Page 30 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

I quickly folded my arms across my chest. “No, Liza, I wasn’t planning on dressing up for the extraction tonight.”

“Oh.” She pushed around a piece of pancake with her fork as she kept staring at me. “I think you should reconsider that. A little mascara maybe…”

“Drop it, Liza,” V said as he placed a plate down in front of me.

I didn’t look up at him, I just continued to stare back at Liza. “Why?” I doubted Liza even owned mascara. So why was she badgering me to put on makeup? I needed the momentary distraction. Soon she’d be rapid firing questions at me.

She looked down at her food. “I just think that it’s important to always look your best.”

Really? I was pretty sure she hadn’t combed her hair in a week.

“Liza, I said drop it.” V’s voice rumbled lower than usual.

Liza pressed her lips together, like she wanted to continue talking and the only thing preventing her was V’s disdain.

“What's this about?” Eli asked. “We agreed to talk about everything during our nightly meetings. The two of you going behind our backs and discussing…”

“Us?” V said, cutting him off. “What we’ve been doing doesn’t exactly compare to what you and Sadie are doing together behind our backs.”

“What?” Liza’s voice was almost a whisper. “What have they been doing behind our backs?”

“Nothing,” V said and handed Eli a plate too. It clattered against the table. “Nothing important.”

I could feel V’s anger radiating off him as he sat down across from me.

Liza looked back and forth between V and Eli. “Okay. But, V, I still think it’s a good idea…” her voice died away when V glared at her.

“Really, I’m curious,” I said. “Why would it be a good idea for me to dress up tonight?”

“I just think that if things go south it would be nice if you could distract Don or at least bait him into not hurting us or to maybe even tell us something important.” Her words came out so fast that V didn’t even have time to clamp his hand over her mouth. Which he did. One second too late.

Liza’s eyes got wide, but she didn’t look upset. She looked oddly happy that V was touching her.

“I doubt that I could distract him. V, would you please let me have a conversation with Liza?”

“You don’t need to listen to her, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

That seemed to snap Liza out of her stupor. She shoved V’s hand away. “And why not? Don loved Summer's mom. Maybe he loved her aunt too. And Summer looks just like them. He probably loves her too.”

Loves me? The thought made a chill run down my spine.

“He literally blew up her aunt,” V said.

“Regardless. Don’s physically attracted to her. Obviously. I think we should use whatever we can to our advantage. Besides, she’s his target, not us. And if things go south tonight, I don’t want to die.”

“You just want me to die?” I asked.

Liza sighed. “That’s not what I said.”

It didn’t matter what she said. It’s what she meant. Suddenly my news didn’t seem so bad. At least I wasn’t wishing death upon any of them. “I’m not,” I said. “I’m not his target.”

Everyone turned to me.

“Of course you are,” Liza said. “Don followed you here. You’re the only reason any of us are in this mess.”

“Maybe he came here because of me. But I don’t know if he stayed because of me. Don loves a challenge. And what bigger challenge is there than to take the turf of the New York City vigilante?”

V laughed. The low tone made my stomach flip over. “I don’t think so, Sadie.”

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