Both Chi and Andrés made understanding noises and turned to stand shoulder to shoulder as Liv slipped away. Definitely compatriots of some sort but not romantic, she decided. The flirtatiousness Andrés had always displayed around her had shifted o a cold professionalism soon as she was out of sight, peeking at them over her shoulder.
Wait...is that his guy on the inside? She had to be.
Andrés moved on moments after Liv turned to look, flashing a politician's empty smile at the next woman as Chi did the same with a man who had approached her elbow. Liv could tell the difference now; he'd given her a genuine smile earlier and even from a distance she could see where this one didn't reach his now-empty eyes. The transformation was incredible.
Curiouser and curiouser, she thought as she sought an exit. Who is he, really?
Her glance around the room landed on a blue-eyed woman in black trousers and a sleeveless top that looked like it was made of leather. The woman's blonde hair was cut military short on the back and sides with a crown of spikes on top, and she looked out over the gathering from an upper level with a faint sneer.
Imogen Quinn.
Liv froze. This was the woman who'd had Lewis beaten to within an inch of his life. This was the bitch she had to bring down. Did Andrés know she was here, watching them? Did Imogen know she and Andrés were here? With an effort, she tore her eyes away from her enemy and looked for her date.
He was now in conversation with another person she recognized from her research: Imogen's COO. Andrés seemed okay – he wasn't being hustled out of the room – but the stiffness of his posture told her all was not alright. Had they been discovered?
Fuck. Of course they'd be here, it's their party. Will they look at me and see Lewis? Will they know why I'm here? How did that not occur to me before now?
She needed to find the server room, or at least an unguarded terminal. It was a multi-storey building, but she guessed the servers would be hosted at ground floor or below. Heat rose, and servers needed to be kept cool. IQ Security was the only tenant of this building – a fact that Liv suspected wasn't an accident – and the building plans she'd hacked had a couple of likely rooms two floors down.
High ceilings loomed overhead as she made her way out, seeming to mock her desire to get belowground. Having seen Northcliffe House, Liv thought she could see what the builders were going for but didn't quite accomplish.
Guests thronged the corridors outside the main entry to the events room, speaking in quieter voices both for having been freed of the cacophony of the party and for the echo the hall created. The clatter of Liv's low heels joined the reverberations, the sound reminding her it was a good thing she was forced to walk slower than she might if she'd been in her motorcycle boots. Andrés's voice whispered through her head: "Rushing draws attention and forces mistakes. Calm, nena, be calm."
"Calm, right," she muttered, smiling like an idiot at a woman who glanced up from her phone. "Nothing to see here. Where are the bloody stairs?" The maps had them around here somewhere. She swung around a corner and pulled up short.
"This area is off-limits, madam."
Liv put a hand to her chest, not having to try too hard to fake surprise. "Oh! You scared me. Sorry, I'm just looking for the loo."
With a bored sigh, the security guard pointed her back the way she'd come and gave directions she didn't really need. She waved and turned around, reminding herself that she didn't really need to find the server room, that was just the grand prize. Any unattended computer connected to the internal network would do. She'd hidden traces of her earlier hack into IQ Security's network, but not removed them, leaving herself a backdoor. All Liv had to do was get in, execute a command, and get out.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Assuming nobody here recognizes you and hauls you into a dark alley.
Her heart thudded as she retraced her steps, walking past the ballroom-sized space hosting the party and finding another side corridor. This one was also guarded. Liv turned around before she could be told off and went back to the party.
Andrés was talking to a short, round man with the conniving air of a politician. She waited until he looked up and smiled, ending his conversation and turning to her.
"Hey, there," she said, leaning against his arm. "Think you can help a girl out?"
Amusement shone in his eyes. "Your wish is my command."
"Do you think you can make some kind of distraction?" she asked, barely moving her lips. "Something that will pull the security guards away?"
Interest replaced amusement and he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her close. He kissed her cheek, then murmured, "What are you up to, nena?"
"Just a little...research?"
"Research."
