Steal the Day (27 page)

“Shit,” Daniel cursed under his breath.

“You don’t have to have anything to do with it, Danny.” Even to my own ears I sounded petulant.

Dev walked from around his desk and pulled my hand to his lips. “She wouldn’t be Zoey if she weren’t so stubborn. Again, it’s your choice, Daniel. You can go with us and we can run the job as planned, or she takes it in an entirely new and insanely dangerous direction. I will be going with Zoey. We can all go together or you can go alone. I think you’ll find me immensely useful in Vegas, but I have to think of Zoey first.”

I knew there was a litany of curses running through Daniel’s brain, but he took a deep breath and sat back. “Fine. We need to be in Vegas at least two days before the ball. I have meetings to attend. I have a room at the Flamingo.”

Dev actually shuddered. “Not anymore, you don’t. We’ll stay at my place. I have a penthouse at the Palms. My club is located there. The Council has already contacted me about hosting some of the events, so it won’t be such a surprise for me to be there. The penthouse has enough room for all of us, including Neil.”

Daniel’s jaw firmed, his eyes lowering as if he was attempting to contain some well of emotion. “You can’t expect me to share a room with you and Zoey.”

Dev looked him straight in the face, not flinching a bit. “I don’t expect it, Daniel. I require it. How exactly did you intend to explain my presence at this ball? I can be in Vegas for business, but that won’t get me into the ball.”

Daniel ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Everyone brings their crew.”

“Their retinue, Daniel. Stop talking like a kid off the streets,” Dev corrected. “Does everyone’s retinue include their wife’s lover? Think for a moment and you’ll realize what we all have to do.”

Daniel got up and started pacing. “You want me to take you to the ball as my lover? Dev, no one is going to believe that.”

Dev waved a hand toward the club outside his door. “They already do. Every cell phone in the supernatural world has been ringing tonight with the news that Daniel Donovan enjoyed a threesome with his wife and her lover. They’re shaking their heads because now it all makes sense. Why would you kill me when you could enjoy me? How do you think a vampire makes his fortune? He doesn’t work on Wall Street. He takes wealthy lovers. Hide in plain sight, Daniel. That is the only way this works.”

Daniel let out a long, deep breath. He looked over at me, and his expression was one of naked pain. “How the hell did we get here, Z?”

The enormity of everything that had happened, that would happen, was crashing in on me. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to be a queen. I didn’t want to fight the Council. I didn’t want to mix my lover up in Daniel’s seemingly unavoidable destiny. My fears must have shown on my face because Dev hugged me tightly.

“It’s going to be all right, sweetheart,” Dev said, stroking my hair. “I know you’re used to being in control, and you still are. If you still want to leave, I’ll fuel the jet. We can be on the beach by dawn. It’s your choice.”

I looked at Daniel, who averted his eyes, choosing not to watch. It would be so much easier to leave. I could laugh and play and love Dev. And Daniel would probably die, and everyone I knew and loved would be in danger. Why couldn’t I break with him? Even after everything that had happened, I knew in that moment that I would never have gone through with it. I would never have left Daniel. Even the limbo we were in was better than nothing at all. “No. I’ll go to Vegas. I’ll be what he needs.”

Dev nodded. “I’ll handle everything. Now you, my love, need to go on up to the grotto and horribly disappoint your father’s girlfriend. Daniel and I are going to go back to the club and try to look like two men who just made one woman very happy. I believe the Mavs are playing. Shall we?”

Daniel looked at me for a long time before getting up and joining Dev. When they were gone, I sat back in my chair and wondered if I wouldn’t have been better off with Stewart.

Chapter Seventeen

“What is this?” I stared down at the sheet of paper Dev handed me as the limo pulled away from the airport. I glanced back at the small jet we’d flown to Vegas in. It was a private plane, one he’d borrowed from the corporation he owned. My boyfriend really did know how to live.

“It’s your itinerary.” Dev passed out a schedule to both Daniel and Neil. “There are several things you need to do while we’re here.”

