“No. It doesn’t look bad.” Owen placed his hand on my hip and pulled me closer. “It looks entirely too good.”

“Oh.” I smiled. “Thank you.”

“But I think it’s missing something.” His eyes turned serious.

“A coat would be nice. I feel like I’m wearing nothing but underwear.”

“That’s not what I was thinking.” Stepping back, he led me to another bedroom.

As soon as the door was closed behind us, his mouth was pressed to mine. His teeth tugged on my lips, forcing them open so his tongue could explore inside. My breathing hitched and I kissed him back with just as much force.

The horrible feeling in my stomach came back in full force and I needed his hands to push it away.

His fingers slid along the soft material of my dress, tracing the guns strapped to the small of my back and the knife that ran between my shoulder blades. He broke our kiss and rested his forehead against mine.

“You look scared, love.” His soft breath washed over my face.

“I am.” A shudder ran over my body.

“That’s normal.” His fingers traced my jaw. “It’s okay to be scared.”

“Are we going to die tonight?” My fingers tightened on his shirt.

He didn’t answer, his breathing slow and even, but he closed his eyes. “No, love. None of us will die tonight. We’re going to be fine.”

“You promised to not lie to me,” I reminded him.

Wrapping our fingers together, he lifted our hands and pressed his lips to where our skin met. “I’m telling you the truth, Ava. We’re going to be fine. I did some scouting today and found the location of the casino. One of my contacts has guaranteed to have transportation waiting for us when we need it and to provide a distraction for a getaway. If we’re lucky we’ll negotiate a truce and walk out of there free and clear. If not, we’ve got an exit planned.”

I took a deep breath. “We’re going to be okay.”

“Yes. Trust me, love. Everything is accounted for.” He lifted my chin so I could look into his eyes. “Now, you need to relax and not look so worried. You have to look excited.”

“I’m not sure I can relax. I can’t turn off my worry.” I shook my head. “It’s just there, gnawing at my stomach.”

“You need a distraction.” He pressed his body closer to mine. “I can help with that.”

“Owen—”

“Shh, love. Let me distract you.” He lifted me from the floor and set me on a table.

He kissed me, slowly, with tender fingers cupping my face. When he pulled back to breathe I was surprised to hear him whisper. “I need you to distract me, too.”

His hands moved along my legs and slipped my skirt up my hips. He traced the lacy edge of the knife sheath wrapped around my thigh as if surprised to find it there. When he knelt in front of the table, I leaned back and threaded my fingers through his hair. I focused on his hands, his warm mouth, the way he made me feel.

When he stood up and slid inside of me, our movements were slow and tender. There was nothing hurried or urgent, just a need to love and be loved. When the climax came it hit us both at the same time. A shocking wave of pleasure that made him groan my name.

Later, once he’d changed and I’d fixed my makeup, we joined the others downstairs.

A somber tone filled the apartment as everyone took care of last minute details. Mavis decided to change her jewelry to something that had a GPS Kenny could track and a microphone so he would be able to hear what was happening. Owen had hidden several knives along his person, including a simple pocketknife in a front pocket.

“If you hand them what they’re searching for, they usually don’t look much further,” he explained.

Mavis went to the kitchen and came back with two glasses of champagne. She handed me one and sipped from the other.

“We’re supposed to be living it up.” She clinked glasses with mine before turning on an mp3 player. Music filled the room and she started dancing around as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Kenny glared at his aunt before pulling a pair of noise cancelling headphones out of a bag. They apparently didn’t have the same taste in music. He had spent most of his time sneaking through back doors of the casino’s security system. This way he would be able to remotely help us if we needed anything.

“C’mon, Ava. Move your ass! Show me what you’ve got.” She did a little shimmy and I laughed.

I took a gulp of champagne and decided dancing wouldn’t hurt anything. It would be easier to look stupid here than try to be sexy at the casino.

When a Taylor Swift song came on, I didn’t find it too hard to start dancing and shaking my butt. I was more than happy to try and shake off my bad mood.

Mavis finished her glass of champagne and pranced around the living room, gyrating and wiggling. For someone so poised and posh she was a truly terrible dancer. Laughter exploded from me when she wiggled her butt all the way to the floor and almost didn’t make it back up.

I went over to help her up, not noticing when someone knocked on the door. It wasn’t until I’d gotten Mavis off the ground, giggling, that I realized someone else had joined us in the room.

“Looks like the party started without me.” Patrick was wearing a tux, though not nearly as well as Owen. He was holding two bouquets of flowers and wearing a smile.

“Sweetheart, our guest has arrived.” Owen took Mavis’s hand and pulled her toward Patrick.