Page 6 of No Sweeter Poison

She faces me.

I grin. “Maybe try inventing something without such time constraints?”

Lettie can’t help but crack a smile. “You want it to look like an accident, right?”

I reach for her hand and kiss it. She gives me a squeeze before disappearing upstairs.

The music picks up and with it, so does the Friday evening crowd. A line outside goes around the block and it’s likely that more than half of them won’t make it inside. Still, there are people who wait hours just to see what the inside of this place looks like…my own jewel.

And somehow, an American tourist managed to slip in undetected.

Dahlia is searching the room and I have a foolish thought that it might be for me. We spoke for a while earlier as she enjoyed another sangria and Karina happily played wing-woman. Dahlia consistently avoided my subtle advances and yet, she laughed. Flirted. Carried on with engaging conversation. There’s a difference between a woman being polite and a woman who’s interested—I’ve had enough experience to know.

What I can’t seem to figure out is if she’s so shy that it makes her signals mixed or if she’s simply not reciprocating. Which is even more unbelievable to me.

Dahlia finds what, or rather who, she’s looking for. She lifts her hand and Joni spots her from where he’s standing at the register. He gives a nod of his head signaling that he’ll be with her in a moment. As I make my way to him, my phone rings in my pocket.

I answer. “Bueno?”

“Alejandro,” Don Rubin says. “Soy yo!”

I swear under my breath and as one of the waiters pass me, I place my hand on his shoulder. It’s Junior. “Do me a favor and go let Don Rubin in.”

He nods. “Si, patrón.”

“And make sure Samuel puts him on the damn list!” I call after him. “He shouldn’t be waiting outside, for Christ’s sake.”

Junior bolts out the front doors. I almost wait for Don Rubin to come in when I see Joni cross the room and I stop him on the way to Dahlia’s table. There’s a black book in his hands and I swipe the check inside.

“Take care of this one for me,” I instruct him. Don Rubin enters and he’s loud enough that I can hear him from where I’m standing on the dance floor. “And don’t let them leave, either.”

Joni frowns. “Are they…?”

After what happened with Roberto, I can imagine he’s thinking the worse. I shake my head. “Nothing like that. Just please,” I tell him as I make my way toward Don Rubin who’s making a scene at the front door. “Make her stay!”

CODE WORD

Dahlia

“I ’m positive,” I insist for the fifth time. It’s hard to remain patient with the waiter but he can’t be older than seventeen and he’s been so sweet all night. I smile, trying not to let my irritation show. “We really don’t need any more desserts or drinks. The check, actually, would be lovely. And the number for a cab company as well, please.”

We’ve been here well over four hours and while I enjoyed it at first, I’m exhausted. This restaurant, lounge, nightclub, whatever it is, is getting too loud and packed with people. Adjusting to European time is a bitch and a half and I broke night twice in the last few days trying to fix my clock. I want to wash off this makeup, take a hot shower, crawl into my fancy hotel bed, and sleep for a thousand years.

He wrings his hands and casts a frantic look around the room. I lean forward and read the name on his tag. “Joni, right?”

He nods.

“We’d really like to pay our bill now. Would you mind getting it for us, please?”

“Your bill has already been taken care of, señorita.”

Karina squeaks and I stare at the waiter.

“What?” I frown. “Why?”

“Prima,” Karina rests her hand on my shoulder. “Let’s just go. I found directions back to the hotel, it’s not far from here.”

I roll my eyes. “Last time—”