Page 29 of Mile High Ruin

“Pilot?”

I laugh. “Absolutely not.”

“Flight attendant.”

I look at him. “Good guess.”

He shrugs as though it was nothing. He probably saw the hotel, the way Camille and I are dressed, something.

His expression remains pleasant. “Interesting work.”

“That depends on the passengers.”

“Difficult ones?”

“One or two.”

Vadim appears in my mind before I can stop him.

By now, Camille has walked away, so it’s just him and me.

Viktor notices the change in my face. “There is someone.”

I blink. “What?”

“The difficult passenger.”

“No.”

His mouth curves. “That sounded convincing.”

“I’m not discussing passengers.”

“Professional discretion.”

“Exactly.”

“I respect that.”

The answer should relax me. Instead, it makes me think about Camille’s warning on the aircraft, about how carefully she told me not to discuss anything I saw or heard around Vadim and his men.

I take another drink.

Viktor is attractive.

Very.

Up close, his features are almost too refined, his smile controlled, his hands elegant around the glass. There’s nothing threatening about him on the surface. So unlike Vadim.

We talk for a bit, but I mostly keep things superficial. Then, when my watch flashes with my night-time alarm, I pretend to hold back a yawn.

“Tired yet? I hope I didn’t bore you,” he says with a gentleman’s smirk.

“I’ve had a really full day,” I tell him.

“I should let you enjoy your evening.”

“That’s unusually considerate.”