The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(32)
“How much cash do you have on you?” asked Adam.
“Why?”
“Because I’m guessing we’re going to have to convince some people to be especially accommodating tonight. And before you lie, I know you brought enough with you to Louisiana to bribe people up and down the Gulf looking for me.”
She didn’t like putting all her cards on the table, but Adam was right. She did need to trust him. Maybe not completely, but she couldn’t change her mind every five minutes about him. “I started with twenty thousand cash. Right now I have twelve left.”
He nodded. “We can work with that. Ready to go?”
“Back to the hotel?”
“No, shopping. It’s time to get you in something slutty.”
Melody took a deep breath. A task that would be easier if she weren’t wearing a dress so tight it pushed her stomach well into her ribcage. Thank God Adam had insisted on a lighter meal. If she’d eaten even one more grain of rice, she probably wouldn’t have gotten the thing zipped.
As much as his wording had scared her, he was right. They were doing a club job. She needed to get an outfit that would accomplish two things: allow her to blend in and stand out.
The tight black bandage dress left almost nothing to the imagination. The hemline was dangerously short, and the sweetheart neckline plunged down low enough to let her push-up bra really earn its name.
But based off the little she knew about the club they were going to, this was exactly what she needed to wear to fit in. Adam could probably walk in wearing jeans if they thought he made enough money.
This was the kind of place that catered to rich men, providing anything they might need: the best wine, the finest liquor, the prettiest women. Sometimes her looks could make her stand out, but in this case, she was going to be one of dozens of beautiful women looking to get the attention of one of the rich clients.
Except she had her eye on one particular client.
According to the doorman Adam had talked to, this club, the Ace of Spades, was where Matt Forbes spent a few hours every night. So far the plan was that there was no plan. They were going to try to get eyes on Forbes and then determine the best route to take.
Even though Melody knew that this could be a purely reconnaissance mission, the nerves shooting through her had her on edge and jittery.
She remembered when she’d had similar nerves during Isobel’s rehearsal dinner. She’d kept it to herself. She hadn’t wanted her mother to know how rusty she really was when it came to the family business. Now she wished she’d pulled Isobel aside and gotten some last-minute advice.
Melody pushed the regrets out of her head. It wasn’t the time to be thinking of what-ifs. Running her fingers through her hair, she gave herself a once-over in the mirror, making sure everything was in place.
Her eyes looked a thousand times more intense than normal, thanks to a heavy smoky look. If she’d gone into the club with her normal minimalistic style, she’d stand out for sure. In this case, more was better.
To emphasize her eyes, she’d kept her lips a soft matte rose color. A contrast to the black of her dress and eyes. After a few more minutes, she admitted that there was nothing else she could do here; she was just stalling leaving the bathroom. A few hours ago, she’d been ready and raring to go track down Forbes, but now she was stalling. Damn it, she needed to get it together.
She took one long, calming breath that didn’t do a thing to calm her before she opened the door. Adam lay back on the bed, flipping through the channels on the TV. They’d separated during the short shopping excursion. He’d picked up his own version of a clubbing outfit. She wanted to be annoyed that the man’s version of looking nice was a simple pair of black jeans and a black dress shirt, but he looked so good, for a moment she lost her train of thought.
He glanced her way absentmindedly before turning off the TV. “Ready to go?”
She blinked a few times as she tried to collect her thoughts. “More than ready.” She hadn’t expected him to fall all over himself with compliments, but he had made his attraction to her more than known. She’d expected... something when she’d revealed herself.
Instead, Adam practically ignored her as he collected his wallet and the gun, making sure it was loaded and that there was a round in the chamber before he tucked it into the appendix holster attached to the waistband of his jeans.
“Shouldn’t I have that?” she asked.
“Where do you plan to hide it?” His gaze skimmed over the tight dress, just the tiniest flicker of heat showing before he looked away.
“This is the deal though, right? I get the shot when we find Forbes.”
“The deal was that I deliver you the shot. So once we corner Forbes and I deem it safe, I’ll hand you the gun. Got it?”
Well, that sounded overly complicated, but once again she was reminded that she’d made the conscious decision to trust Adam. “I got it.”
“Good.” He did a quick look around the room and seemed satisfied that they weren’t forgetting anything. He led the way out of the room
“He’s going to recognize you,” she said once they were on the elevator.
“You too,” said Adam.
“So we have to see him before he sees us.”
“Yep.” Adam didn’t seem worried at all. Maybe she should take that as a good sign, but nothing seemed to calm her nerves at the moment. For a second, she thought about calling Toni. Maybe she could postpone this until her sisters could help. Toni and Jen wouldn’t be this nervous. They’d stride right into that club and would immediately have all the bouncers wrapped around their fingers.