“Hey, P.” A girl with curly dark hair came to stand beside Piper. “You heading out?”
“Yeah,” Piper said with an apologetic smile. She hiccupped again. “My cousin Louann is in town for Carnival. I promised to show her around if she visited, so—”
“It’s nice to meet you.” The girl extended her hand. The attitude shift was palpable.
She’s okay with me now that she knows I’m not a threat, Lou realized, and something about the ridiculousness of it—that this girl would view her as a threat for this reason above any other—made her smile.
“Hey,” Lou said, and shook the offered hand. Then she adjusted her jacket to make sure it stayed over her guns.
Piper prattled on. “You were having a good time and I didn’t want to interrupt and—”
The girl intercepted by placing a hand on Piper’s shoulder. “It’s fine. We’re heading over to Veronica’s anyway. Amy wants to smoke. You guys can come if you want.”
“No, that’s not her scene,” Piper said, pointing at Lou. “We’ll probably walk around the Quarter then get beignets and coffee. She’ll be out cold before midnight.”
Lou said nothing.
The girl gave Piper a long, pitiful stare, and then sighed. “Call me later.”
“Yeah, sure.”
With one last, lingering look, Scarlett followed her friends up the crowded street.
“I’m going to hell,” Piper whispered.
With a tight smile, she waved to the departing group one more time.
“I’m terrible. She’s probably going to go home and cry about this. I’m the one who invited her out and got her hopes up. Why did I do that? I’m so dumb.”
Lou couldn’t help but grin. “She’ll live.”
Piper nudged her hard with an elbow. “Shut up. If Dani would just return my freaking calls I wouldn’t be here right now. Besides, you’re one to talk, with your Italian stallion drama. Oh, speaking of which, King said he couldn’t get anything on the mystery stalker. Her face didn’t match any of his data sweeps. He suggests that you ask Konstantine.”
Lou slid her glasses down on her face, hiding her eyes.
Piper hiccupped again. “I could come with you to talk to him. I can even do the talking. I’m feeling pretty chatty right now.”
“He’s in Venice.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to Venice.” Piper threw an arm around Lou’s shoulder. “Isn’t it Carnival there too? How cool would that be to visit actual Venice during Carnival?”
Lou glanced up the street at the drunks leaning against buildings and laughing loudly in the streets. The smell of piss hung around them. No doubt someone was relieving themselves against a brick wall.
Piper tugged on her wrist. “Come on. Let’s do it. I’ve got the photo on my phone and we need to know who this woman is and what she wants with Fish. And I need a distraction from a certain MIA journalist.”
“You realize it’s four in the morning there,” Lou said. “Konstantine will probably be in bed.”
A sly smile flickered across Piper’s lips. “I mean, we need to know who this woman is, so…”
With a resigned sigh, Lou pulled Piper into the deep shadow of a darkened stoop. She leaned her body against Piper’s and heard the girl’s throat click. But already her attention was sliding away, searching the other side of the world for her intended target.
Something fell into place, and like a current inside her, the waters changed. The pull swept through her. Lou let go, giving herself over to it.
She had been expecting a hotel room. Or maybe a room in a villa, if Vittoria was any kind of hostess.
What she hadn’t been expecting was a large and opulent ballroom full of swelling music, writhing bodies, and full-costumed regalia.
Her first thought—It’s nearly dawn—was drowned in the melancholic music of strings. She couldn’t see the violins, violas, or cellos, but their twined voices echoed below the cavernous ceilings and the women in busty corsets and ornate masks swayed and laughed. Men in long jackets stood speaking to one another. Pairs danced in the center.
Lou spotted Konstantine immediately. She knew it was him even with the mask.
He had one arm over the back of a velvet chair. His clothes weren’t archaic or costumed like the others around him. He wore a simple black suit, perfectly cut to his body, and an open red shirt beneath. His mask was also red, covering only the top half of his face.
