She didn’t realize she’d moved closer to Naveen until his pinky brushed against hers, stilling her nervous inching.
A large man dressed in all black at the poker table spoke. “Who is this?”
“Friends of Emi’s, they said.” The bouncer crowded them from behind, so they took another step forward.
The man in black took a deep drag on his cigar, his thick gold pinky ring winking at them. His complexion was pale, a dramatic contrast to his slicked-back black hair and bright pink lips. “Interesting. They have her money?”
Mira cleared her throat. “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“They’re probably the ones who helped her, X.” One of the other players took a sip of his drink.
“We didn’t help anyone with anything,” Naveen said, and his carefully modulated tone told Mira that he’d picked up on the bad vibes in the place. His fingers wrapped around hers fully, and this time, she was too distracted to concentrate on his touch, except the comfort it gave her. “And we don’t have anyone’s money. We heard Emi was here. We thought we could speak with her for a few minutes. If she’s not, we can go, no harm done.”
X’s—she doubted that was his real name—eyes narrowed on them. They were like chips of granite. “Put them in the room with Emi, Ralph. We’ll figure out what to do with them after the game. Bad enough she’s disrupted us tonight.”
“Wait,” Mira said, but she was talking to the bouncer’s chest, because he’d stepped in front of them.
“Move.”
Naveen’s chest expanded. “Listen—”
Ralph placed his hand on his gun. “Move.”
Mira gulped. She exchanged a glance with Naveen, and he jerked his head. Slowly, she turned, and they were marched off down the hall.
They found another hulking guy standing outside a bedroom. He gave no reaction except for a nod to Ralph.
The bouncer shoved Naveen against the wall, and when he tried to turn around, Ralph placed one meaty hand against Naveen’s back. “I gotta pat you both down.”
Naveen glared at him over his shoulder, but stood still while the man checked him. It was a perfunctory pat down, but he easily found Vassar’s phone in his pocket. “That’s not functional,” Naveen said quickly when Ralph turned it over in his hand.
The man shrugged. “Don’t care. No phones.”
“It’s barely a phone,” Mira managed. “Please, don’t take that.”
“House rules. If you leave, you can have it back.”
That if was ominous.
Ralph allowed her to keep her lighter after a matching pat down. He opened the door to the room and shoved them in. It was decorated in seventies porn chic, with a massive king-size bed, gold silk bedding, and red carpet. There was a chandelier and a mirror over the bed, and a fainting couch along the foot of it.
The faucet in the bathroom shut off, and a woman entered the room. Or rather, she strutted into the room.
The last time Mira had seen Emi was right before she’d left for college. Emi had transferred into her high school the middle of their freshman year. Mira had fallen hard, not only for Emi, but for her family. The Matsuis were good, honorable shopkeepers who deeply loved their five daughters, even if they couldn’t give them much. Emi had been their wild child, moving quickly from shoplifting makeup to virtual grand larceny in the years Mira had known her.
Introducing the girl to her father surely hadn’t helped her come to the straight and narrow. Vassar had spotted her bright, technologically inclined mind immediately. He hadn’t drafted her into his team of thieves while Mira was around, but he had encouraged Emi to live up to her full hacking potential.
Any other person might have been shocked to see their high school best friend after more than a decade, but not Emi. Or at least, she didn’t bat an eye.
She leaned against the door frame and smiled, her lips slicked with a bloodred stain.
“Well, well, well . . . ,” she purred. “Look who’s back in town.”
“Hi, Emi.”
“You haven’t changed one bit, Mira.”
“Neither have you.” Emi was as beautiful as ever. Her svelte body was clad in a sleeveless black leather jumpsuit that must have been hell to put on. It was zipped to mid boob, revealing glowing and blemish-free skin. Her long black hair flirted with the top of her butt.
Emi tapped her finger on her chin. “To what do I owe this honor?”
“They said they were your friends,” Ralph said.
“Friends is generous,” Emi said, and even though Mira had recently thought the exact same thing, it stung a bit.
“X thinks they’re the ones helping you.”
Emi’s laugh was light and musical. “Please. I can get better help than this.”
“Helping you do what?” Naveen asked.
Emi lifted a shoulder. “Nothing bad. You know how dramatic these gamblers can get.”
Ralph shuffled his feet. His lips turned down, like he was disappointed in Emi. “Emi, X is pissed at you.”
“How pissed?” Naveen persisted.
“Pissed enough to lock me up in here with vague threats to kill me if I don’t pay them their money back.” She shrugged, like it was no big deal, and maybe to her, it wasn’t.
Mira massaged her temples. They’d jumped from the frying pan into the fire. “Wait, what?”
“You put cameras in the suite,” the bouncer growled. “Had someone feeding you information so you could cheat. We had to move rooms. And you don’t have the money to back up what you lost.”
Definitely the fire. Or a fire. There were multiple fires, everything was on fire.
Emi pouted. “I needed an advantage. How was little old me supposed to win against your buddies?”
The bouncer didn’t look swayed. He took a step forward, and Mira wondered whose side he was on, since he didn’t look nearly as intimidating now as he had in the living room. Was he one of Emi’s men? Then again, Emi was really good at making people care about her in a short period of time. “You have about an hour, I reckon, before they decide to extract their money from you one way or another. I don’t have to remind you how high up we are.” Ralph paused. “I mean, if they wanted to toss you over the balcony.”
“I think we all understood that threat,” Naveen murmured.
“Figure things out, Emi. I’d rather not murder you.” On that note, Ralph slammed the door behind himself, making everyone jump. Well, making Mira and Naveen jump. Emi only smiled wider.
“Come in, come in.” Emi waved them in like it was her home, and not a bedroom she was being unlawfully detained in. Her gaze critically raked over Naveen. “Who is this?”
That purr was dangerous. “Emi Matsui, this is Naveen. Emi and I went to high school together.”
“Is that all we did?” Emi held out her hand to Naveen. “I was Mira’s bestest friend in the whole world.”
Naveen took her hand. “I was her boyfriend, for a short period of time.”
“Look at that. Ex meets ex.”
Mira rolled her shoulders. “Emi. What is going on?”
“It’s no big deal. I thought I had a good line on skimming some cash off these people. Turns out, my tiny cameras weren’t as tiny as I thought they’d be.”