Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(66)

“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 * 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?”