The brush of his lips along her ear sent a wave of heat over her. "Yeah."
Andrés leaned back and searched her face. The flirt was still there in the cheeky curve of his lip and the heat in his eyes, but something else swam under the surface. Something hard and eager.
Liv shivered, the spark of desire lit by his lips now kindled into a flame. This is a man who knows what he wants and will do what it takes to get it.
"I think I can manage that," he said.
Adrenaline surged and Liv bounced up on her toes to kiss him. "Thanks."
"Keep kissing me like that and you can ask me to do anything you want." The saucy wink made it clear what kind of requests he had in mind. Liv blushed as he pulled out his phone. "Stay here. Chi, make sure she stays out of trouble for a few minutes."
Liv turned to find the much taller woman behind her. When she looked back, Andrés was already striding toward the doors.
"Do I want to know?" Chi asked.
"Um. No. Probably not."
Dark eyes studied her and Liv fought the urge to squirm. That there was an urge at all made her grind her teeth. She pulled herself up taller and stared back. Chi nodded, half a smile flickering before she fell back into a mask of boredom.
"Glad to see you're more than a bit off fluff."
"You're awfully direct, aren't you."
"Yes. Andrés is the big brother I never had and the only family I have left."
Liv's scowl eased and she nodded. "I can appreciate that. My brother's all I have left, too." Her jaw tightened and she looked to where she'd last seen Imogen. The crime boss was gone, but Chi figured it out anyway.
"Ah. Yes, of course. The journo." The statuesque woman nodded.
"You know?"
"It's my job to know."
"Which is why you're annoyed that I won't tell you why I asked Andrés for a little help."
Chi smiled for real this time, transforming her from a stern beauty into an approachable Miss England. "He took care of me when I lost everything. I try to have his back." She looked Liv up and down as she had earlier, a pointed examination. "Especially when it seems he might be thinking with his smaller head again."
Liv burst out laughing, deciding that she liked the other woman. "Good to know he has a weakness."
"Everyone does." She smiled again and her eyes flicked over Liv's shoulder. "Hello, Rey."
"Ladies." The corners of his eyes tightened. "Should I be concerned that two of the smartest people I know are laughing together?"
Chi raised an eyebrow. "Said as though you hadn't hoped we might."
"Guilty as charged." Andrés didn't look guilty; he looked pleased and smug. Liv couldn't help but kiss his cheek. He grinned, pulled her close and whispered, "Your distraction will happen in four minutes."
"I should circulate," Chi said.
Charm dropped from Andrés as he looked up. "If anyone asks —"
"I know. I was convincing you to help Imogen."
"Exactly."
Liv wanted to ask what she was supposed to be convincing him of, but if she wasn't willing to share her secrets she couldn't expect these two to share theirs. "See you around," she said.
Chi grinned. "I hope so." With a last warning look at Andrés, she strode away. The crowd parted and reformed around her, hiding her from sight. A skeletally thin woman caught sight of Andrés in the shifting mass of people and perked up.
"More politicians," Andrés sighed. "Go on. Before you get pulled into trade lobbying."
Liv didn't need more urging. Channeling Chi's determined elegance made it easier to slip through the crowd and out the doors. She stood near one of the floor-to-ceiling glass windows where the curve of the corridor let her see the security station near the loo and fiddled on her phone.
Within minutes, uniformed security were bustling toward the rear of the building with the contained fury of a kicked anthill. Come on...come on...yes!
The last of the guards left his post. The security desk – and its computer – were unattended.
Cameras watched from behind darkened glass bubbles as she approached, but she could take care of that. She just needed access. Her plan was insane, and a huge risk for both her and Andrés if she was caught. Somehow she thought Andrés would approve despite the danger.
More important than his approval was getting justice for her brother. The hack she'd done for Andrés was just the opening salvo in her war against Imogen.
Liv slipped behind the desk and dropped into the chair, hunching to stay under the level of the desk behind the monitor. A solid wall at her back and the three-sided box of the desk meant someone would have to stand directly in front to see her.
