The Lady Vanishes Read online

  Turning, Milton leaned back in the door to speak to Shane. “I don’t think we’re talking a late night here. I guess I could have driven myself.”

  Shane, his head tattooed with a book on one side and a raven on the other, cracked his knuckles and then reached for something on the seat next to him. He held up a novel. “It’s fine. This was the plan for tonight, anyway.”

  “Thanks—see you in a bit.” Milton shut the door and hurried inside the restaurant, his coat flaring out from his sides, red scarf swinging.

  The hostess, a lovely girl named Alexis with reddish blond hair and a sweet smile, greeted him by name. “Good evening, Mr. Shaw, your table is this way.”

  “Thanks, Alexis.” He removed his coat as he followed behind her into the dining room, which was crowded, as usual. The modern furnishings were decorated in shades of gray and white, with accents of green and yellow. A large waterfall fell in a flat sheet of liquid, separating the bar area from the rest of the dining room.

  Milton preferred a corner booth near the kitchen, and since he came to the restaurant often, he rarely had to sit anywhere else.

  “Your guest is waiting, but we’ve made sure she had her choice of wine and appetizers.”

  “Great.” He sighed. I’m an ass.

  Michelle was indeed sitting at the booth waiting for him in a deep blue evening dress, her blond hair down around her shoulders. She started to stand when she spotted him, but he waved her back into her seat.

  “Sit, please. I’m the one who’s kept you waiting.”

  “I’ll take your coat, sir,” Alexis told him, and he handed it over.

  “Thank you,” he said. He handed her a twenty and took a seat in the booth opposite Michelle.

  “This place is so amazing,” she gushed, her cheeks a little flushed. He thought maybe she’d had a few glasses of wine. Well, he couldn’t blame her.

  “It is,” he agreed and resolved that he would make polite chitchat if it killed him. “So, Michelle, tell me about your work.”

  He managed to listen and ask appropriate questions for about ten minutes before his attention began to wander. Absently, he drew up plans in his head for a new trick involving a waterfall: Could he make it seem like it had stopped?

  He was thinking about the details when he saw a beautiful woman in a forest-green dress walking behind the hostess. A shorter man with a receding hairline followed behind her. He could only see her profile and her awesome body, which was slender and curved in all the right places. Her dark hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her walk was straight ahead, no-nonsense, just shy of being a march. He’d seen that walk before. Just a few hours ago, as a matter of fact.

  “Will you excuse me for a moment?” he asked Michelle, hoping she thought he had to go to the bathroom.

  “Of course.” She sat back, a patient smile straining her lips.

  “Thanks.” Milton set his napkin aside and dodged waiters coming out of the kitchen as he crossed the busy restaurant. Dr. Burke—it had to be her. That walk was distinctive. Sure enough, when he turned a corner, there she was, seated next to the short, nondescript man, her beautiful face glowing in the dim lighting of the chandeliers, her perfect mouth painted a deep red. God. He wanted to snatch her up, push her into a dark corner, and fuck her. She was just fucking delicious.

  She looked up and saw him—she could hardly miss him, he was standing in the middle of the walkway staring at her. She blinked and glanced behind her, probably to see if he was staring at someone else, but when she turned back, a small frown had gathered between her eyes. She didn’t recognize him.

  Realizing that he was being an idiot, he waved an apology, as if he had made a mistake, and headed for the bathroom. He might as well have some excuse for getting out of his seat, and his dick was so hard that he needed a moment or two of recovery time, anyway.

  When he left the bathroom a few minutes later, he eyed the hallway warily as if he half expected her to jump out at him—not that he would mind if she did. He would participate with enthusiasm. The coast was clear, more or less, though he couldn’t help but glance at her table on the way back to his seat. She caught him again, the frown still between her eyes.

  Milton sat back in his seat and struggled not to glance at his watch. He wanted to go talk to Regina Burke; he wanted to see if he could get her alone in the coat closet somehow. Would that be so wrong?

