Page 112 of Breaking the Rules
Waverly shook her head. “Your part is so important today,” she promised.
“But I wish to stand up to the man who is threatening my family! My father, he has done nothing wrong. He is a good man,” Petra insisted.
“He’s a wonderful man,” Waverly agreed. Feeling her stomach pitch at the thought of her own parent who was now facing danger from Brad. “And we’re not going to let him or anyone else pay the price for Brad’s greed. I know you think your role is small today. But believe me, it’s essential.”
Petra sighed, and Pixie let out a tiny squeak. She put the dog down on the table, and Waverly watched as little Pixie immediately trotted toward the edge.
Waverly levered out of her chair and snatched the pup up, saving her from a steep fall or the miniature suicide she’d planned. Petra didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy staring at Waverly’s left hand.
“This ring?” She grabbed Waverly’s hand and held it up to her face. “Four carats, cushion cut, with the slightest hint of blush,” she assessed. “Does this mean what I think?”
Waverly glanced down at the beautiful stone that winked up at her. “Good eye. Yes, but we’re keeping it under wraps until tonight… when all of this is behind us.”God, she hoped it would be behind them.There was so much more at stake now.
Petra wrapped her in a tight hug, squashing the tiny dog between them. “This absolves me of my guilt!”
Waverly gave a half-hearted laugh. “There has never been anything more than friendship between Dante and me,” she promised. “You have nothing to feel guilty about.”
Petra waved her declaration away. “Dante often tries to protect my feelings,” she confessed with a knowing smile. “But he loves me, and we will be a family soon. And now I can be happy because you are also happy with your Xavier.”
“My Xavier,” Waverly repeated softly. Her Xavier who would move heaven and earth to keep her safe and give her anything she wanted.
Petra nodded. “You two are a team. It is nice to see two people who love and trust each other. Just like Dante and me!”
Waverly handed the squirming ball of suicidal fur back to Petra.
“You are sure that there is nothing more that I can do today to help?”
Waverly shook her head. “Just get dressed in that perfect Petra outfit you and Kate picked out, remember to smile and wave, and this whole thing will all be over soon.”God, she hoped she wasn’t lying.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The Grand Central Market was an eclectic mash of cuisine and culture. Housed in a six-story reinforced concrete building, the market sprawled over the entire first floor throwing up the scents of a hundred different foods. People of all ages and ethnicities wandered the stands choosing prime cuts of meat from delicatessens and lining up for Bento boxes and fresh donuts. The noise, the smells, the entire environment was making Waverly’s stomach churn.
She’d been on missions before but never with stakes this high.
She’d dressed to blend in a baseball hat, plaid shirt, and denim shorts. Her partner in crime, on the other hand, wore a pair of jeans so distressed they could unravel at any second and a voluminous knit poncho in alternating stripes of gray and pink. She too wore a hat, a floppy brimmed sunhat in chocolate brown, and oversized sunglasses.
They sat in a café just inside the market entrance at a table barely big enough for the two cups of coffee Waverly had ordered. She didn’t touch hers, having had more than enough caffeine, a surprise proposal, and then a blazing orgasm already that morning. She didn’t need to get any sharper, or she might shatter into pieces.
On this particular Saturday morning, the market was overflowing with foot traffic. Xavier had chosen the venue well. Crowded and chaotic, the friendly flow of shoppers provided perfect cover for a handful of private security agents, a movie star spy, and the feds that were watching her.
“I hope you’re ready for this, Petra,” Waverly said without moving her lips at the woman across from her.
“You’re looking a little green, Sinner,” Xavier’s voice rang reassuringly in her ear. “You two are going to do great.”
Waverly had to stop herself from asking him to promise her they’d all come out of this unscathed. The stakes were so much higher than they had been just a few hours ago. She picked out a handful of friendly faces in the crowd. Xavier’s team certainly blended better than the six men and women she’d identified as feds. They should have been here to have her back, to arrest Brad for the games he’d been playing with national security. But instead they were here for her.
In the car on the way over, a story had broken about Dante Wrede going missing and Waverly Sinner being the last person to see him alive. The article alluded that police were interested in discussing Dante’s disappearance with her.
Brad was covering his tracks and planning to dump the bulk of his sins in her lap. But she wasn’t going down without a fight.
She glanced around them, pretending to fiddle with her coffee. There was a woman who’d been studying the deli’s sausage links with great enthusiasm for almost ten full minutes. FBI, Waverly assumed. She wondered briefly if this was Brad’s plan, having her arrested here and pinning his crimes on her. She certainly looked guilty enough hanging on to a pouting kidnap victim. Even if the truth came out, she’d never see her mother again.
But he was in show business and having her picked up now lacked the drama of a showdown. Besides, she could hold her own in a battle of he said, she said. No, Brad wanted all the players here so no one law enforcement related would witness their showdown. Someplace private. Someplace he would have control of.
“You’re doing great, Angel. Just hang in there,” Xavier said soothingly in her ear.
“Thanks, X,” she said quietly into her shoulder mic. She shoved her nerves back. There was no room to think clearly if she was panicking on the inside. This would work. She would make it work. And she’d kick Brad square in the balls before the end of the day. The thought comforted her.
