Undercover Nightingale (9 page)

She made a dive for the phone, afraid that Filip would hear it. “Shut it off,” she demanded.

He flattened her against the door and held her there. With the phone out of her reach, he turned down the volume, but her words continued to damn her.

When it was over, he said, “Okay, Miss Nightingale, what’s the game? What were your instructions before Yurii died, and what are you doing in Budapest with Filip?”

“None of this involves you. Forget you have that and forget me.”

He leaned in, his mouth inches from hers. “Tell me the truth and the debt you still owe me is gone.”

“I paid my debt last night. It was your choice to take as much or as little as you wanted. If you feel cheated today that’s your fault, not mine. Now do I scream, or are you going to back off?”

“Scream and I take this to Filip. I wonder what he’d think? What he would do? Maybe this time he’d snap your neck instead of just marking it up.”

“Allegra, the car is waiting.”

Filip’s voice boomed from the living room.

“Forget you have that. My business won’t alter your plans with Salavich. Just walk away.”

“I wish I could.” He leaned in and kissed her then, a breathy memory of what they’d shared the night before.

“Allegra! I’m waiting.”

When he stepped back, he said, “I’ll see you soon.”

“Please stay away from me.”

“Not on your life.”

She walked into the hall, and he didn’t try to stop her. Allegra concentrated on getting her breathing under control, but she knew she’d failed the minute Filip laid eyes on her.

Ash followed her down the hall, after tucking his phone in his pocket. Filip was standing by the couch in the living room, and he looked like he was in a sour mood. Either that, or in a lot of pain.

After he ordered Allegra to the car, he pulled out his wallet and handed Ash a thousand dollars. “I know that saving a life is priceless, but at least that will cover the new clothes on my back, and Allegra’s as well. Goodbye, Toriago.”

“The shooter is still out there. Watch your back.”

Filip had started to walk away. He stopped and offered Ash a nod. “You, too, Toriago. We are both in a dangerous business. We never know when our time is up.”

Ash followed Filip to the door. As Petrov stepped out and started down the corridor, Salavich’s guard handed Ash an envelope.

“There is a party at Ballvaro in a few days. Mr. Salavich wants to extend an invitation. He hopes you will accept.”

Ash closed the door, then ripped open the envelope. It was an invitation to Casso’s daughter’s birthday party in three days. He smiled, then started to make plans.

T
he beating had come out of nowhere. At least that’s what she had thought at the moment it was happening, but she knew different now.

They had cruised through the iron gate at Ballvaro three days ago, had been introduced to Casso Salavich’s wife, Sophia, and his daughter Dominika, and then they had been shown to their rooms on the second floor.

She had just taken off her coat when Filip had come at her. He had shoved her down on the bed, and with no explanation, or warning, he’d punched her in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her. While she was gasping for air, he’d proceeded to hit her, over and over again, calling her everything from a slut to a whore. He hadn’t stopped until she couldn’t move.

It was a good thing that Ballvaro was a huge estate and that she wasn’t required to make appearances. She hadn’t been able to get out of bed until this morning, and even now she walked slow and carefully, as if she was walking on a carpet of broken glass instead of an inch thick of plush.

Filip had been careful were he’d landed each calculated punch. No one would be able to see any bruises, not unless she was stripped naked.

She’d called Cyrus again—she’d snuck into Salavich’s office to use the phone—and he’d told her that she was to stay in Budapest with Filip. Once he’d said that, she’d decided not to tell him about the beating. After all, she was a deep cover agent, and life in the trenches wasn’t all sugar and cream. This was her first mission for him, and she needed to stay strong to prove herself.

There had been no explanation until last night why Filip had beaten her. But the words
slut
and
whore
had given her a clue. Toriago must have told him about what had happened between them in his hotel suite.

The strange thing that she couldn’t explain was the dream she’d had last night. It was as if the beating had jarred a piece of forgotten memory loose and she’d dreamt about being strapped in a chair and interrogated.

This morning she’d had another flash of memory. She’d been scaling a tall building, but when she reached the top someone was there cutting the rope. Since then there were more scenarios—a dozen old movies playing inside her head all at once—old spy movies, and she was the star.

We fly no flag. Our responsibility is to the world and to those who can’t protect themselves. Our commission is of the highest secrecy. You’ve been chosen to join the team. This location will remain inaccessible to you for a good reason.

You’ve been chosen.

Highest security.

We fly no flag…

Allegra dressed in her jeans and a sweater. As she left her room, she pulled on her coat. She had the freedom to come and go, and she slipped out of the bastion into the crisp morning air.

She walked down the shoveled paths and let the sun warm her face. Like the good spy she was, she counted the guards and paid special attention to where they were stationed on the property. There were surveillance cameras, too. No doubt someone was watching her at this very minute.

