I remained quiet, not knowing how to get out of the hole I’d dug for myself.
“I offered friendship. I still stand by it.”
“It won’t work.”
“Try it, Isa. Friendship.”
Maybe if she saw the real me then she’d accept me when she learned the truth.
Who was I kidding? I was fucked beyond repair.
“Friends. No expectation for anything else. No touching me. And no more conversations like the one we just had, or I won’t see you again.”
“Done.”
At that moment, Isa’s security approached.
“We have to get you home so you’re rested,” the man said.
“I guess it’s hard to balance a daytime life and a secret nighttime one.”
Her lips curved slightly. “You could say that.”
“When do you get up after a long night?”
“It depends on the day and if I have an antiquities project. Tonight, I won’t go to bed until at least seven in the morning so I’ll sleep until noon.”
“Then meet me at Emma’s for coffee.”
“You’re serious about this friendship thing, aren’t you?”
“Why are you surprised? I mean what I say.”
She sighed. “Fine. We’ll give this friendship thing a try.”
Isa
I yawned as I walked the street leading to Emma’s. I wasn’t sure why I was doing this. Maybe it had to do with wanting to rebel against my family, the Webers, the world.
I knew nothing would come of anything with Baz. Hell, I didn’t even know his last name. Well, I guessed he didn’t know mine either.
How would he react when he learned it? Would he know I was the daughter of the man who ran most of the streets of Berlin? Would it matter?
I wasn’t planning on hiding it. There was no point. Papa was too much of a public fixture. Luckily, Papa did everything to keep me out of the spotlight. And if anyone managed to link us, I’d act as if it were no big deal. I guessed it also helped that I’d spent years living in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
My phone beeped with an incoming text. It was from my best friend, Lilly.
Lilly Lennox was the daughter of one of my father’s associates, though we hadn’t known it at the time we’d met in graduate school. We ended up working on a research project together and became fast friends. Now three years later, we ran an antiquities company together.
Lilly was not only my partner but the only person who understood the world I lived in. She knew all my secrets, from the clubs to my relationships with groups our fathers would lose their shit over if they ever found out. I never gave her details on said groups, but she was a smart girl and probably had some inkling. Besides, it was better to keep her out of the nitty-gritty details. All she needed to know was that anonymous clients hired us to appraise art pieces and verify authenticity.
We both got to play sleuths without actually leaving our office. Plus, Lilly was a free spirit and viewed the world through rose-tinted glasses. She wanted to believe the best in people. She kept me from getting lost in my businesses. The last thing I’d ever do was put her in any form of danger.
Her father knew his daughter didn’t fit the typical princess role. Lilly with her whimsical clothes and wild hair would fit more into a hippy colony than the streets of Berlin.
Lilly: I finished the appraisal. The fee is in our account. Ana sent notice that she isn’t going to be our auction house contact anymore.
I wasn’t happy about the change. Hopefully, whoever replaced her was easy to work with.
Ana was the one who’d pushed me into working for her “company,” in a consultant capacity. The company, also known as Solon, was more than an average business. It was one that required security clearance and an intense background check. The fact I had ties to the “unsavory” elements of society had been a positive instead of a negative to Ana’s boss, Bri, who had hired me for my first project.
Being a mobster’s daughter had its benefits, especially when working as an informant/appraiser for various secret agencies from Interpol and the CIA to underground ones like Solon. They had no qualms associating with me, and it was understood, for my assistance, they would keep any and all operations managing my father’s business dealings far away from me.
I crossed the street and typed out my response.
Ana leaving was something I’d expected after talking to her and reading a report giving a general case analysis of Ana’s last assignment.
She’d been part of a multi-agency case that had taken a turn no one expected. The sex traffickers they were targeting had kidnapped her and put her up for sale. If it wasn’t for her now-husband, Adrian, a CIA agent, and his Interpol partner, she would have been sold to God only knew who.
She’d had to play the role of sex slave for Adrian and his partner. Whatever she’d experienced had changed her plans for her career in Solon. Now she was back in Las Vegas, helping run her family’s businesses.
Isa: She just got married and has a baby on the way. I think she has other priorities on her mind than working with us.
Lilly: Does this mean you’re going to follow in her footsteps? After all, you’re getting married in a few months.
Isa: Hell, no. My work isn’t going to suffer because of decisions made by my family.
Lilly: Good luck with that. I’m sure your new husband is going to be fine with you running nightclubs, appraising artwork for clients with no names, and consulting for “the company” while being his arm candy.
I scowled at the phone.
Isa: I’m no one’s eye candy.
Lilly: Hate to tell you this, but that’s exactly what you’ll become.
Isa: I’ll figure something out. I refuse to let anyone control my life.
Lilly: Want to meet me for coffee?
Isa: I can’t. I have plans.
Lilly: With who?
I could totally lie to her but Lilly was my ride or die and would
