Page 22 of A Spy is Born
"They don't ever publish the recordings from the bugs—just use them to figure out where you are going to be, who you are dating.” He raises a brow. “That kind of thing. They call them background bugs." His eyes are holding on to me, and I have to look away.
Staring down at my sneakers I nod. "Thank you," I say.
"You're welcome. They installed them while you were at the premiere. I didn’t want them hearing you and Julian.”
"Is that the only reason you stopped by?" For some reason my voice comes out sounding like a jilted girlfriend. What the what? I force myself to look up at him, one professional to another.
Temperance watches me, not answering the question. His eyes remind me of tiger stones, black and gold swirling together. But also there are flecks of green in there. "No," he finally answers. "I'm here to discuss your first assignment."
I swallow, keeping my eyes on his.I won't look away. Won't be afraid.And yet my body is reacting, adrenaline going again, my heart rate increasing. I keep my face smooth, expressionless…this happens to me every day.
"Okay," I answer.
A smile tugs at his lips, and he takes a sip of water…to cover it?
"You're going to be traveling on this press junket, for the film." I nod. "You'll be in Shanghai for two days." I nod again. "You'll be invited to a party at the American consulate."
This is news to me, but I nod anyway.
"A Russian oligarch will also be there. Vladimir Petrov. He has a crush on you." I raise one brow. "Don't worry," Temperance smiles. "I'm not asking you to do anything untoward." Oh, because spying is so verytoward. "You just need to slip something into his drink."
Both brows shoot up this time. "Drug him?"
Temperance nods slowly, gauging my reaction. "You can imagine that I would have a problem with that, can't you?"
"You've had a bad experience with being drugged. I get it.”
"You get it?” Sarcasm drips off each word.Really, big, strong guy? You get what it's like to be drugged and helpless?
"Vladimir is a bad man."
I let out a jaded laugh. "A bad man. What am I? A toddler?"
"You're an asset." The way he says it makes my stomach drop. I’m not a person. I'm a thing…a thing that has an assigned value. Like a stock or a bond. I swallow and narrow my eyes again.I am a queen.Temperance smiles back… he is a wizard. "I understand your hesitation, but you need to trust me."
"Trust you?”
"Yes." He drops the word like it's a bond, a chain with a lock on it. Something sturdy. Something that will hold.
I want to argue. Somehow, I want to grasp some control over this thing. But all I can do is take hold of the chain and hope it doesn't break.
Chapter Six
Shanghai glitters brighter than LA.
It's the seventh stop on our Asia tour, and by the time our flight is circling the city, I'm exhausted and nervous as a turkey on Thanksgiving.
Over the last few weeks I've fought for sleep, tossing and turning, Jack's corpse haunting me and Temperance's eyes watching me. I’ve missed Archie, who’s staying with Mary while I travel.
Julian sits next to me, reading a newspaper, not staring out the window like a country bumpkin. But he's missing the spires and peaks of the skyscrapers thrusting up toward us, the lights of the city shining into the blackness of night. It's beautiful.
It's where I'm expected to prove my value as an asset.
What would happen if I just didn't do it?That question has flittered through my mind a million times. And there is no answer.
Besides, I made an agreement. I agreed to the transformation of that night in LA from bleak reality to a bad dream for this…for control over me…for the chain with its sturdy lock that I carry with me now.
Someone will meet me in Shanghai to give me the pills—I'm assuming they are pills—to drop into Vladimir's drink.