It was still early when she returned to the house. She went back up to her room. It was the first long walk she’d taken since the beating. She knew she’d feel weak, but she needed to regain her strength.

She stood at the window, looked over Ballvaro once again, from a different vantage point. The old Hungarian castle had at least four dozen rooms on three levels, with private bathrooms in every bedroom, two elegant dining rooms, and a grand ballroom. There was a helicopter pad out back, and every exit had at least two guards posted.

But that wasn’t all that made Casso’s bastion so eye-catching. For those without a suspicious mind, there was plenty of entertainment. An indoor courtyard overlooking the river, with a sophisticated electronic system that provided artificial sunshine to support a swimming pool, an array of tropical vegetation, and more flowers than the inside of a greenhouse. But there were more lavish amusements—a workout room, which it was obvious Casso never used, a music room, and three wine cellars.

From the moment she and Filip had arrived, the house had been in a redecorating frenzy. Salavich’s daughter was turning eighteen and tonight they would celebrate the event with a birthday party fit for a princess.

It was odd. Even knowing who and what Salavich was, she couldn’t help but like Sophia and Dominika. They were ordinary women caught up in an evil world.

She hadn’t seen Filip much since they’d arrived. He spent most of his time behind closed doors in Salavich’s study. She had been given her own room, a beautiful suite decorated in peach and muted greens. It was across the hall from Filip’s room—the reason given was so that he could rest more comfortably while he recovered.

That was ironic. He’d spent very little time there, while she had been the one recovering from injuries.

She left the window and entered the bathroom. She had just stepped out of the shower when she heard her door open. When she stepped back into the bedroom, Filip was sitting on her bed.

“We need to talk. I’ve ordered breakfast. It’ll be served in my room. I’ll explain then. Fifteen minutes. Don’t dress. Come in your robe.”

He left without another word, or an explanation. Allegra glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes. Breakfast, a little talking, and then what? Another beating?

Come in your robe….

She waited as long as she could before she left her room. Twelve minutes later she knocked on his door, and he ordered her inside. Breakfast had already been delivered, and Filip was seated at the small table surrounded by windows.

His suite was as bright and lavish as hers. A red theme, with masculine furnishings. From the window you could see the snow glistening along the frozen shoreline and in the distance, Margaret Island and the bridge.

“Sit. I ordered for you.”

“I’m not very hungry.” Allegra sat, tucking the robe closer around her.

He never looked at her. He uncovered the omelet and said, “Eat it anyway.”

She poured a glass of orange juice, and had just taken a sip when he asked, “While I was on my back burning up with fever what else did you do besides screw around with Toriago?”

Where was this going? She wasn’t about to argue with him about the perimeters in which the words screwed around were defined. She had no wish to anger him again, and if he thought she’d slept with Toriago, then she was willing to let it ride, as long as it didn’t turn him into a maniac again.

“I stayed in the room. Except for when I went out to get your medical supplies and a few pieces of clothes for us. That was it.”

He sat back and studied her. “Did Toriago speak to anyone?”

“Just his chauffeur.”

“No one else came to the room?”

“No.”

“And when Toriago left the suite, he never said where he was going?”

“Why so much interest in Toriago?”

“Because I suddenly don’t trust his motives, and I don’t need an outsider screwing this up.”

“Screwing what up? When are you going to tell me why we’re here, and what it has to do with Salavich?”

He looked up and smiled. It was a smug secret smile, and suddenly she felt as if once she learned what they were here to do, she wasn’t going to like it.

He said, “I’ll tell you why we’re here when you’re services are needed, and not before.”

He went back to eating, and she noticed he was using his arm some.

“Is that what you wanted to discuss with me? Toriago?”

“He’s only part of it. Tonight is Salavich’s daughter’s birthday party. There will be some important people I need to meet with. While I’m busy—”

“You want me to stay here out of sight. I can do that.”

“No. I need you to attend the party. I admit I feel like a fish out of water here. Casso lives like a king, with too many servants and too much clutter. This was Yurii’s expertise, dressing up and going to parties. He enjoyed meeting people and sampling wine and eating silly little sandwiches.” He paused, took a bite of his omelet. “Tonight you will keep up our game. Make yourself available to me when I signal you, and make yourself scarce when the topic of business comes up. Be seen, look pretty and keep your mouth shut.”

“I can do that.”

“I took the liberty of sending out for some clothes yesterday. Casso has people who shop for him. One of the women went shopping for you.” He sat back and reached for his coffee. “After you finish eating we’ll see what looks best for tonight.”

He’d invited her into his room to be fitted for a party dress. Allegra’s appetite returned, and she finished the omelet. When she pushed the plate away, Filip went into the bedroom, telling her to follow him.