  “Milton, is everything okay?”

  Milton blinked at Michelle. Had she been talking? Because he hadn’t been listening. “Everything’s fine.”

  “You seem distracted,” she said, pouting.

  Milton swallowed. Distracted was an understatement. Luckily, he was saved from any explanation by the arrival of their food, salmon for him and filet mignon for her. He ate mechanically, for once not tasting anything. What was Regina Burke eating? How did she look as each bite passed over her lips? He wanted to strip her naked, blindfold her, and feed her every one of his favorite foods, slowing passing each taste over her lips. Taking a long sip of wine, he swallowed with difficulty. This was going to be a long night.

  When the dark-haired man in the expensive suit had paused in the aisle of the restaurant to stare at her, Regina had thought his behavior was strange, but what bothered her more was the itchy feeling of familiarity. Do I know him? He certainly seemed to know her.

  Her date with Corbin wasn’t going as she expected, meaning she was actually enjoying herself. But he seemed to want to talk about Celeste more than anything else.

  “So she works here?” he asked, pulling another piece of bread from the center of the table.

  “She does,” Regina answered. “She’s the assistant manager.” She glanced over Corbin’s shoulder toward the entrance to the restaurant and paused with a piece of bread halfway to her mouth. Speak of the devil. Her sister had just arrived dressed in a slinky red dress and knee-high boots with small gold spikes. She was up to something. I knew it.

  Setting her napkin down on the table, Regina said, “Excuse me a moment, Corbin. I just saw someone I need to talk to.”

  “All right,” he agreed.

  Walking quickly, Regina caught up to her sister just as she reached the bar. “Celeste,” she hissed, “what are you doing here?”

  Celeste turned, already smiling, the picture of innocence. “Reggie, you came. I wasn’t sure you would.”

  Regina folded her arms over her chest. “Uh-huh. I don’t think so, Celeste.”

  Bending close to Regina’s ear, Celeste whispered, “Just be cool, okay? I’m meeting a man here and I just wanted a backup plan, that’s all.”

  “A backup plan?” Regina scowled. “Why would I be your backup plan?”

  Celeste shrugged, a tightness around her mouth. “Well, you know that Russian guy I mentioned? He suggested I meet him tonight. He’s rich and handsome, but just a little—”

  “Celeste, I’m pleased you could come,” said a man’s voice from behind Regina. She turned, confronted by a dark-haired man with streaks of silver in his hair and a cruel, unpleasant mouth. His smile was charming, but it didn’t match his eyes. Those eyes were dark and cold. How could Celeste not see that?

  Regina supposed she had, at least to some degree, or she wouldn’t have thought to implement a backup plan.

  “Andrei,” her sister purred, and walked up close to him so that he could kiss both her cheeks. “Of course I came.”

  Andrei dutifully kissed her and slid a possessive arm around Celeste, as if he owned her. “And you brought a friend. I had no idea you were so generous.”

  Ugh. Gross. This guy was creeptastic. “I’m her sister,” Regina said in her sternest doctor voice.

  “And a sister as well, a beautiful one.”

  Oh for the love of . . . “Celeste, if you need anything, I’ll be at the table with my date.”

  “We’ll join you,” And
rei suggested, tugging Celeste closer to his side, “won’t we, Celeste?”

  “You weren’t invited,” Regina snapped and started to turn away. Behind Celeste and Andrei, the handsome dark-haired man in the suit was sitting with a blond woman. They were in a booth, but the man was watching her, obviously listening to their conversation.

  Regina frowned. Why is he so interested? So familiar?

  “Your beautiful sister doesn’t seem to like me,” Andrei was saying to Celeste, his index finger touching her cheek.

  “Excuse me,” Regina muttered and walked away. She heard them following, and braced herself to endure the unpleasant company for the sake of her sister. Backup plan. Celeste wouldn’t need a backup plan if she hadn’t made the stupid plan in the first place.

