“Good.” Dimitri turned away from the window. “Let’s get this deal done.”
Omar lifted his head, looked pointedly at me, and said to Dimitri, “Boss.”
Clearly, he didn’t want me in the room, or even hearing a whisper about any deal, which made the satisfaction I felt at getting his real opinions on the record even better. I couldn’twaitto hear what that guy said when he thought no one was listening.
Dimitri drew me in for a kiss that made me want to linger, but then he pulled back and said, “I’ll find you later.”
The dismissal was clear, and I gave him a cheeky smile as I backed away. “Don’t take too long, or someone might scoop me up.”
He growled in the back of his throat and started toward me, but I laughed.
“No need to worry,mon monstre. Enjoy your meeting.”
Dimitri narrowed his eyes, but unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs by Omar. His second-in-command sneezed twice and then cursed under his breath.
“There a problem?” Dimitri said.
“These fucking flowers.”
“Well, get rid of them.”
My hand was already on the door, and their words had me pausing. Surely they didn’t mean get rid ofmyflowers, because…merde.
I whirled back around to see Omar reaching for the bouquet on the table, andno, no, no, he couldn’t get rid of those. He’d ruin the whole damn plan.
Panic kick-started my heart as I strolled casually back toward them.
“Oh, darling, let me,” I said before Omar got his hands on the vase. “If you’re allergic, you really shouldn’t touch them.”
He glanced up at me, the first eye contact he’d made with me for days, and gave a curt nod before sitting back.
“He can do it,” Dimitri said.
I waved him off. “It’s no problem at all. Truly.” Inside I was screaming, because this was giving me nothingbutproblems. I needed a reason to come back here after I fished the damn device out of these flowers so I could plant it somewhere else before their client boarded. Which, judging by the way the train was already beginning to slow, would be happening any minute now.
A litany of curses erupted in my head as I reached for the vase. I needed to leave something to come back for. What the hell could it be?
My ring tapped against the vase, and that was it. I quickly shimmied it down my finger with my thumb as I lifted the flowers, and as I turned away, I let it fall to the rug. It didn’t make a sound, and I thought I was good to go until Dimitri spoke up behind me.
“Benoit. You forgot something.”
Putain. Scheiße! Fuck.
I turned back around. “Did I?”
“Yes.” Dimitri gestured toward Omar, who stared at his boss for a long moment before swallowing a sigh and looking at me.
“Thank you.”
“Oh. You’re very welcome. You boys behave yourselves.” I shot them a wink and then left the room, bypassing the guard stationed outside the door.
Moving fast, but not enough to attract attention, I headed down the hall and beelined into our suite for the night, shutting the door behind me. As I rummaged through the stalks to find the device, I tried to remember everything I’d seen in the lounge, any easy-to-access places I could use. There would be several pairs of eyes on me, so any move I made would be seen.
Nowhere to hide.
With the tiny piece of hardware in hand, the backing still sticky, I placed it on the backside of my belt end, somewhere I’d have easy access to when I was in the room. Then I took a deep breath, threw my shoulders back, and headed back down the hall.
On my approach, the guard stepped out in front of me, blocking the door.
