“See? Fucking genius,” Josh says. His hand returns to the small of my back, where it begins making little swirling motions.
“You sure that’s our girl?” Sarah asks.
Henn explains why he’s sure he’s got the right Oksana.
“So that means we’ve got a confirmed physical address?” Sarah asks.
“Yep.”
“Wow,” Sarah says. She pauses, the gears apparently turning inside her head. “So it sounds like Oksana supplies the girls for The Club—” She looks at Josh. “Or, if you’d prefer, the Mickey Mouse roller coasters.”
Sarah and I simultaneously burst out laughing and Josh straightens up, abruptly removing his swirling hand from my back.
“It was ananalogy,” he says, looking genuinely annoyed.
“We know, Joshie, we know,” Sarah says, winking at him. “Butit’s still funny.” She looks at me and makes a ridiculously cute cartoon-face and I burst out laughing again. God, I love Sarah. Relief floods me yet again to have her safe and sound.
“Yeah, Oksana’s like this frickin’ old-schoolmadam,” Henn says. “Probably not the brains behind all the tech stuff.”
“She’s probably got a business partner who handles the tech side of things,” Jonas says.
“Definitely,” Henn agrees. “And whoever that person is, he or she knows exactly what the hell they’re doing. Because there’s no finding these guys by accident. And even then,” Henn continues, sipping his beer, “their storefront is just a shell. Their real shit’s gotta be buried way down in the Deep Web. And that’s a scary place.”
“What’s the Deep Web?” I ask.
Henn grins broadly at me.
“Is that a stupid question?” I ask, blushing.
“Oh no, not stupid at all. I’m just so used to hanging out with computer geeks all day long, I forget normal people don’t know about this stuff.” He smiles at me again. “I’m glad you don’t know what it is. It means you’re probably a well-adjusted, happy person.”
I laugh. “I am, as a matter of fact.”
“I can tell,” Henn says. “Happiness is a very attractive quality in a person.”
“Thank you,” I say. My eyes flicker to Josh and I’m shocked to see he’s already staring at me—looking at me like he wants to fuck my brains out, actually. My skin sizzles and pops, yet again.
Josh clears his throat. “So, guys, before Henn launches into The Grand Story of the Deep Web, how about we all do a shot of Patron? We’re in Vegas, after all—when in Rome.”
“Sounds like a fabulous idea to me,” I say. “Do we have Patron in the bar?”
“Of course,” Jonas says. “I made sure of it. My brother is nothing if not predictable.”
Josh strides purposefully behind the bar, grace in motion, flashing me a come-hither stare as he goes.
I feel like he’s pulling me on a string. “I’ll help you out, Playboy,” I blurt, bounding over to the bar.
“Why, thanks, Party Girl,” Josh says.
I stand next to him in the bar and lean into him, involuntarilydrawn to his sheer physicality. He leans his muscled body into mine and whispers softly in my ear. “You ready to cut the middle bullshit yet, Party Girl—see how this story ends?”
“That depends. Are you ready to give me your application?”
He laughs. “I told you—I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
“Well, then. I guess not.”
Ten