I scanned the list, grimacing a little. Since Dev took over as Daniel’s advisor, I’d discovered he was damn serious about schedules. “I have three fittings? What am I trying to fit into?”

“He has me down for fittings, too.” Daniel frowned.

“Did you think I was going to let you wear a
Hellboy
T-shirt to the ball? And don’t try to tell me you brought a suit. You need a tux, and I don’t trust you to not buy something in powder blue with ruffles,” Dev explained. He turned to me. “As for you, your dress was custom made, and it needs to be fitted.”

Daniel was still staring at the itinerary. “And what the hell does this mean? This asshole has me brooding every day from seven to nine.”

A little smile curled Dev’s lips up. “That would be your free time. If you can think of something to do besides brood, feel free. Would you like me to try to fit in some scowling time? Perhaps time to rail against fate?”

Daniel shook his head, but I could see the slightest hint of smile. Danny always had a good sense of humor. It was good to see it making a small comeback.

Neil practically hyperventilated. “I have spa time!”

“I thought you would like that,” Dev acknowledged. “It’s one way to make up for spending most of your time babysitting.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.” I didn’t fool myself that he was talking about someone else. Daniel and Dev had spent endless hours discussing how to best protect me. It was obnoxious.

This time when Daniel laughed, Dev laughed with him. Dev was smart enough to cover his smile with a cautious hand. “Consider Neil an escort.”

“Consider Neil an order, Z,” Daniel said, crossing his arms defensively. “This place is going to be full of vampires. You don’t walk out of that room without one of us. Most of the time, it’s got to be Neil.”

Dev’s eyes widened, and he shot Daniel a look that plainly said “Shut the hell up and let me handle her.” Daniel’s mouth quirked in an obvious “Good luck handling that, dude.”

The men in my life had started having entire conversations about me with looks and gestures. Neil and I made up the dialogue in our heads and compared notes. Strangely we came up with different takes on the same conversation. Neil’s mostly consisted of both of them realizing they really loved each other and throwing down on the floor for some homoerotic bliss. I glanced at Neil and he grinned. I knew my babysitter had a new fantasy about a limo.

“Sweetheart, I would feel so much better about this whole enterprise if I knew you were protected.” Dev slid a hand over mine. Dev was never content to just hold my hand. His thumb made sensual promises against my wrist. “We’re very close to an actual physical entrance to the Hell plane. It makes sense to have a bodyguard.”

“And a shopping buddy,” Neil pointed out. “Hey, Zoey, let’s get those big margaritas you can wear around your neck and then we can storm Prada.” Neil turned to Dev, his mouth turning down. “With the money Zoey and I have, we can probably buy a whole key chain.”

Dev was good-natured about being milked for cash. He pulled his wallet out of a pocket in his sport coat and extracted a jet black card. I thought for a moment Neil was going to cry. His hand whipped out, but Dev held back. “Neil, do you know what this is?”

“The key to my heart,” Neil replied with an adoring smile.

“This has no spending limit. When you flash this card, every salesperson within a two mile radius will come running. They will offer you champagne, caviar, hell, they’ll give you a foot massage in the middle of the store. They will do anything to get you to use this little piece of plastic.” Dev squeezed my hand. “So, what do you say, sweetheart? Should I give your bodyguard the keys to the kingdom?”

I rolled my eyes because I was so perfectly caught there wasn’t even a way to yell at him about it. “Bastard,” I managed to mutter, but it came out as an affectionate grumble. “I’ll shop.”

Neil kissed the card as Dev passed it to him. “I’m going to protect you with my life,” he whispered to the card lovingly. “You too, Z.”

Dev shot Daniel a look that said “See that’s how you handle a woman. You go through her gay husband.” And Daniel wordlessly replied with “Well played, dude with endless cash.” Neil was watching the two of them, and I had a suspicion in his version they were already kissing. I caught Neil’s attention, and he wagged his eyebrows lasciviously to let me know I was right. I couldn’t help but dissolve into laughter.

The boys shifted their eyes between me and Neil and then looked back at each other, trying to figure what we were laughing at. They seemed deeply confused, and it just made me laugh more.

