The Rule of Luck, page 7
“Already planned on it. If it’s a private event, I’ll need an invitation.”
“You’ve already received one. My understanding is you turned it down.”
It took at a moment to make the connection. Once I did, it took everything in me to avoid rolling my eyes. Would the man constantly be two steps ahead of me? “The fact that you’re raking your fingers through my private life is not appreciated. In the future, please refrain from doing so. I don’t have t-mods, so I don’t share indiscriminately across the CN-net. If you want to know something, ask me. I’ll either tell you or I won’t, and you’ll have to accept it.”
“Duly noted. Now, your invitation. It’s not too late to accept the trip to Denver.”
“Yes, it is. It’s in two days and my travel permits have expired. I’d never make it.” I’d been asked to offer my services as one of the items up for bid at a charity auction for the developing rainforests on Mars. It was great PR and I wanted to go, but I couldn’t afford the trip and didn’t have the time—the fertility debacle had taken everything I had. I never would have guessed TransWorld was connected to the auction. Then again, I supposed it made sense.
“Nonissue,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “The Tsarist Consortium will cover all expenses and ensure you’re outfitted with whatever you need. That includes any revenue lost due to closing your shop to perform at our behest.”
I fought not to look impressed. “Aside from discrediting this employee of my mother’s, what else will I have to do?”
“That is up to my discretion.”
“What if you want something I can’t agree to?”
“We won’t kill you, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
I hadn’t been, but since he’d brought it up, now it was foremost in my mind.
“If the terms prove disagreeable, our partnership ends and all contact will be terminated.” He sipped his drink and met my gaze across the table. “However, your blacklisted status won’t be revoked.”
I looked down at the untouched bread on my plate. I pushed it away, no longer hungry. I felt like I hovered on the edge of something impossible. I concentrated on the feeling in my gut that demanded I leap at Petriv’s offer, consequences be damned. When I followed my gut, good things didn’t always happen, but somehow, in the end, I came out on top. While giving Petriv the keys to the universe might help me in the short term, what I decided today would impact countless lives for years to come. Maybe I was being melodramatic, but the pressure felt so intense, I wanted to scream.
“What happens if you win the contract?”
“We begin running our star cruisers to Mars. Money will be made and everyone goes home happy,” Petriv answered with a shrug.
I shook my head and leaned forward. “Not good enough. You said I have no right to ask this, but I need to know. If my agreeing to this gains the Tsarist Consortium the Earth-to-Mars transportation contract, what other plans does this put into motion?”
Petriv’s expression grew serious, adding the weight of years to his face. Not age, but experience and perhaps a little exhaustion. It turned his attractiveness into something more compelling. “People have died to learn the information you’re requesting so casually.”
“I need to know.”
“And your final decision rests on this? Not meeting your mother, resolving your blacklisted status, or the potential financial compensation?”
I nodded. “Yes, it does.”
“If I learn that what I’ve said has gone beyond these walls and the source is traced to you, you will die. I will kill you myself. Do you understand?”
I held my breath, feeling like there was a dagger pressed against my chest. Like nothing before in my life, everything hinged on this moment. I nodded again.
“It is the Tsarist Consortium’s ultimate goal to replace One Gov. This is the first step.”
“And if you do replace One Gov, how will things be different from the way they are now? What’s going to change?”
His eyes held mine and wouldn’t let go. “Everything.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding and felt the bubble inside me pop. Calmness returned. Not the answer I expected, yet I could see it was the truth. The fact that he’d told me spoke volumes. He had more invested in this than I could fully understand.
“I’ll do it.”
* * *
The meal wrapped up quickly. I picked at lunch—a sampling of Russian dishes I wasn’t familiar with. Petriv mentioned the names, but I couldn’t focus. My thoughts were on the damage control I needed to do to explain my twenty-four hour disappearance.
Petriv grew silent. Maybe he regretted the bombshell he’d dropped. Though for all I knew, he could be zooming around the CN-net, having a million conversations with others. The thought irritated me. He’d gone through all this work to “get” me and now that he had my agreement, he’d lost interest in me.
