She shook her head fiercely. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Why she said those things. Perhaps she’s jealous. Who knows? Bottom line, I hold zero stock in her opinion.”
“Maybe you should. After all, she was with me for almost two years. Was engaged to me. She damn well knew me better than most.”
His announcement sat on her sternum like a two-ton brick. “I spent fifteen years with you. Does that account for nothing?”
“There’s a vast difference between my relationship with Leena and you.”
Was he bound and determined to hurt her? Decimate her heart until there was nothing left? “Oh, that’s right. You actually fucked my sister,” she stated, unable to keep the bitterness from creeping in. “Whereas you only fake it with me.”
“Avi—”
“Don’t say anything more. My emotions have had enough bruising to last me a lifetime tonight.” Stomach queasy, she turned her back on him and pillowing her cheek in her hand, stared glumly out the Air Racer’s passenger window.
By the time they reached The Fairest Rose’s back alley, she was more than ready to call it a night. Abandoning the vehicle, she made her way inside the building and upstairs to the apartment. She traipsed into her room and listlessly changed into her sleeping gown before going into the bathroom to wash up. Dialing on the faucet, she glanced in the direction of the mirror and caught her reflection. The makeup job she’d labored so painstakingly on now mocked her. She’d wanted to be pretty and desirable for Jerrick. He probably thought she looked as ridiculous as she felt.
She could never compare to the beautiful femme fatale Leena had once been. She didn’t hold a prayer of being the type of woman who would make Jerrick weak in the knees and profess his undying love to. Why oh why had she given in to this stupid urge to be something—someone—that she clearly wasn’t destined to be?
Cupping her hands beneath the streaming cascade pouring from the tap, she splashed her face until her eyes stung from the mixture of hot water and unshed tears. Her motions bordering on painful, she ruthlessly scrubbed her face clean with the lavender soap and watched the residue of her folly swirl down the drain.
Chapter Twenty-One
“There’s no need for you to come to work with me today and scare off all my customers with your glower.” Tugging a brush through her hair, Avily stepped in front of Jerrick, hindering his view of the visio screen. Despite the remaining kernel of anger inside her, she couldn’t help her brief flash of concern at the haggard lines etched around his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink last night.
That made two of them.
He ran a hand down his face before peering up at her from the sofa. “We’ve gone over this. Until I get a hold of Casper’s research and pass it over to those bastards, I don’t feel safe leaving you alone for too long.”
“I won’t be alone. I have customers in and out all day.”
He offered her a grudging nod. “Fine. Just make sure your fanny is back up here by six. I want to get an early start over to the club.”
“Sorry, but that won’t work for me.”
His dark eyebrows formed a deep V. “What do you mean it won’t work for you?”
“It’s Saturday.”
“And? You have a hot date tonight?”
Of course he would forget. How very typical. “Yes. With Thane.”
His trademark scowl zipped right in place. “Damn it, Avi. Not tonight. Call and cancel.”
The nugget of anger quadrupled in size. “I don’t freakin’ think so.”
He shoved his hands through his hair before stretching forward and thunking his elbows on his knees. “Look, I know you’re pissed about last night. Don’t use this as an opportunity to pay me back for it.”
Gods, she wanted to clobber him. “Believe it or not, every decision and thought I make doesn’t revolve around you. I promised Thane before any of this happened that I’d have dinner with him. I’m not going to break my word.”
“For fuck’s sake, this job is more important than a date.”
“You don’t even have a plan yet for breaking into Casper’s lab.”
“I do now.”
She glared at him. “Oh, you just happened to devise one in the last five seconds? How convenient.”
His thin smile held no trace of humor. “No, I put good use to my insomnia. Whittling out a course of action seemed more productive than tossing and turning all night.”
She refused to let her concern reblossom over his lack of sleep. “And what is this grand scheme you’ve hatched?” She expected him to hold her off as usual, so it came as a welcome surprise when he steepled his fingers in front of him and laid out his strategy to her.
“It’s nothing fancy or elaborate, but time definitely won’t be on our side. Getting into Francesca’s apartment isn’t the obstacle. Getting Casper’s records out of there is. The only way we can successfully sneak everything out is if no one is around.”
“Go in after closing?”
“I thought of that. But we’d still have overnight staff to worry about. Not to mention I don’t know how light a sleeper Francesca is. I could always knock her out…” his crooked grin countered the beginnings of her rebuttal, “…but I have a hunch you’ll shoot that idea dead in the water.”
“Hell yeah. I happen to like Francesca.”
“I didn’t mean I’d do it physically. I’d slip something in her drink. But I think my other option is better.” Easing to his feet, he rolled his shoulders, working out the kinks. It took all the strength she possessed not to crumple into a mindless puddle of drool.
Damn him for being such a destructive force on her heart and body. “What’s Plan B?”
“We trip the fire alarm. It’ll get everyone evacuated from the club and grant us approximately thirty minutes before emergency services arrive. I’m counting on all that goddamn traffic to pad our time to an extent.”
She couldn’t resist giving him a smirk. “Told ya Amora Moon was the perfect thief’s holiday.”
His mouth curved in a reluctant smile. “You’re never going to let me hear the end of this one, are you?”
“Nope.”
“So what do you think of the plan?”
She mulled it over, her foot tapping the floor restlessly. “It is simple. I like that. But the time frame makes me nervous. What if Casper has some heavy-duty security on his lab entrance?”
“I’ve already factored that in. Odds are there isn’t even a lock on the door. Why would he need it if he and Francesca are the only souls who’d have access to that area? But playing devil’s advocate, if there is one, worse comes to worse, I’ll use my magic.”
She gaped at him. “You never use your magic.”
“Yeah, and I’ve never had a job of this magnitude before. I’m flexible.”
Holy shit. That would be one for the record books. She almost wished he would have to use his magic, just so she could hold it over him the rest of his life.
Petty, but oh so worth it.
“In that case, you have my approval. I think it’s a damn good plan.”
He beamed.
“But we’re not doing it tonight.”
His smile dissolved and reconfigured into the mother of all pissy scowls. “You’re breaking that date, Avi.”
“If you’re so damn insistent on it, then you call Thane.”
He held out his hand. It took all the control she had not to whip her hairbrush at him. “I was being sarcastic.”