He stared at me for a long moment before nodding once, and then he was gone.
I lay there for a few more minutes, waiting to see if he’d come back, but when he didn’t I sat up, watching the door.
I’d need to be quick.
I was a little surprised that Dimitri had chosen to stay at the St. Regis instead of a more private home, but it would make it much easier for me to slip out for a few minutes than if he were just down the hall in another room. I had a drop to make to my brothers, all the audio from the train meetings safely tucked away after I’d secured the device before disembarking. It’d been a close call in the lounge when I went to grab it from where I’d hidden it in the curtain. Just my luck that Omar and several others from Dimitri’s crew had been in there having coffee when I walked in. Even better luck that they seemingly couldn’t stand me, or didn’t trust me, and scattered like roaches when the lights came on.
Worked for me. Somehow the device had slid down from where I’d stuck it, and it took me a hot minute to find it.
That wasted time was also why I’d had to grab croissants. Dimitri would’ve been suspicious of why I’d been gone so long if I hadn’t, and I was grateful he’d leaned into the jealous side of his nature rather than the paranoid one.
I quickly threw on some nondescript dark pants and a sweater, not wanting to call attention to myself. It was out of my nature for sure, but necessary tonight. After loading my pants pockets with what I needed—including an unopened pack of cigarettes and a lighter, should any unwanted attention find me—I slipped out of the room and took the stairs instead of the elevator. Though we were staying in a suite on the top floor of the hotel, there were only six floors, so schlepping it down didn’t require any effort at all, unlike the time I’d spent several days with a billionaire banker on the seventy-second floor of a hotel in Singapore. I hadn’t thought my thighs would ever recover after such a burn coming back up.
When I got to the ground floor, I took my time peering out through the exit door, keeping it open only a sliver in case Dimitri and his guys had chosen to do business down here. There were plenty of people milling around, but the weather seemed to be keeping them all indoors instead of wandering out to the garden area on the canal.
Parfait. Then that was where I’d go.
I slipped out of the stairwell and kept to the perimeter of the room, then stepped out into the cold night air.
Merde,no wonder everyone was still inside. It’d gotten even colder as night fell, the breeze off the water making it intolerable.
Just find a hiding spot, make the call, and get back upstairs before your dick freezes off.
I scanned the courtyard, looking for an ideal spot to make the drop so Alessio or one of the others could make the pickup, butit was going to be tricky. All three sides backed up to a building, and directly in front of me was the canal.
Eh, they’d figure it out. If I was an asshole I’d give them a hard time and place it somewhere damn near impossible to get to, just for fun. It was too cold for those shenanigans, though, so I made my way toward the canal, where a row of tables and chairs backed up against the meticulously manicured garden. The trees there were tall enough to block me from view if anyone inside was watching, and I chose a seat in front of them facing the canal.
Crossing my foot over my knee, I drew the compact out of my boot, dialed a number into the hidden phone, and brought it to my ear.
“’Bout time you checked in. We were about to send out a search party.”
I smirked at Alessio’s put-out tone. “Aren’tyouthe search party?”
“Yeah, so let’s not make it for your body.”
“I mean, many would love to search for my body?—”
“If it’s alive.”
“Okay, way to get morbid.”
Alessio sighed, clearly trying for patience. “The drop?”
Right.That’s why I was calling. “In the courtyard, head toward the canal?—”
“If you put it out on the water…”
I chuckled and looked around to make sure no one had come across my hidden spot. “I thought about it, but no. There’s a set of tables and chairs backed up against a fancy little garden. Head to the one that has the three taller trees hiding it. You’ll find it in the middle pot.”
“Got it.” I was about to hang up and hightail it back inside, out of the cold, when I heard, “Everything okay with you?”
The question was unexpected, especially from our tech genius cave dweller, but I appreciated the thought. “Everything’s great.”
There was a pause. “Great? You’re hanging out with one of the most dangerous men in the world. How is that great?”
“Have youseenthe man?”
“Aaand that’s my cue to end this conversation. If things start to benotso great, remember we can always find you an out.”