I set down my cutlery with deliberate care. Any harder and I’d come across as angry. I surreptitiously checked my bracelet; the hour was up. “I think we’re finished here. I’d like to go home and get things in order. You’ve probably started on the arrangements for Denver and can contact me with the details. I’ll need a dress, by the way. Based on your research, I’m sure you’ll pick whatever’s most appropriate.”
I stood. Petriv rose with me. “One of my people will escort you home.”
“Don’t bother. I’ll order a pod and wait at the launchpad.”
“I insist. This isn’t the best neighborhood. Besides, we’re on a schedule now.”
“Fine,” I relented.
I hurried to the door, wanting to reconnect with real life before whatever Petriv offered swallowed me whole. I hadn’t walked more than a few feet when he was at my side, tucking my arm in his as he had earlier.
“At least allow me to walk you out. You’re so determined to be independent. One would think you’d been alone most of your life.”
“You’ve done your research. You should know.”
“The unfortunate thing with research is you have no idea about the person behind the details. You can never know which assumptions are correct or where you may have gone wrong.” Petriv turned to me. I found myself standing closer to him than necessary and gazing up into a look so intense, I shivered. “Hopefully in time, I’ll see beyond the details.”
Yup, definitely not something I should be hearing. “As I said before, this arrangement is strictly professional. That means this is inappropriate.” I slipped my arm from his, though I admit it pained me a little to do so.
“Of course. I always honor my business relationships, Ms. Sevigny.”
He took my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing my palm. Gods, was the man even listening to me? I felt myself blush and snatched my hand away. He straightened, and with a faint smile, stepped in so close, my nose almost brushed the hollow of his throat. Before I knew it, he reached over my shoulder to lock the door behind me. My heart thudded in my chest and I held myself still, hardly daring to breathe. A moment ago, it seemed he couldn’t wait to be rid of me. Now he was too close and looking at me in a way that sent traitorous shocks of heat through my body.
“This doesn’t seem very businesslike,” I whispered.
“Perhaps”—his gaze went to my mouth and stayed there. He moved even closer until there was no more room between us—“it merely depends on the ground rules.”
“There are no ground rules. I didn’t realize we needed them,” I said, my voice suddenly coming out breathier than I intended. I raised my hands, planning to push him away. Instead, they seemed to have a mind of their own as they ran down the hard muscles of his chest under his shirt. Every lustful thought I’d been suppressing suddenly jumped to the surface.
“One should always have rules, Ms. Sevigny. How would we conduct ourselves without them?” he chided softly, eyes still on my lips.
My throat went dry. “I have a boyfriend.”
“I know.” His tone seemed to say he didn’t care in the least.
“That means this needs to stop.”
“Does it?” His lips curved in a wicked smile that made my heart take off like a frightened rabbit. Then his hands were on my hips, pressing me against the locked door. He lifted me until I was up on my tiptoes. I gasped and my hands went to his broad shoulders for balance. “Or perhaps it means further negotiation is required.”
His mouth descended on mine with bruising speed, as if he’d reached the end of his patience and could hold back no longer. His lips were soft, but his body was hard and demanding. He crushed my breasts against his chest. Helpless, my eyes shuddered closed against the onslaught. His tongue invaded my mouth, and I could taste the vodka he’d been drinking. That, and something else: desire. Hot enough to burn me alive. This man wanted me. It wasn’t solely because of access to my mother. It was more than that. He wanted me in a way I hadn’t felt from a man in a long time. Not even in those first days with Roy when everything was new and exciting had I felt like this. I was about to be devoured by man who wouldn’t stop until he’d taken everything he could from me.