  The food had arrived when she returned to the table, but Corbin was obviously waiting for her to start—a considerate man. “Corbin, it seems as if Celeste and her . . . date . . . will be joining us.”

  Corbin looked up, clearly surprised, and stood immediately, his eyes alighting on Celeste. When he took in Andrei, his chin firmed and his eyes narrowed a little.

  “I see,” was all he said, glancing down at their table. “I’ll have the hostess bring two more chairs.”

  It took a few minutes, but Corbin and the hostess returned and set up two more place settings. Celeste and Andrei’s orders were taken right away, while Regina and Corbin began eating.

  “So you’re a doctor?” Andrei asked Regina. He was sitting next to her, opposite Celeste, who was fighting to keep a winning smile on her face.

  Regina paused with the fork halfway to her mouth and gave him a lazy, sideways glance full of contempt, her mouth tilting down slightly at the corners, “Yes,” she answered, and went back to her food.

  The conversation lulled with Andrei attempting to gain Regina’s attention. He seemed to have decided that he preferred her attention to Celeste’s, much to Regina’s irritation and Celeste’s discomfort.

  “Excuse me, please,” Regina said to Corbin. “I’ll be right back.” Removing her napkin from her lap and setting it on the table, Regina stood and escaped in the direction of the bathroom. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to be so rude to this Andrei. Other than a few tasteless comments and a tendency to let his gaze linger on her breasts, he hadn’t done anything horrible. It’s his eyes, like a snake’s, she thought as she rubbed her arms absently.

  The bathroom was down a dimly lit hallway that turned to the left and continued several yards before the bathroom doors appeared on either side. She went inside the ladies’ room and paused for a moment, taking a seat on a small lacquered stool.

  Why had Celeste wanted her to be here—to take her home if this Andrei proved disinterested, or to give her an excuse to get away from him if he turned out to be too much for her to handle? Regina wasn’t sure, but she wished her sister weren’t so obsessed with finding a rich man that she was willing to get groped by that walking hard-on.

  Straightening, she took a moment to wash her hands with the lavender-scented soap and then shoved the bathroom door open. She’d had enough. She was going to have Corbin take both her and Celeste home now.

  She had taken a step down the hall before she realized there was a man there—Andrei. He was blocking her exit. A tingle of fear made her freeze, but she lifted her chin.

  He was smiling.

  “Regina.” He held out his hands as if to say he was harmless. “I understood what you wanted, yes? To be alone with me?”

  Was this creep really that arrogant? “I have no desire to be alone with you. Excuse me.” She tried to brush past him, but he grabbed her wrist. Was he serious? She was about to scream her head off, restaurant be damned.

  “You wouldn’t want anything to happen to your pretty sister, would you?”

  Regina paused. He was threatening her sister? He thought that he could control her by threatening her sister? She was going to kick him in the balls so hard he’d think he swallowed them.

  Suddenly he was yanked away from her, and Regina had the blurred impression of another man, a man with dark hair. He’d shoved Andrei against the wall, even though Andrei was larger, and was speaking to him in a low, dangerous voice.

  “Andrei Polzin, I think your father warned you about calling attention to yourself while here in the States.”

  Andrei paused, studying the other man’s face. “I remember you. Roland’s partner.”

  “Yes.”

  Andrei grunted. “This is not my fault. This bitch came on to me.”

  Suddenly, without seeing him move, the dark-haired, olive-skinned man produced a knife, and held it under Andrei’s chin. “I see. And that’s why you felt the need to carry this to meet a woman in a bar?”

  Andrei smiled, ignoring the knife beneath his chin. “You never know.”

  “That’s true,” the other man replied, and the knife disappeared—to where, Regina couldn’t tell, “but if you threaten this woman again, I will not only hunt you down, I will destroy your business and lay enough evidence at the feet of the Feds to keep you locked up here no matter what your father does.”

  Andrei paled. “You cannot do that.”