He was speaking to the woman beside him, a beautiful blonde with large, radiant curls. Her breasts were pushed up nearly to her chin by the white corset she wore. Her costume resembled a peacock, from the long, willowy feathers protruding from her shimmering mask to the cape and dress filled with those same placid eyes.
Piper stumbled beside her, seizing her arm as she righted herself. “Whoa. Look at this place!”
It was this movement that drew Konstantine’s eye. The smile on his lips faltered for a moment, and he touched the woman’s arm, excusing himself.
The bodies in the room parted.
“Oh boy,” Piper murmured, nudging Lou. “Here he comes. That’s Konstantine, right?”
“Why are you giggling?”
“I don’t know.” Piper covered her mouth. “It’s funny. Look at him.”
Konstantine stopped just short of her, regarding her through the dark slits of his ruby mask. “Ciao.”
Lou raised an eyebrow. “Ciao.”
“Is that booze over there?” Piper pointed at a bar on the right side of the dance floor. A man in a black-and-white suit and white plaster mask was behind it, refilling glasses. “I’m going to get a drink.”
Something hard pressed into Lou’s open hand. It was Piper’s phone.
“5567,” Piper whispered into Lou’s ear. “It’s the last picture I took.”
“Take this,” Konstantine said, reaching behind his head to untie his mask.
“Oooo, okay. Thanks.” Piper tied Konstantine’s mask over her face and struck a haughty pose, with one hand on her hip. “How do I look?”
Konstantine nodded. If Piper saw it, she made no further reply, already making a beeline for the bar.
“Is she safe here?” Lou asked, watching her weave through the bodies. She noticed that they did not part for her the way they had for Konstantine.
“With her face covered,” he replied. He shifted to the right, and Lou followed his gaze. She wasn’t surprised to find Stefano there, lurking in the dark. She hadn’t spotted him as quickly or easily as she had Konstantine, but she’d known he would be close. Something about the man’s possessiveness of Konstantine amused her. The cold look he gave her only made her smile deepen.
Konstantine dragged a thumb across his cheekbone, and Stefano nodded once.
“What does that mean?” She mimicked him, dragging her thumb across her cheek.
“He’ll look after her,” Konstantine said with a half-smile. “This is neutral territory and no one should cause trouble, but just in case.”
“Shame,” Lou said. “I’m in the mood for a fight.”
She was very aware of his body beside her. He was turned, his feet pointing toward hers, his hands clasped loosely in front of him. And his smell. It was heady. It made her think of a deep wood, an endless forest full of moonlight.
“Yes, I imagine all of this hunting and not killing is a challenge for you,” he said, watching her face carefully. “Does it remind you of your days tracking Angelo?”
“Yes,” she said, realizing the truth of it for the first time. “Yes, it’s like that.”
Silence stretched between them. She found she couldn’t figure out how to start the conversation.
Just show him the picture. What’s wrong with you?
“I thought you’d be in bed,” she said.
“The party will continue until dawn.”
She nodded, as if this mattered.
“When I saw you, you already had your eyes on me,” Konstantine said. Lou admitted, only to herself, that she en
joyed listening to him speak. “How did you know it was me?”
She shrugged in her leather jacket. “You forget how much time I’ve spent watching you.”
“I’m flattered.” But he didn’t sound flattered. His laugh was tight and tired.
She glanced toward the white peacock, who’d fallen into conversation with another woman. But her gaze slid to Lou every few seconds.
“Is that your hostess?” Lou asked. “Vittoria.”
“Yes.”
“Will she mind that I’ve crashed her party?” Lou’s eyes slid instinctively to Piper. She was on the dance floor now, swaying with everyone else, pausing only long enough to take a long drink. Several feet away, Stefano lurked dutifully.
“I will explain that you’re with me,” he said softly. “Though I suspect she knows you can come and go as you please.”
If Vittoria isn’t the reason for his fatigue, it must be me, she realized.
