Evan pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, partly because he knew they were being watched and the action would be in character.
But partly because he just couldn’t help himself.
A member of Cady’s staff opened the door as the two of them approached the steps.
“Welcome, Mr. and Ms. Sinclair,” the woman said. “Mr. Cady is expecting you. We will have you join the other guests in just a moment, but first please follow our security team.”
Juliet and Evan were led to a smallish room off the foyer. One man used a wand to scan Evan, while another did the same to Juliet. Evan could see her tension at the man’s proximity. She glanced at Evan and he gave her a reassuring nod. She flinched when the guard touched her shoulder and asked her to turn around.
Evan had a moment of slight panic when the wand beeped as it passed over Juliet’s locket. Megan had said it was undetectable as a short-range device. Had she been wrong? Was the very thing that was supposed to assure Juliet’s safety going to get them both killed?
“Would you mind removing that locket, please, ma’am?” the guard asked politely, but his tone brooked no refusal.
Juliet took a step back and removed the jewelry. Evan hoped it was as undetectable as Megan and Sawyer claimed it was.
Juliet cringed and couldn’t seem to find anything to say, so Evan stepped in for her. “That was her mother’s, so be careful with it.” Juliet grasped his hand, nodding.
The guard opened the locket, and after much studying, and even removing the picture that was in it, put everything back and returned it to Juliet.
“Sorry,” he said. “Any piece of jewelry this size must be inspected.”
“Fine, just give it to me,” Juliet told him in an acerbic tone. The guard handed it to her and she returned it to her neck. “Are we free to go or are we going to be subjected to more humiliation?”
“You’re free to go. Sorry for the trouble.”
“I would think so.”
It was easy to see why Lisa Sinclair had a reputation as being a bitch. Because she was one. Juliet, once she’d found her tongue, seemed to remember Lisa well.
The woman who had met them at the front door led Evan and Juliet into a large room with multiple windows. People were milling around, talking. Waitstaff were walking around with trays of food and drink.
With his hand resting on her waist, Evan felt Juliet’s tension growing, but none of it showed in her expression. A smooth, alert-but-somewhat-bored look remained planted on her face. It was damn near perfect.
“There you are!” Vince Cady came at them from across the room. “I wondered if you were going to make it at all, after our last…encounter.”
Evan shook the older man’s hand. “Lisa convinced me this wasn’t something we’d want to miss out on.”
“Well, the lovely Mrs. Sinclair has good taste.” Cady gestured to Juliet’s outfit. “As always.” When he bent forward to kiss her cheek, she stiffened slightly, but didn’t withdraw. Cady didn’t seem to notice her discomfort.
“Thank you for having us in your home, Mr. Cady,” she said, her tone a nice mixture of friendly and cold. “We much prefer this to an empty warehouse or other dirty building with weapons pointed at us.”
Cady’s laughter was booming. “Yes, this is much more comfortable for everyone. And it’s only going to get better, you’ll see.”
More comfortable than an entire staff providing for their every whim? Evan found that hard to believe.
“But let me introduce you to my family. This is my wife, Maria, and our son, Christopher.”
Maria Cady had hard, small eyes. Her smile seemed forced, although she politely murmured, “Pleased to meet you,” as she shook Evan’s hand.
Definitely not the friendly type, or at all personable or charming like her husband.
Evan turned to Vince’s son, only to find the younger man staring at Juliet with unadulterated lust. Juliet didn’t see it, because she was shaking hands with Maria. Evan wrapped his arm tightly around Juliet’s waist and pulled her up against him.
Christopher Cady turned to Evan, his face smoothing out into a blank mask, friendly even. Had Evan imagined what he’d just seen in the younger man’s face?
With a smile, Christopher offered his hand to shake. “Pleasure,” he said.
“Same,” Evan lied. He’d definitely be keeping an eye on Christopher.
“Maria, Christopher and I must go say hello to some other guests,” Vince told them. “We have over twenty coming in all. The drone codes have brought out interest from quite a few buyers.”
Cady was so excited Evan was surprised he didn’t rub his hands together in glee. The man obviously loved being in a position of power.
“I’m not surprised,” Juliet told him. “Your reputation for having quality items and not wasting buyers’ time is well known, Mr. Cady.”
“Please, both of you call me Vince. We should be informal, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely.” Evan and Juliet spoke at the same time, then looked at each other and grinned.
“Such a lovely couple.” Maria smiled at them, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Please enjoy yourselves,” Vince said. “Eat. Drink. We’ll provide further instructions once everyone has arrived.”
Vince took his scary family and began wandering toward other guests.
“So far, so good,” Juliet whispered to Evan. “What do we do now?”
“Like the man said, let’s eat and drink. Mingle.”
“Get as much information as possible.”
“Exactly.” Evan winked down at her. They began working their way toward a table that held different hors d’oeuvres: the scallops wrapped in bacon looked particularly delicious. “Who should be our first targets?”
Juliet placed some food on a plate as she looked around casually. Then Evan saw all the color drain from her face. The plate in her hand fell from lifeless fingers and crashed onto the hardwood floor, shattering.
Evan rushed immediately to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“That man over by the door.” Juliet couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away. “He’s Heath Morel, close friend of the Avilo brothers, who attacked me. He