  “Watch me,” the other man snarled. “And I’ll make sure that if something happens to me, that evidence is still delivered. Now go and make your excuses. When I come back into the dining room, I want you gone.” He stepped away from Andrei but didn’t go far, his body still poised for action.

  Andrei glared at him, and then Regina—as if all of it were her fault—and then he left, stalking down the hallway like a charging bull.

  The other man relaxed slightly and turned to her. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Regina assured him in an even tone, slightly miffed that he felt she needed to be rescued. “I was going to kick him in the balls.”

  The man smiled, a flash of white teeth in the dark. “I’m sorry I interrupted.”

  Regina smiled ruefully back at him. “I’m not.” She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have panicked, kick or no kick.

  An awkward silence fell between them. He was staring at her again, his eyes lingering on her mouth.

  “Do I know you?” Regina asked, her voice much huskier than she intended. “How did you know Andrei?”

  “My company has done some work for his father.” He took a step toward her. “You’re really beautiful.”

  Regina swallowed. His eyes were an indistinct color in the dim light, his thick brows casting shadows. He had a bold nose and a strong jaw. The magician.

  She gasped, and he paused. She hadn’t realized he was still moving forward, almost as if he were drawn to her. “You’re Shaw the Magician,” she accused.

  Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and nodded. “I am.”

  Regina thought he seemed disappointed that she’d recognized him. Wondering why, she moved closer. “How did you know he was dangerous? Who are you?”

  He glanced down at her and seemed to realize that she was standing next to him. He didn’t say anything, but he seemed to be holding his breath. Curious, Regina moved a fraction nearer. The wild part of her that had been repressed for so long lifted its head, and instead of pushing it back, pushing it down, Regina took Rose-Lindsey’s advice and did what she would have done when she was fifteen.

  Stepping even closer, she laid a hand on his chest. He worked out; the muscles beneath her fingers were solid. She shivered. She’d heard magicians had to keep themselves in shape for their tricks; they had to be flexible, strong, able to endure pain and discomfort.

  She swallowed and went to her tiptoes, pausing with her lips near his mouth. “Thanks, magician.” She kissed one of his lightly stubbled cheeks. His breath escaped in a rush, and he seized her, moving her backward into an alcove, deeply shadowed, with a small ledge, like it had once housed a payphone.

  He pushed h
er onto the ledge, his fingers gripping her sides urgently, but he paused, swallowing. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his strong throat, and her eyes followed the motion. He smelled like expensive cologne, clean male sweat, and faintly of burnt matches.

  “Shit,” he said in a low, rough voice, his fingers flexing against her skin. “You’re dangerous.”

  She noticed that he hadn’t moved to release her, but a small wicked part of her, long buried, found the situation . . . alluring. She found herself wanting to kiss this man who performed tricks for children and thought she was beautiful. He might be a charming scoundrel, but she wasn’t trying to marry him—she just wanted to have a little fun. A little fun, while a restaurant full of people, including her sister and her date, waited for her.

  “Don’t you have a date waiting for you?” she asked him, thinking about the blond woman.

  He winced and started to step back, but she gripped his shoulders.

  His eyes darkened again, and he moved forward willingly. “Yes,” he said. “I’m behaving like a complete dick.”

  Regina liked that he was willing to admit it, liked the loose, warm feeling running through her body. God, she hadn’t felt this way in forever, since before her father disappeared, since she’d had a crush on a lifeguard in Martha’s Vineyard when she was fifteen.

  She didn’t say anything, just lifted her face. “Just for a few minutes.”

  He obliged, bending to take her mouth. He sipped at her lips, tasting her, his rough fingers cupping her jaw while his thumbs stroked her cheekbones.

  “You have the most beautiful mouth,” he told her.

  Regina felt beautiful and powerful. Their eyes met, and he moved closer still, crowding her against the wall and his hard body.

  Regina gasped, then gasped again. She felt out of control, deliciously out of control, kissing a complete stranger in the darkened alcove of a crowded restaurant.