Page 13 of Mile High Ruin

Camille inclines her head and returns to the galley. Silence remains after she leaves. I look at the men. Anton studies his coffee. Iosef studies the contract. Marek looks directly at me.

“Say it,” I tell him.

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“You are already daring.”

“I was only wondering whether there was an emergency in the rear galley.”

“There is not.”

“Then I’m relieved.”

I turn to Iosef. “Continue.”

He does, though the discussion has already lost whatever discipline it had.

Another hour passes, and Sloane does not appear.

I tell myself I’m grateful. Without her in the cabin, I manage to review the amended deal, reject two proposed conditions, and issue instructions for the men waiting in Paris. I make three calls through the encrypted satellite line and receive confirmation that the leak within the shipping office is being contained.

Work restores order.

By the time dinner service begins, I’ve almost removed her from my thoughts. Then she walks into the cabin carrying a bottle of champagne.

Her hair is still pinned back, but more strands have escaped around her face. She has changed nothing else, yet she appears less tense than she did before takeoff. Calm. Collected. Entirely focused on the work in front of her.

She serves Anton first. Then Iosef.

Marek watches her with open interest, though not the kind that bothers me.

It bothers me anyway.

When she reaches my side, she doesn’t look at me immediately. She displays the bottle, waits for my acknowledgment, then pours a small amount into my glass. Her movements are precise. Professional.

I pick up the glass and taste it. “It will do.”

Her gaze meets mine.

There’s a pause. A very small one.

Then she says, “How fortunate.”

Marek lowers his head.

I understand the insult immediately. It is my own phrase returned to me in the same calm tone.

I should rebuke her. Instead, I feel the dangerous pull of amusement in my chest.

I set the glass down. “You have been absent for some time, Miss Mercer.”

“I was working.”

“Elsewhere.”

“Yes.”

“Camille managed without you.”