Page 27 of Dishonored

“Fine,” Aria said with a sigh.

She handed the vendor back the book, but paid for the magazine she had already put in her purse. The book could wait for another day.

“Now, Mrs. De Rose.”

Mario was testy today, but really, he’d been like this for a week or so. Ever since he realized someone was actually following Aria. And then his irritation ticked up a notch or two when he also figured out said stalker was Caesar Accardo.

It wasn’t like the man was making any real effort to hide it was him, either. In fact, that was probably what pissed off her guard the most. The man would be waiting in the most obvious location just to show he knew where they were at any given time.

But Aria …

Well, she had been careful.

Careful to keep her face hidden, and to stay out of sight. She never looked at Caesar directly when she knew he was there, and he had only ever seen her from behind. She was not yet ready to show him just who she was, and who he was actually following.

“To the car,” the guard demanded.

His hand came to rest on Aria’s lower back as if to move her away from the vendor, and push her further down the street. She had all of two rules when it came to her people—do not raise your voice, and never touch her.

Spinning fast, Aria moved a step away from Mario’s touch, and then hit his arm away when he reached for her again. This stupid man didn’t know any better, she swore it. He didn’t like to follow her rules because he was too busy doing what her goddamn husband wanted him to do when it came to her.

Fuck that noise.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed at him. “I can walk on my own, thank you.”

Mario’s jaw clenched, but his eyes told her that he wasn’t in the mood to argue with her about it right then. “To the car, then.”

“Fine.”

Aria’s large black summer hat tipped just low enough in the front to keep her face hidden from view as she headed back down the street. Today was the day—the last move she was to make on the board before the final show could really begin.

Careful plans had been made.

So very careful.

“Merda,” Mario cursed.

Aria caught sight of the man glancing over his shoulder, and she peered back in the same direction. Sure enough, Caesar tailed them close enough that she could see the blues of his eyes although he wasn’t looking directly at them right in those moments. He was too busy saying something to the tall, dark-haired man walking with him.

Oh, he brought a friend today.

Fun.

Her gaze drifted back to Caesar, though, and she couldn’t even help herself but to the appreciative perusal of his dark blue, three-piece suit. He’d gotten a haircut since their encounter a week ago, as the blond strands were significantly shorter than they had been, not that it looked bad.

Far from it.

Nothing about that man looked bad. And hell, she had thought he looked particularly good on his knees as he ate the juices straight from her pussy while the taste of his come still lingered on her mouth.

Jesus.

Wow.

She went to that place fast.

Aria quickly turned her head, and stared straight at the sidewalk ahead of her. She had a plan to follow—things to see through. She did not have the time or wherewithal to be getting stuck inside her own head about a man like Caesar. What she had done with him at Lucifer’s Den was more than enough to get her killed, and she was going to do her very best to keep from indulging in him again.

Because it would be exactly that, and only that when it came right down to it. An indulgent moment for her body, and little else.