“Maybe, but it is also a remote possibility that there are algorithms that correct for that in whatever software that he used to find you,” she said, and I sighed.
“What would happen if he eventually finds me again?” I finally managed to ask, and I hoped against hope that she didn’t hear the way my voice trembled before I finished speaking.
“Then I’ll have to fix that, won’t I?” she answered and there was a dangerous edge to her tone that left me feeling as though I failed whatever test she had decided to put me through. I turned my head and a shaky breath rasped from between my lips.
I peered out the window and noticed that we were pulling up to a closed gate. The driver paused, the metal wall began to open, and we drove forward. Beyond was the private airport. Armed guards were posted along the road and at the entrance to the building with guns that looked far too big for a place like this. I chewed the inside of my cheek, relieved at least a little bit to see a few planes and not a shooting squad waiting to kill me in the distance.
We pulled up right to the front door and Janet lifted her hand, gesturing to the door.
“You first,” she said lightly, and I had the vaguest sense of what it might feel like to be a prisoner being walked to the electric chair.
I smiled tensely and slid along the seat as the driver opened the door for me. I climbed out and Janet followed. She walked in front of me, and I followed, knowing there was nowhere for me to run in a place like this.
The inside of the building was clean and simple. There were a few checkpoints, but there wasn’t any sort of security or even a single drug dog waiting. This was a blatant reminder of the kind of power and influence the Father and the family held. He didn’t play by the rules. He made them himself.
We were escorted to a private jet and seated inside. It took almost no time at all for the plane to fly down the runway and lift up into the air. I had hardly even clicked my seat belt closed before we started moving.
Janet was thankfully quiet on the flight and I was left with my thoughts for much of it. I was grateful for that because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing or make her think I cared for Dean more than I should.
The flight was mercifully short, and it was still daylight when our wheels touched down. There was another limo waiting for us and we were swept away into the city of Lisbon to a hotel. Janet had booked a penthouse suite for a week for the two of us and I wasn’t looking forward to being in close quarters with her for that long while we practiced the story that we’d put forward so that I could pull off my marriage con on my next mark.
When we walked into the room, there was a massive dining room table near the entry way. On top of it was a pile of manila folders stuffed with paperwork.
“Those are all the potentials for your next mark. Why don’t we sit down and get to work? We can even order room service. It’ll be great fun,” Janet offered.
Yeah.
I’m sure it would be an absolute fucking delight.
* * *
For the next week, Janet and I worked together to finalize our story, curtailing it slightly to work best for my next mark, Salvador Pereira.
He was a world-famous winemaker and vineyard tycoon with multiple properties in Portugal, France, Italy, and various other countries throughout Europe. He was rich, single, and most important, he liked girls who needed a strong rich man to take care of them. He even had a special love for women of Norse descent, which meant I spent a very long day in the hotel spa getting my hair bleached and dyed, as well as thick blonde extensions. By the time I was finished, my head was sore, and my hair fell down to my hips. Janet decided she liked the combination of my light blue eyes with the blonde hair and decided to wear colored contacts herself that were designed to be the same color as mine.
Once I was adequately prepared, it was time for the two of us to attend a wine tasting taught by the wine master himself.
In my research, I found that he liked his girls to have simple taste, so I dabbled only in light makeup and a pretty sundress that was just enough to catch his eye, but not enough to make it look like I was trying too hard.
Salvador was a nice-looking man and when I sat down at the wine bar, his eyes settled on me for several moments longer than all the rest of the people attending. Even with Janet posing beside me as my sister, I still caught his eye again and again.
I smiled back, feigning interest as I swirled the small sample of wine in my glass to awaken the flavors just like he’d told us to. I did everything right even with Janet sitting beside me, but it all felt so much emptier than ever before. At the end of the tasting, she excused herself to visit the restroom and Salvador ventured over to me, leaning over the bar with obvious interest in my direction.
“Hi, there,” he began. He’d already introduced himself, so there was no need for him to do that again.
“I’m Emma,” I smiled; at the same time I dropped my eyes in a show of embarrassed interest that was sure to catch his attention. From his file, there was every indication that he liked his women demure and only a little bold.
I lifted my eyes a bit more confidently to see his expression, and I
