Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(30)

Grant went stiff. “Sorry, laddie, I don’t think so.”

Sebastian turned to stone. His eyes bore into Grant. “I’m perfectly capable of protecting two women.”

Grant smirked. “It wasn’t the women I was worried about.”

Sebastian flung the door open, and Valeria leapt forward as the men came toe to toe. “That’s enough, unless you want to whip your dicks out for Lizzy and me to measure. That could be entertaining, compared to this macho bullshit.”

“Sebastian,” Lizzy said without raising her voice but with enough steel to it that had Sebastian looking away from Grant. “Thank you for the invitations and the clothes. But we have a problem.”

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not part of Mollia Domini!” Instead of raising his voice, it only got lower.

“Then prove it. We have a problem. Manuel Hernandez is also attending the party tonight.”

“So . . . oh,” he said, looking to Valeria. “I’m guessing he knows what you look like.”

Valeria nodded.

“No problem. Get in. Your men can follow.” Sebastian turned and got into the limo, leaving the door open for them to follow.

“Lizzy,” Dalton warned.

“Val and I will be fine. Everything goes on as planned. Put in your coms and we’ll see you on the other side.” Lizzy leaned over and kissed Dalton as Val and Grant put in earpieces so small that they wouldn’t be visible at a glance.

“Valeria,” Grant said quietly as Lizzy got in the limo and Dalton went to get their car parked nearby. “Be careful and watch your arse.”

He winked and Val smiled. Grant was courageous, loyal, skillful, and so freaking sexy that she struggled to simply smile at him. As she had watched Dalton kiss Lizzy, she knew what longing felt like. She wished it were Grant by her side instead of Sebastian, but wishes didn’t have a place in her life anymore. She knew her strengths, her capabilities, and part of her wanted to prove to Grant she was a team player. With this team. But all that had to be put aside, especially when she didn’t know if she’d make it out of this party alive.



* * *



They were quiet in the limo ride to a small but beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills. Like many of the houses not in gated communities, it sat right off the road behind a thick columned hedge. The walkway to the pale blue house was flanked by tall Italian cypress trees that also ran the length of each side of the small property.

“Where are we?” Lizzy asked as Sebastian got out of the limo.

“A friend’s house. She’ll have a solution for Valeria’s problem.” Sebastian walked away, leaving them sitting in the limo to follow.

Val looked at Lizzy who just shrugged as they watched the front door open. A woman with pink hair and more tattoos than Valeria could count smiled up at Sebastian before giving him a hug. They watched as she listened to Sebastian and then looked toward the limo and nodded. She smiled and waved at them before going inside the house.

“Come on,” Sebastian said, somehow without really raising his voice.

“Let’s do it.” Valeria slid out, followed by Lizzy. They saw Dalton and Grant park their van across the street, but they didn’t stop to talk to them.

Lizzy took the lead as they went into the bungalow that looked the complete opposite from its owner. It was neat, elegant, and filled with old Hollywood antiques and fixtures. However, what sat in the front room was anything but traditional. There were shelves full of wigs, counters full of makeup, mustaches, beards, beauty marks, and thick paste.

“Imogene is a makeup artist for one of the studios. I told her how you wanted to change your look for the party tonight, and she said she’d be happy to help.” Sebastian took a seat on a gold silk couch and the little pink-haired, tatted-up twenty-something smiled up at Val.

“This is so exciting. The dress you have is killer, so I think we need to go with a killer look.”

Oh, she had no idea.

“Ice blonde. A beauty mark. And can you wear contacts? I’m thinking silver eyes to go with the ice blonde. You’re so tan I want to make the contrast very sharp.”

Sounded good to Val. Colored contacts would be particularly useful since her blue eyes tended to get noticed. “This is so exciting. Thanks, Bashy,” Valeria said in her best Southern California voice as she blew a kiss to Sebastian.



* * *



An hour later Valeria didn’t even recognize herself in the mirror. The wig was a short, sharp-edged chin-length bob. Her eyes seemed glacial under the silver contacts. The deep blood-red lipstick made her lips pop and the one little beauty mark on her cheek, “for glam,” as Imogene said, made her a mix of Marilyn Monroe and an assassin. It was kinda perfect.

“This was fun, thank you.” Valeria hugged the woman even though it went against her nature.

“You’re welcome. You want me to do you next?”

Lizzy shook her head. “I wish we had time, but the party already started.”

Imogene laughed. “Oh, honey, no one who is anyone shows up on time. The more important you are, the later you arrive. And as Sebastian’s escorts, you all have oodles of time.”

“In that case—” Lizzy took a seat and Val watched as Imogene applied makeup, a matching beauty mark, and a black wig in the exact cut as hers. They were polar opposites except for the beauty mark. Where Val was white hair and dark makeup, Lizzy was dark hair, bright makeup. On each side of Sebastian they looked like an angel and devil whispering in his ear.