*
If St. Morse were a palace, then the Tropps Room was the throne room, and greed was king. The stained glass windows, the iron candelabras, the glimmering marble floors and white tables—the room was decorated as though for royalty. The throne itself was in the center of the room, raised above the rest of the floor. There Levi sat, collecting and shuffling a deck of midnight blue cards. He was speaking to a man with slicked brown hair, fair skin and an expensive suit.
Of course Levi was at the throne. Reymond had said he was Vianca’s favorite.
Levi wore a three-piece blue suit and a green tie that matched St. Morse’s signature colors. For a brief moment, Enne allowed herself to see what the other girls and boys had seen—the girls and boys whose clothing now filled half of Levi’s wardrobe. He cleaned up nicely, and Enne had a soft spot for men in suits. She appreciated the way the jacket made him look broader, and the way his dark suit and features contrasted with the copper roots in his hair...
She stopped herself. She needed to focus.
Levi watched the man next to him while shuffling a deck of cards. He half smiled, then he adjusted his tie, the muscles in his jaw clenching as he—
Focus. What would her teachers have said? Levi was...hardly someone to admire. And even if his appearance was nice, his character left quite a lot to be desired. She didn’t feel like herself, not in this dress, not with the vial in her pocket, not so far from home.
More problematic than Levi’s dashing appearance was the fact that he was so prominently seated above everyone else in the room. She would be easy to spot, looking like a walking piece of cotton candy. But Vianca had claimed Sedric would be here, in the Tropps Room. Thankfully, Levi wasn’t directly facing her. Maybe he wouldn’t see her at all. He did look rather preoccupied with the man beside him.
If only she was wearing something less conspicuous. She was small enough that, with some luck, she could have slipped the poison into Sedric’s glass from behind him and he’d have been none the wiser. But the dress made this impossible. Enne had spent her entire life being overlooked, but tonight, Vianca had dressed her to be noticed.
A man in a green St. Morse uniform stood by the door, the pallor of his face nearly matching the white busts lining Vianca’s hallways.
“Excuse me?” Enne asked.
“What can I do for you, miss?”
“I’m looking for Sedric Torren. He promised to meet me here.” The gravity of the evening felt much more real now that she’d spoken his name out loud.
“He’s there.” The employee pointed to Levi’s table. Just as he did, the man with the slicked hair drained his glass and strode away with a swagger to his step. Enne paled. What was Sedric doing talking to Levi? “He just left.”
“Thank you—”
“Miss?” the employee called, his voice heavy and weary.
Enne turned around. “Yes?”
“Are you, um, here alone?”
This dress, Enne grumbled internally. As if I don’t look young enough already.
Seeing her annoyed expression, the man looked down at the floor, flustered. “Never mind. Please, forget I said anything.”
Enne took a deep breath and repeated Lourdes’s rules to herself. She followed Sedric to another card table and, before she could talk herself out of it, slid into the chair beside him. It was conveniently behind Levi, so he wouldn’t spot her unless he turned around. She almost wished he would—maybe he could help her; maybe he could save her. But the omerta was a secret. She hadn’t been able to tell Levi before, and even if she found a loophole, the memory of suffocating made her stomach turn. She couldn’t risk that again, even if it meant acting alone.
She didn’t look at Sedric for several moments. Her heart pounded. He was the don of a casino Family, just like Vianca, and if he was anything like her, then Enne was right to be afraid. She should be petrified. She should run.
But that wasn’t an option. She might need to poison him for Vianca, but she would survive this night for Lourdes.
At last, she turned to him.
He was already smiling at her.
He was attractive. Not in a beautiful or even a handsome way, but in how he carried himself. As if he had power over everyone, and he knew how to use it. But the more Enne stared at him, the more she noticed the heavy grease in his hair and the outrageous, gaudy details of his suit—as if anyone really needed a diamond-studded necktie.
Yet as attractive as he was, it wasn’t a good-looking smile. It was threatening, like a wolf who had just spotted his prey.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said smoothly. His age was difficult to discern—his receding hairline didn’t match the few lines on his face. She guessed about thirty years old. “Are your parents here?”
“What? No, no,” she said, her voice distressed. She was breaking the first rule. He could see her fear. She needed to do better than that if she was going to live through the night.
A knife winked at her from his pocket. She almost whimpered.
“And are you a fan of Tropps, miss?” Sedric asked.
She didn’t have any chips. She didn’t know how to play. Her lie was unraveling before she could even spin it.
Forget you noticed me, she pleaded. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be invisible again, so long as she was safe.
But she was trapped under Sedric’s snare of a smile and the other players’ bewildered looks. She was in the spotlight. For once, she had people’s attention.
So she did the only thing she knew. She smiled innocently and lied. “Yes. I play all the time.”
She could tell from his expression that he didn’t believe her. But there was no suspicion in his eyes—only amusement. She was simply a silly girl to him.
She relaxed—barely. Young, innocent...she could keep up that charade. She was a Bellamy schoolgirl lost in the City of Sin. She knew this role well.
Sedric slid her a stack of ten green chips. “Compliments to a pretty young lady.”
“Thank you.” She placed one of the chips in the center, and the dealer handed her three cards. She mimicked how the other players held them and moved some cards around here and there for good measure.
Each round, the players placed their bets, and the dealer passed them a new card. This continued for a few turns, until each of them was asked to reveal three cards from their hand. Enne flipped over the ace of spades, then the queen and ten of hearts. The others watched with raised eyebrows. Perhaps she’d made the wrong move.
One of the players folded, and so did she. With four chips left, she waited for the game to finish, the hairs on her neck rose on end. She felt the heated gazes of the whole table. She looked obviously lost. If this continued, Sedric might grow suspicious.
When the game finally ended and the dealer collected the pot of chips, Sedric turned to her. “I take it you’re not a regular. Are you sure you’ve played before?”
“Was I that obvious?” she asked, trying to appear sheepish. She wiped her sweaty hands on her tulle skirt.
He smirked at her as if, yes, she was. “Waiting on someone? You can’t be here by yourself.”
“I’m here alone,” she replied cautiously. “I thought I’d watch the dancers.”
“Then you’re a little lost. The theater is across the hall.” He scanned at her up and down, and she resisted the urge to look away from his dark eyes. She was supposedly playing the role of the assailant, yet his gaze was the one growing more and more predatory. Her skin prickled with unease. “Would you like me to accompany you? I wouldn’t want you to get lost again.”
“That would be lovely...”
“Sedric.”
“Sedric,” she echoed nervously.
“And your name, miss?” He took her arm and led her around the tables. She peeked at Levi, who was—thankfully—still too focused on his game to notice her.
“En... Emma. It’s Emma.”