words. Vex would look at her with those cold eyes and see exactly what she really was: a lie trying to pass herself off as something real.
She stared at the card until the letters blurred.
Meeting Brant would be beyond stupid. It would be suicidal.
But she was afraid she didn't have any other choice.
The man could destroy her with a word. They hadn't left on good terms, and Tallyer was a mean son of a bitch. He'd want to make her pay for every imagined score.
The water shut off in the bathroom.
Luisa quickly hid the card in her equipment bag, her hands still shaking.
She could make a few guesses as to what Tallyer might want.
At 4 PM, she was going to find out.
14
Luisa's laugh was too tittering as she responded to Maera's nonsense about her dress. The dress was fine, functional. Vex ignored how it hugged Luisa's curves and reminded him of her pressed against his skin.
The last thing he needed was to remember that.
But his body had other ideas. The memory of her naked beneath him was just there, how she'd felt wrapped around him, slick and tight and perfect. The sound she'd made when he'd buried himself inside her, that breathless cry that nearly drove him to his knees.
His cock stirred, and he shifted to hide his reaction. Something had settled in his chest when he'd claimed her. Like he'd found the missing piece he hadn't known he was looking for. The dragon in him rumbled with satisfaction. Mine. The word echoed with absolute certainty, and he fought the urge to reach for her, to remind everyone exactly who she belonged to.
He forced his thoughts away.
They were on the job.
And Maera Daxkar was a snake.
"You can't just let us girls chitchat, Lord Vex." Maera smiled, pulling him into the conversation. Her expression was carefully crafted warmth and feminine conspiracy, but her eyes remained calculating. "Tell us about your holdings back on Vemion. I'm sure Luisa would love to know." Maera gave her a conspiratorial wink.
It took a beat for Luisa to respond with her empty laugh.