Fishing out the USB drive she'd hidden in her bra was awkward and the imprint it left itched once she had it free. She ignored the sensation and slotted in the drive, almost laughing when she looked at the monitor and saw the station had been left unlocked in the guard's hurry to address Andrés's distraction. One less obstacle.
As tempting as it was to sit and peruse the files, Liv knew she wouldn't have long. She opened the executable program she'd written and set it to run while she looked for the camera's recordings.
Typing as quietly as she could, she deleted the frames with her in them and set it to loop from an empty shot for the next ten minutes. Good thing I had that practice with the recordings at Northcliffe House.
Then she waited, tapping her thigh, for her program to load.
Approaching footsteps made her freeze. Shit, someone's coming. Glancing at the download status on her program, she saw five percent remaining. So close...
She slipped out of the chair and crouched, peeking above the desk to see Andrés coming around the corner. Sighing in relief, Liv climbed back into the chair, only to duck down again when he spun abruptly.
"Captain!" his smooth voice greeted someone. "Just the person I was looking for." He sounded almost seductive, but Liv didn't have time to listen. The file finished loading. Snatching the USB, she erased all traces of her presence in the machine with trembling fingers, locked it, and scuttled away with breath held.
Tip-toeing in heels was difficult, but she managed to make it around the corner to the loo. Slipping into the nearest stall, she crushed the USB underfoot and dropped it in the toilet, holding the button down to force a manual flush until all the pieces were gone.
The program with which she'd infected the computer would eventually give her everything she needed to prove the woman's role in Lewis's attack and allow him to complete his investigation. It would spread through Imogen's network until it reached the servers and route disguised data packets to Liv over time.
I did it. I actually did it. She sat on the toilet and watched her hands shake as she breathed through the dizziness accompanying the rush of success.
Now I just have to get back to the main party. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Liv stepped out into the main hallway – and nearly shrieked aloud when someone grasped her arm, pulling her into an alcove created by two marble pillars. The only thing that stopped her was another hand falling over her mouth as she drew breath.
"Shhh sh sh, nena, it's me," Andrés whispered. Liv whimpered in relief behind his palm and sagged. "Guilty mind?" he teased, grinning and lifting his hand away from her mouth. "What have you been up to, I wonder?"
She started to reply, then froze as a voice from behind Andrés called from down the corridor, "Marin? A moment. We need to have that talk."
He swore. "I need a distraction. That's Bruno, he's been trying to corner me all night —"
Liv kissed him with all the passion relief had ignited in her. He'd saved her from an unfortunate police encounter and obviously come looking for her after. They'd worked as a team, however unintentionally. He'd covered her, now she would cover him.
The man cleared his throat behind them, and Liv drew her leg up the length of Andrés's, hooking it around his hip. A quick study, Andrés slid his hand up her thigh and ground into her hips, pulling a low moan from her. She wanted him again, tonight. Now.
"Fuck's sake," the man behind them muttered. "We're going to have that talk, Marin. You can't keep avoiding me."
Receding footsteps announced they were once more alone and Andrés pulled away to glance over his shoulder. "I think that worked," he murmured, releasing her leg but not stepping away.
"He might come back," she whispered, completely distracted from her earlier fear and trembling as she rode the high of the doubled adrenaline.
Turning back to look at her, Andrés ran a thumb along her lower lip. "Tease." With another glance in both directions, he grasped her hand and tugged her behind him. "I think we both got what we came here for. Let's get out of here before Urrego finishes playing with her guards and Bruno starts to think I might make a run for it."
She couldn't help but laugh as he pulled her along in his wake, heading for the door. Andrés glanced at her sideways and asked, "Where to?"
The sexual tension could be cut with a knife, even with both of them needing to get the fuck out of here. "Somewhere quieter," she replied with a wide grin.
As they reached his car, Andrés said, "My place has a roof terrace..."
Her eyebrows shot up. What didn't the man have at his disposal? And who the fuck was he?
"Sounds perfect," she said. Mostly, it sounded like a chance at a do-over. One she wasn't going to pass up.