Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(17)
wholeheartedly believed that diamonds were a girl’s best friend. I’d never
seen her without an array of gems, and I was willing to bet that she slept
with at least some of them on.
In contrast, Lorelei Parker seemed plain and subdued, her only jewelry the
rose-and-thorn rune ring that flashed on her hand, though it too featured a
generous helping of diamonds. Still, Lorelei received her own share of
admiring and envious glances, given her pale blue eyes, pretty features, and
black hair pulled back into an elegant French braid.
Lorelei was texting on her phone, and Mallory was talking to the man sitting
next to her, a stocky dwarf with wavy silver hair who was wearing a black suit
that cost more than most cars. His styled hair and clothes were at odds with
his hard hazel eyes, lined face, and hooked nose, which looked like it had
been broken more than once. I’d only seen him a few times during my visits
here, but I knew exactly who he was: Stuart Mosley, the founder of First
Trust.
Several people hovered around Mosley, everyone from tellers and investment
bankers trying to get a moment of face time with the head honcho to clients
trying to impress upon him how important they were. But Mosley ignored them
all in favor of sipping his bourbon, staring at Mallory, and nodding at
whatever she was saying. Mosley wasn’t a social butterfly by any stretch of
the imagination—he didn’t have to be—but he seemed downright friendly with
Mallory. Interesting. I hadn’t realized that they knew each other so well.
Mallory saw us approaching and waved us over. The hoverers grumbled, but they
fell back to make room for us.
“Mallory, you’re looking positively brilliant this evening,” I said, then
turned my attention to her granddaughter. “Lorelei.”
Lorelei nodded at me. “Gin.”
All around us, the other mobsters tiptoed forward, trying to overhear our
conversation. Lorelei was one of the major power players in the Ashland
underworld, a notorious smuggler known for her ability to get anything for
anyone at any time. Us talking to each other in public was sure to set the
other bosses to buzzing, since she was the only one of them I’d deigned to
speak to. No doubt, the others were already worrying about what sort of
alliances we might have made. Truth be told, Lorelei and I hadn’t gotten that
far yet, but she was the closest thing to a friend I had among the city’s
criminals besides Phillip Kincaid. And I was going to need all the friends I
could get if I wanted to survive.
Mallory gestured at Mosley. “Gin, this is my good friend Stuart Mosley.
Stuart, Gin Blanco. I’m sure you two have heard all about each other.”
“Indeed.” Mosley got to his feet and extended his hand to me. “A pleasure,
Ms. Blanco.”
We shook hands, and then he did the same with Bria and Owen. The three of them
started chatting, along with Lorelei, but Mallory crooked her finger at me. I
bent down, and she jerked her head in Finn’s direction.
“Finn seems quite wrapped up in his client,” Mallory drawled in her twangy
hillbilly voice. “He barely said hello to me before skedaddling over to the
bar to meet her.” Her words were innocent enough, but a hard tone tinged her
voice. Mallory gave me a long, pointed look, as if she was trying to tell me
something.
I shrugged. “You know Finn. He would try to sell water to a fish if he
thought he could make a quick buck.”
“Mmm.” Mallory’s noncommittal response had me raising my eyebrows, but the
dwarf waved her hand again, making her multitude of diamonds sparkle and
flash. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. Your man Silvio called me earlier to set
it up. We’ll have tea out by the garden. It will make for a lovely afternoon.
Won’t it, Lorelei?”
“Mmm.”
This time, her granddaughter was the one who made the noncommittal sound.
Lorelei might be the closest thing to a friend that I had in the underworld,
but we were still trying to figure out our relationship, despite the fact that
we’d worked together to take down Raymond Pike, her half brother.
“Anyway,” Mallory said, “you should go see to Finn now.”
Once again, that hard tone colored her voice, one that I couldn’t quite
decipher, but I nodded. “See you then.”
Lorelei and Mallory both nodded back at me and returned to their drinks, while
Mosley finally deigned to wade into his crowd of admirers and start making
nice with them.
“What was that about?” Owen asked as he escorted Bria and me over to where
Finn was sitting at the bar.
“I have no idea.”
Finn saw that we were finally on our way over to him, and he leaned forward,
talking to his client and pointing at the three of us. The woman nodded, then
finished her drink.
We reached his side, and Finn slid off his stool, grabbing Bria’s hand and
twirling her around.