My knees turned to water and his hands on me were the only things keeping me on my feet. Without intending to, I angled my head so the kiss could deepen. My tongue stroked his, meeting his wildness with my own. I shoved my fingers through his dark hair, pulling his mouth to mine and pressing my body back against his. I felt like I was on fire, my bones melting under my skin. His hands were on my hips, then lower, fingers digging into my thighs. I felt my skirt hiked upward, his leg slipped between mine. He ground his thigh into me with a pressure that made me moan into his mouth. Only his hands gripping the backs of my thighs, and the door behind me, kept me from falling.
That brought a sliver of reality back. What was I doing? Had I lost my mind? I needed to slow this down or stop it entirely before I did something I’d regret.
“Is this how you negotiate all your deals?” I gasped out, tearing my mouth from his and trying to push him away. Difficult, when my hands were tangled in his hair. “Why did we even bother with lunch?”
“Because I was hungry,” he answered, lips now devouring my neck with sharp kisses. Then his tongue ran down its length, lingering in the hollow of my throat. For a few moments, he stilled and all I felt was his breath against my skin. I shivered. Then I felt him undo the first few buttons of my blouse. A heartbeat later, his mouth had found my right breast. “You’ve no idea what I could do with you right now.”
I arched against his mouth, my back bowing deeply. His tongue strokes turned my nipple into a tight, taut peak. He followed with his teeth, nipping with enough pressure to bring me within a hair’s touch of pain. I didn’t want him to stop.
He made a sound like a growl. It was so overtly sexual that my knees gave out completely. Not that it mattered. He had one hand fisted in my hair, holding me in place. His other hand cupped my backside, moving me against him in a way I was helpless to resist. My hands grasped at the solid muscle beneath his shirt, clinging to him. The fast, hard pace he set as he ground me against him coiled something deep inside me, twisting up a knot of desire so fierce it felt as necessary as breathing. Even if I wanted to stop him now, I couldn’t. Instead, I found myself fighting down moans as heat burned through me. He rolled his hips against me, thudding me back into the door again and again. I felt his erection then, thrusting against my abdomen. What would it feel like to have him inside me? What would it be like to have this man naked between my thighs, poised over my body, pounding relentlessly into me?
The thought sent me over the edge and triggered an orgasm I hadn’t even realized was building. I cried out loudly, indecently, shocked. Pleasure soared through me and my toes curled in my boots as he worked me over his muscled thigh, forcing every last bit of sensation through my body, drawing it out until I finally went limp in his arms.
It could have been an eternity later when he finally he set me back on my feet. He chuckled softly when my legs refused to support my weight. I found my forehead against his shoulder and my arms loosely about his waist as I gradually caught my breath. Gods, what had I just done? Worse, what was I going to say to Roy?
As if he could read my thoughts, Petriv pulled away entirely and left me to stand on my own. With quick, efficient movements, he re-buttoned my blouse, tucked it back into my skirt, and smoothed my skirt down over my hips. As for him, aside from the hair I’d mussed and his straining erection, he looked utterly unfazed. I frowned. Had I imagined his desire? Had he not wanted me? Was he just shutting everything off now?
“You may want to brush your hair before your boyfriend sees you,” he suggested. Then he ran his thumb along my bottom lip. It was slowly and carefully done, as if to make the sensation last. Even when he finished, it seemed I could still feel his touch on my lips. “Also, you’ll want to reapply your makeup.”
He then reached behind me and I heard the click of the door unlocking. It sounded like a gunshot, and I jumped. I felt a rush of cool air from the hall and shivered as it met my skin.
“Why did you do that to me?” I whispered, my cheeks still flushed with heat. “What was the point?”
His face was impassive. “Because I had to know if you were truly his. I needed to know how strong his hold was over you.”
What? “And what did you find out?”
“That there is very little standing in my way.”
Confused, I backed away through the open door. The blond chain-breaker was there, looking impassive and intimidating, still wearing wraparound shades.
Petriv looked down at me. “Until tomorrow, Ms. Sevigny.” Then he turned away and closed the door behind him.