His low voice interrupted her thoughts. “Dare I hope that you came to see me simply because you missed me?”
He was looking at her now. She felt the gaze on the side of her face.
She lifted the phone, punched in the passcode, and found the app that opened Piper’s photos. The last ones were actually selfies of Piper in the bar. Before that, three photos of Lady with her head on her paws. The blurred tail suggested an enthusiastic wag. It was nearly ten photos back before she found Fish’s mysterious stalker.
“A woman is following Fish. She’s tracking him like I am.”
“Exactly as you are?” Konstantine asked, eyebrows rising.
“No. She’s using more conventional methods. King looked into her but couldn’t find anything.”
Konstantine opened a text message and sent the photo of the woman to a number he punched in. Lou heard the buzz in his pocket.
He looked at the photo for a long time, before handing the phone back to her.
“Have I offended you?”
Lou met his gaze. “Your heart’s still beating. I’m pretty sure I’ve shot everyone who has ever offended me.”
His lips twitched with a smile. “I’ve only noticed that you haven’t come to see me since…”
She arched an eyebrow, wondering if he was going to say it right here in the open. They were somewhat alone in their corner of the ballroom. But Lou had no doubt ears were listening.
“Since the shower,” he finished.
“I’ve been busy.” Lou shifted in her leather jacket again. She felt the guns rub against her ribs. It made her feel better, knowing they were close.
“I’m also busy.” His eyes traced her jaw before focusing on her lips. “And I still want you in my bed every night. You sleep, don’t you?”
“Not always at the same time you do.” She met his eyes, and an icy wind rolled through her. The wind was of her own making, she knew it. She was steeling herself against…whatever this was. “What do you want from me?”
“You.”
The ice hardened in her chest and stomach. Even her limbs grew heavy with it. She looked away first.
“I’ll find this woman for you,” Konstantine said, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Even if it’s only an excuse to see you again.”
He bowed his head, rolling his eyes up to meet hers, and then backed away with one hand over his heart. She watched him go with a strange sensation in her guts. It was an ache. Not unlike hunger.
Piper saw Konstantine crossing the floor and bounced over to him. She was offering the mask, her hands already behind her head, ready to untie it, but he waved her off with a kind smile.
Then Piper was bounding across the room toward Lou.
“This place is amazing! Free booze and free food. They’ve got a bunch of those little cakes and something that I really hope was sausage. Oh, and the ladies! God, there’s this one who is soooo cute. I don’t know a word she’s saying, but that’s probably for the best, right? Talking is where I usually go wrong. Talking is the worst. That’s why I’m a listener. People think it’s because I’m sweet but really it’s because I’m smart.”
Lou watched Konstantine take his place beside his host again, and the possessive way she leaned into him while meeting Lou’s gaze made the hairs on her arm rise.
“Yes,” Lou agreed. “Talking is the worst.”
23
Piper sat up in bed and instantly regretted it. The world whirled around her, falling into a tailspin. The room kaleidoscoped out of focus.
“Whoa.” She fisted her sheets as if they would stop her whirling. “Man, what did I drink?”
Her head throbbed and instantly was made worse by the earsplitting tone. She groaned, fumbling for the device on her side table, desperate to end the Troye Siven “Fools” ringtone as quickly as possible.
“Hello,” she croaked. Her tongue scraped over her teeth like sandpaper. She tried to clear her throat. “Hello, hi?”
She saw the glass of water on the side table and the bottle of aspirin. A memory of Lou placing them there surfaced in her mind. That would explain the fact she was still in her clothes and smelled like booze. At least Lou had removed her shoes before dumping her onto the mattress. Had she stayed the night? Piper couldn’t remember.
Propped against the glass was a note in Lou’s simple print. Squinting, Piper read, Payback is coming.
Even with the smiley face at the end, it wasn’t a note one wanted to receive from Lou Thorne.
Payback? Payback for what? What did I do?
But then she remembered. She’d promised Lou she would be the one to talk to Konstantine, but at first chance, she left her alone with him in favor of the open bar.
