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But Diego knew. It was because Mr. Cabrera held a grudge against her for those damn ag domes. Shipping her off to Asia wouldn’t satisfy it.
Diego smoked another cigarette and used that time to clear out all his thoughts. He put his hand on his gun, reminding himself it was there.
He went back into the party.
Even though he wasn’t watching out for Mr. Cabrera anymore, he spotted him first thing, standing with his contacts. The silver woman was still on his arm. She looked put out. Probably pissed about having to delay their dalliance.
Mr. Cabrera made sure not to look at Diego as he walked past, and Diego allotted him the same courtesy. He moved along the edge of the party, sca
And then he found one that was different.
Eliana.
He saw Eliana’s face.
He thought he was imagining it at first, hallucinating some place he’d rather be. But no—it was her, wearing a slinky dress the blue of summertime glaciers, a handbag tucked under one arm. She was speaking to someone, smiling, looking like she was having a good time. A woman. She was talking to a woman. The woman turned her head suddenly, as if she’d heard her name.
And Diego’s heart stopped beating.
Eliana was talking to Marianella Luna.
Diego’s mind went blank. He could only stare stupidly at Eliana, laughing and sloshing her wine around in its glass. Why the fuck was she here? She was leaving for the mainland. What did she care about ag domes?
The thought flittered past, brief and uncomfortable, that she had lied to him about leaving. But it didn’t make sense, and so he forced it down.
She hadn’t seen him yet. Diego backed away, finding a quiet corner behind a potted pine tree to consider his options. Mr. Cabrera wasn’t going to let him get away with not killing Lady Luna just because his girl was here. He’d have to separate them, get Eliana away from Lady Luna. He could send her down to Mr. Cabrera’s room, maybe. Mr. Cabrera wouldn’t be down there until he was certain the deed was done. But when she found out Marianella Luna had died tonight, while she’d been tucked away, she’d figure it out. The girl was practically a cop. Plus she was smart.
“Shit,” Diego whispered. He sca
Diego wanted to leave.
The idea stu
But this was different. This wasn’t walking out because he was some asshole kid. It was walking out because he couldn’t handle his instructions. And at this point in his life, he didn’t have that option. If he left the party, Mr. Cabrera would find him before winter ran out and Diego could flee the city with Eliana. It’d happened before. Mr. Cabrera had in fact sent Diego to take care of the man who had tried to leave.
Lady Luna and Eliana split away from their group, walking toward the bar—and walking right past Diego. No. Shit. It was too soon. He didn’t know how to deal with this situation, and Eliana was turning her head, she was smiling, she was seeing him.
“Diego?” She stopped in place. Marianella Luna kept walking like she hadn’t noticed. “What are you doing here?”
“Got an invitation.” He slid forward and took her by the arm. “Wa
“I can’t.” Eliana frowned, and he saw the hurt in her expression that he had turned away from to avoid when he’d walked out of her apartment two weeks ago. “I’m doing something.” She glanced over at Lady Luna. Diego did too, without thinking. She was ordering at the bar. “This is really strange, Diego. You just—leave, and then you show up here?”
She knew. Not the exact assignment, but she knew he was working. She had her head tilted at an angle, and her brow was furrowed with deep lines.
He wasn’t going to bother to lie.
“You’re not the only one with a job,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. He watched Lady Luna out of the corner of his eye. The bartender was bringing Lady Luna her drinks, a couple of wineglasses glowing red in the light. “Who’s your friend?”
“You don’t recognize her?” Eliana gave him a hopeful smile. “Really?”
“No. Should I?” Lying to Eliana, about this, was harder than he’d expected. “She one of your clients?”
He saw Lady Luna turn. Saw the expression on her face ice over.
“Eliana.” Lady Luna appeared beside them. She kept her gaze on Diego. It was sharp enough to kill. “We need to go.”
And Eliana’s face transformed completely. The hope glittering in her eyes blinked out, and she gave him a look so dark and accusing that he had to turn away.
It was done. All of it.
“Yes,” Eliana said. “We can’t be out too late.”
“Eliana—” Diego started, but Eliana had already taken Lady Luna’s arm and led her away. She had one hand inside her handbag, and she glanced over her shoulder, one last time, before disappearing into the crush of people.
The party clattered on around him. He sucked in breath, trying to calm himself. When he looked back, he caught sight of Eliana’s glacier-blue dress fluttering around the side of the closest exit.
Mr. Cabrera was glaring at him from across the room. He’d seen the whole thing. Of course he had.
Diego walked out of the party. The exit led into the hallway, opulent and underlit, the way expensive hallways always are. He wasn’t a part of himself anymore. He wasn’t Diego. He was just Mr. Cabrera’s man, the boy Mr. Cabrera had lifted out of the gutters and molded into exactly what Ignacio Cabrera wanted.
At the end of the hallway, the elevator dinged.
Diego broke into a run, racing down the length of the hallway. Eliana and Lady Luna dove into the elevator, their dresses waving like flags. The doors closed before he got to them. But he stood where he was, watching the arrow go down in a slow steady arc, waiting to see where they got off. It didn’t stop till it reached the ground floor.
Diego slammed into the stairs. He took them two and three at a time, his breath coming hard and fast. More work, but quicker than waiting for the elevator to come back up. And the exercise numbed his brain for what he was about to do.
He slowed when he came to the first floor, took a deep breath, stepped out into the lobby. Lady Luna and Eliana weren’t anywhere to be seen. He hoped they hadn’t tried to double back with the elevator; if they’d used the stairs, he’d have known.
He walked up to the concierge, who looked at him with distaste.
“Excuse me,” Diego said. “I’m a valet for Lady Marianella Luna. She left her identification up at the party. Have you seen her?”
The concierge gave him a thin-lipped smile. “She just stepped outside, sir. You’ll have to hurry; we called a taxi for her.”
A taxi. Shit. Diego nodded and bounded out through the spi
He saw them.
They stood on the curb, clutching each other’s hands, staring down the dark street. Nobody out this late. It’d take a while for a taxi to arrive.
Eliana glanced nervously over her shoulder, then screeched and jumped back, fumbling in her purse. Lady Luna turned more slowly, her chest rising and falling.