I blinked, stunned, and let out the breath I’d been holding. What the hell had just happened? I felt like Petriv had played my mind just as thoroughly as he had my body. Spooked, I went where the chain-breaker pointed—down the hallway, through the restaurant, and to the flight-limo. The chain-breaker tucked me inside before closing the door, which locked automatically. Immediately, we took flight. I hadn’t seen the pilot. Was he another one of Petriv’s ubiquitous and indistinguishable bodyguards? Maybe they were ordered from a genetics company specializing in crime lord muscle, packed to overflowing with whatever MH Factor they needed.
I spent the first five minutes of the ride trying to catch my breath and calm myself down. Then I pawed through my purse and pulled out my makeup bag. Yep, I looked like I’d been thoroughly fucked, though technically that wasn’t the case. Still, it was close enough that guilt racked me. What would I tell Roy? Nothing, obviously. How could I when in those moments, Petriv’s lips and hands on me were the only things in the world I’d ever wanted that much? I’d have to keep my mouth shut and live with the guilt. But how would I be able to face Petriv again? What was I supposed to do when I saw him next? How the fuck was I supposed to have a normal conversation with the man after this?
“Nothing,” I said aloud, mostly just to hear myself talk. “I’m not going to do anything. I’m going to pretend it didn’t happen and ignore the whole thing.” And if that wasn’t the smartest course of action, I’d come up with something else later. Right now, my brilliance had clearly short-circuited.
It didn’t take me long to find the button that worked Petriv’s little drink cart. A shot of Jack later, my nerves were calm enough to allow me to think about something other than Petriv. My thoughts drifted to my mother. Wonderful. It seemed like my head was a veritable minefield of dangerous topics today.
When I was younger, I’d romanticized my parents’ tragic relationship. As I grew older, I still clung to the fantasy I’d created because I had nothing to replace it with. Now I had part of the truth and I couldn’t decide if I was angry or scared at the prospect of learning more.
I tapped my c-tex bracelet before I could start brooding. Time to deal with reality. I looked around the flight-limo and peered out the window at the buildings below as the shim sent out the ping to launch a face-chat. The shim connected before finishing its first flicker.
“Felicia, is that you? Where the fuck have you been?”
I braced myself. “Hi, Charlie. Sorry, I haven’t been in touch. It’s been…crazy.”
“Goddamn right you’re sorry!” His baritone filled the flight-limo. I hastily detached the earpiece hidden in one of the bracelet’s jewels and popped it in. “I’d fire your sorry ass if we weren’t business partners. You didn’t message. Didn’t shim. Hell, you didn’t even leave a goddamn note! What the fuck’s wrong with you? Natty’s been cancelling all your appointments, making up lies to cover your disappearance, and we’ve lost a goddamn fortune! What happened? Are you okay, kid?”
“Calm down and I’ll explain.”
“Damn right you’ll explain. You’ve got one minute to tell me what happened before I tear you a new one.”
That was Charlie Zero, my business partner. When we first met, he’d terrified me. Now the rants just showed how much he cared. We’d met in Career Design—a program every teenager in the tri-system completed per One Gov decree. To avoid high unemployment, we all went through the two-year stint in Career Design where our aptitudes were tested, our career paths decided, basic training provided, then we were launched into whatever our new future was supposed to be. I’d already had plans to be a Tarot card reader, so Career Design had been a waste of time. Charlie Zero—not his real name—was determined to be his own man and get off the Nairobi streets. We formed a friendship that blossomed into a business. I don’t know what drew me to him other than my gut feeling. It had never been romantic, at least not from my side, although I tried for curiosity’s sake. When I told him it wasn’t working, he’d been angry until he remembered there was money to be made. There was nothing Charlie Zero loved more than money.
I focused on the grainy face-chat image on the c-tex holo-display pop-up and got ready to flat out lie to my business partner. Like Roy, he hated using such antiquated tech, although he complained less. All I could see was his shock of blond hair standing out in high contrast to his ebony skin. “I have a new client who wants total privacy. He came into the office yesterday morning right before closing and paid ten thousand gold notes for a reading. He’s asked for my services for the next two weeks. I agreed.”