The limo pulled up to the Palms, and Daniel got out, followed by Neil. I waited for Dev. He always got out of the car first and then opened the door for me. He even got pissed when a valet tried to help me out. It was something he enjoyed doing, so I didn’t scramble out of the limo after Neil, preferring to wait for Dev. Instead of getting out, he stopped Neil, tugging on his coat. Daniel was halfway in the building when he noticed no one was following him.

“Neil,” Dev began, completely losing the counselor’s smooth tones and sounding reckless again. “Spend whatever you want, and I mean whatever. Go crazy, buddy, but you have to do me two favors.”

“Anything.”

“One, lingerie,” Dev said. “I don’t mean that pretty Victoria’s Secret shit. I want slutty. I want to be able to eat it off her body, man. If it requires double A batteries, consider that a plus. Two, buy her shoes. She wears a seven and a half. Manolos, Jimmy Choos, good, high-end stuff. She’s going to try to talk you into a kitten heel. Screw that. I want a full-blown cat. Nothing under a four-and-a-half-inch stiletto. I look particularly good in jewel tones. Understood?”

Neil gave Dev a quick salute. “She’ll look like your wet dream by the time I’m done with her.”

Dev let him go and sat back. “You can’t imagine my wet dreams, little boy. Now, go tell your master I’ll have his queen back in plenty of time for the party. I have to debrief her, you understand.”

The limo door slammed shut. When he turned to me, I had to catch my breath. The last two days Dev had been very much in a professional mode. He’d been affectionate but circumspect out of respect for working closely with my husband. That cool, respectful man was gone, and in his place was one hungry boy.

“Drive until I tell you to stop,” Dev commanded over the intercom, and the limo pulled away.

“Jewel tones?” My heart rate tripled as he turned those gorgeous green eyes on me.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, sweetheart, but they complement my skin tone. Since those gorgeous shoes end up around my neck, I thought I should get something that looks good on me,” he drawled as he shrugged out of his coat. “I’ll tell you something else that looks good on me—your very naked body.” He reached across the limo and pulled me into his lap. “I need to make a few things clear to you, lover.”

“I’m listening.” I sighed, leaning my head back against his shoulder.

I’d felt very neglected over the last two days. Dev spent much more time with Daniel than me, and I wasn’t secure enough to not be a little jealous. I wondered if I was going to lose both of the men I loved to power and politics. He’d come to bed late, and though he had pulled me into his arms, he’d kissed me and promptly fallen asleep. I wasn’t used to a Dev who didn’t try to get into my pants twice a night.

Now he was making up for lost time. He slipped his hand between my legs and up my skirt. With unerring accuracy, his long fingers started teasing their way inside my underwear.

I’d felt so alone the last few days. I worked with the Revelation and planned out my heist, but mostly I sat by myself and worried. I needed a few minutes where I didn’t think about worst-case scenarios.

“I would give anything to not send you into that welcoming party tonight,” he whispered. His tongue lightly traced the shell of my ear, sending shivers up and down my spine. His fingers played in my pussy, spreading my labia wide. I was already slick with desire. “It’s killing me that I can’t go with you.”

He was talking about the first party of the conference, one that was being hosted in his club. I’d expected that we all would go. I didn’t like the thought of being separated. There were too many things that could go wrong. It was getting hard to think though. He was teasing me, making me antsy and edgy. I wanted to force that finger inside me where it would do some good, but Dev held me tightly, unwilling to give up his game. “But it’s your club.”

“Not tonight it isn’t,” he explained. I caught my breath as one clever finger caressed that bundle of nerves that made me scream. Dev toyed with my clitoris, sliding his fingers along either side and twisting lightly. “Tonight it belongs to the vampires, and I’m not welcome. Vampires and companions only, with the exception of staff. I can go to the ball as part of Daniel’s retinue, but it’s still dangerous. I have to be prudent around you while we’re here. I don’t think you’re going to like that. I need you to understand that I hate this situation. I want to be somewhere fucking you, teasing you, pleasing you. The last thing I wanted was to get involved in a coup attempt.”