Dark Deceit by Lauren Dawes Page B

door.
    ‘Yeah.’
    Mist opened the door holding a fabric bag in her hand. ‘We’re done.’
    ‘How’d we do?’
    ‘The bar took about ten large. I don’t know about the other two
levels. Someone’s going to bring the take down soon.’ Mist slid the
reproduction copy of William. T. Maud’s The Ride of the Valkyries off
the wall and opened the safe with a few expert flicks of her wrist. After
placing the money in with another three bags, she replaced the picture.
    Mist leaned on the wall, her arms crossed loosely over her stomach. ‘Are
you going to be much longer?’
    Bryn looked down at the pile of paperwork. She’d hardly made a dent
in it at all. ‘I’ll get as much done as I can before the others come down with
the take.’
    Mist nodded and slipped from the room silently. It was another ten
minutes before there was another knock. Glancing at the camera placed outside
her office door, she saw it was Korvain.
    ‘Come in,’ she called, hating how her heart was already beating like
a snare against her ribs. The handle depressed and Korvain filled the doorway.
His shoulders barely fit in against the jamb, his head almost touching the top.
He looked down on her, his black eyes glinting.
    Bryn could taste her pulse on the back of her tongue, and she
pressed herself into the back of her chair. She let go of a shaky breath,
hiding her discomfort by crossing her arms over her chest.
    ‘I’m busy,’ she snapped.
    ‘I can see that,’ he murmured in response. Her eyes flickered up,
noticing his were hooded and raking over her body. He licked his lips, drawing
her eyes down to his mouth, and she couldn’t stop them there.
    She took in all of him: his shoulders, his chest, his stomach. Her
eyes lingered on his waist, his hips. His legs were thick with muscle. She
could see that clearly even through the fabric of his pants.
    Korvain cleared his throat, forcing Bryn’s eyes back onto the
paperwork in front of her. ‘You told me to come and see you after my shift.’
    Fuck it. ‘Yeah. I did. I owe you for
helping out tonight.’ Pulling open a desk drawer, she found a small locked tin
and placed it on the desk. Reaching into another drawer, she took the key and
slid it into the lock. Bryn started counting out the green, placing three
hundreds onto the desk.
    She slid the money across the wooden surface, pulling back when
Korvain’s fingers touched hers, lingering there for a second longer than what
was socially acceptable.
    ‘Thanks,’ he murmured, holding her gaze hungrily.
    Bryn couldn’t stop the shiver tracking down her spine. ‘You did a
good job tonight. If I ever need help again, I’ll give you a call.’
    When he didn’t respond, Bryn focused back on her paperwork with a
frown. ‘I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to do,’ she said tersely, gesturing at
the offending paperwork in case he needed visual aids.
    His dark eyes fell to the desk, the corners of his mouth curling
slightly. ‘I’ll leave you to it then.’
    * * *
    K orvain stepped
out of the office, pocketing the three hundred he’d earned, and turned toward
the exit. Even though Adrian had told him he couldn’t fade into the building,
Korvain had still tried. If the protection was anything like what they had on
their place, he could have breached it. It wasn’t until he’d made it inside
that he’d understood why. There were runes painted on the walls passing off as
pieces of décor, but although the pattern seemed random, it was a very powerful
ancient verse meant to protect the building from unwelcome visitors fading in
and out.
    As he reached the door, one of the other bouncers, the one who had
seen him into the office when he’d first arrived, stepped in front of him.
    The male was human—as most of the bouncers were in the place. He
crossed his muscular arms across his barrel chest, his hazel eyes narrowing on
his face. ‘Is she allowing you back?’ he asked, his deep voice rumbling with an
unspoken threat.
    Korvain stared