She entered the room to find six dresses laid out on the bed, each one outfitted with matching shoes and sexy lingerie.

Casso’s shoppers had good taste. But only one dress looked like her. In agreement with Filip on at least one account, she’d never been much for mingling with strangers dressed in uncomfortable clothes and shoes that she couldn’t run in.

She was just starting to relax when he said, “Drop the robe so I can see which dress will hide your bruises.”

She had chosen the black dress. It was simple and elegant, but most of all, it was the safest choice. She liked the high collar, and it hid every bruise and black-and-blue spot between her chest and her thighs.

But just when she had thought it was her choice to make, Filip had turned the tables on her and had insisted on the gold glitz with the plunging neckline and two dramatic side slits that would show off her legs with every move she made.

Squeezed into the dress, she now stood in front of the mirror wondering who was staring back at her. She didn’t remember ever wearing anything so daring, or expensive. And her hair—Filip had insisted that she wear it up, so she’d fashioned a messy knot—she had done herself, the talent for it coming out of nowhere, just like the memories that had been haunting her today.

She finished putting on an extra layer of makeup, then willed a piece of Bonnie’s wisdom to surface and settle her nerves. But what popped into her head instead was a pair of hands stroking her body, and a pair of lips stealing her breath.

Toriago…

Why she couldn’t put him out of her mind, she didn’t know. But the memory of how he’d touched her wouldn’t leave her. It was as if he’d crawled inside her head, and his hands had branded her skin.

She glanced at the ornate clock on the dresser. It was almost show time. And she would be showing a lot this evening. But luckily none of the bruises.

She heard a hard rap at the door, then it opened.

“Are you ready?”

“Coming.”

She walked through the bedroom door to find Filip standing in a tux. She was used to seeing him in jeans, his dark hair long and wild. But tonight he was dressed all in black, his hair pulled back to expose his square jaw and prominent nose.

“You look like one of Casso’s mistresses.”

Filip’s words jarred her out of her musing. “One of Casso’s mistresses?”

“Don’t look so surprised. Every man has at least one.”

“Do you?”

“I told you, I have no need for a woman. Come here.”

Allegra crossed the room. He pulled a gold garter from his pocket and then knelt on one knee.

“Lift your right foot and put it on my knee.”

Allegra did what he said, and he slipped the sexy garter over her foot and worked it past her knee. His fingers settled the garter high on her left thigh, then he pulled a Walther .22 from his pocket and strapped it beneath the garter.

“There. Just in case there’s trouble.”

“Do you think there will be?”

“There’s a large guest list, and we still don’t know who ambushed our car.” He stood and opened the door. “Shall we go?”

She heard the music coming from downstairs. She stepped into the hall. When they reached the staircase, she looked down at the wall-to-wall people below.

When they descended the stairs, Casso Salavich turned away from a guest to greet them, but Allegra barely heard what he said to them. She was too surprised to see that Toriago was the man Salavich had been speaking to.

He looked as handsome and dangerous as ever, and she was fully aware that her heart was racing. She told herself it was a mistake, all of it, but the memory was there, and no matter how hard she tried, it hadn’t dimmed.

“Again, Filip, I commend you on your taste,” Casso said. “Allegra, you look magnificent. What do you say, Mr. Toriago?”

“I’d say Filip is a lucky man.
Buenas tardes, señorita
. It’s good to see you again.”

Toriago’s eyes held Allegra’s a few seconds longer, then Filip stretched out his hand and Toriago shook it.

“Toriago. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I invited him,” Salavich said. “Toriago and I are discussing a business venture.”

She felt Toriago’s eyes on her, drifting over the thin straps that kept her breasts in constant danger of double jeopardy, then over her flat stomach and narrow hips.

The dress was wicked and revealed too much. Why Filip had chosen it, she would never know. All evening she would be aware of just how little she had on. Her senses would be heightened and her guard high.

Perhaps that was it.

“Come, Filip, I want to introduce you to someone. Toriago, you don’t mind entertaining the lovely Allegra, do you?”

“I’d be honored. That is, if Filip trusts me.”

Filip’s smile never wavered. “With my life, Toriago. Surely with my woman’s as well.”

No, Allegra thought. She didn’t want to be left alone with Toriago. A wrong move, a wrong look and after the party Filip would be waiting for her behind her bedroom door ready to pounce. She wasn’t healed enough to withstand another attack.

But it was too late. Filip was already lowering his head and kissing her cheek as if they were truly a couple. A final nod to Toriago and he was striding off with Salavich.

It was hard to believe that she could look more beautiful than she had at the hotel. The private thought should have been the furthest thing from Ash’s mind, but it was there, along with several other thoughts that had nagged him for the past three days.