Oops.
“Hey. Hi. It’s me.” Dani’s voice faltered. “Were you still sleeping?”
Something in her tone encouraged Piper to check the time. She pulled the phone from her ear and squinted at the screen. It was almost ten. She was supposed to be at the shop ten minutes ago.
“Oh shit.” Piper threw back the covers and seized the aspirin. She tapped four out into her hand and drowned them with the water.
“If this is a bad time—” Dani began.
“No, no.” Piper stumbled from the bed to the adjacent full-length mirror. Her clothes were rumpled but passable. She smelled a little like booze, but nothing some deodorant and a couple sprays of body mist wouldn’t fix. She would wash her face, brush her teeth, grab a granola bar from the cabinet. If she was quick about it, she would only be about twenty minutes late. “What’s up?”
She put the phone on speaker so that she could shoot Mel a text. Out with Lou last night. Overslept. So sorry. See you in five.
Piper got the thumbs-up emoji for her trouble.
“I wanted to apologize for not contacting you again,” Dani said, her voice echoing through the speaker phone as Piper went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. “Something came up and I got distracted.”
“It’s okay,” Piper said, fishing a washcloth off the shelf. “I’m glad that you called.”
And to her surprise, she was.
“I was hoping that you could come by tonight for dinner at my place. I’d like a chance to explain. Again.”
“I close tonight,” Piper said, balancing the phone on the ledge above the sink so she could splash hot water on her face. “How do you feel about a late dinner? Ten thirty?”
“It’s perfect,” Dani said. “I’ll text you my new address, okay?”
It wasn’t a full minute after the call ended that Piper’s phone buzzed. She recognized the small neighborhood north of the Garden District. If Dani’s new place was there, then she was paying at least two grand a month in rent.
“Ouch.” Piper whistled, stuffing the toothbrush slathered in paste into her mouth.
When she closed Dani’s text, her eye caught on a number she didn’t recognize. She frowned at it, opening the text with a press of her thumb.
There was the image of the woman, Fish’s stalker, staring back at her.
“Oh s
hit,” she said, realizing what she must be looking at. Her thumb raced over the keypad. Konstantine?
A moment later, sì, piper.
Piper spit into the sink. You better not have installed any tracker crap on my phone dude.
Or what? What was she going to do if he had? Ask Lou to kill him?
She sighed and added, Just use the photo to find the chick, k?
I have only the photo.
“Lies,” Piper grumbled, scooping water into her mouth from the running faucet. Of course she couldn’t say anything. She’d given Lou the phone to begin with, and it wasn’t like Konstantine was supposed to memorize the photo with his eyes or something. But the idea of a crime lord with her information, even one on their side, didn’t leave her feeling particularly secure.
May I ask you a question?
Piper looked into the mirror. To her reflection she said, “See. This is how it starts. One second you’re texting it up with the gangsters, the next you wake up in a whorehouse in Siberia.”
About? she wrote, eyebrows raised.
Our mutual friend
She reread the text several times. With each pass, a dropping sensation intensified in her stomach. She knew she was on a precipice here and that it would be so easy to cross over to the other side, a darker, more dangerous side.
“Damn,” she murmured, and typed her reply. You can ask, but I reserve the right to not answer.
Into the mirror, she said, “She better not kill me for this.”
* * *
When Piper locked up the shop at ten minutes after closing that night, she expected to see Mel’s husband lurking in the streets outside. But there was no sign of him. Still she lingered at the entrance until she saw Mel ascend the stairs, Lady on her heels, and disappear into her apartment. Only then did she take off through the Quarter, maneuvering through the bodies that stood between her and the St. Charles Avenue streetcar stop.
She tracked her progress on her phone, the little blue dot of her position moving as she moved, until she found herself in front of a pink stucco building with old French windows. In the foyer, there were four buttons. Piper mashed the one beside Dani’s name.
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