down so his face was close to hers in the mirror, his ear brushing against her peroxide-blonde hair. His dark, predatory gaze met her wide green one in the silvered glass. “I had a more permanent arrangement in mind. One where a pretty doll like you gets a much better deal outta life than anything Sal can offer. Come with me tonight. Let me show you a good time. Listen to my proposal. I think you’ll find it worth your while.”
“I see.” She leaned away and pulled a facial tissue from the box on her vanity, all the while keeping him in her peripheral view, much as she would a copperhead snake. Despite his easy smile, his body practically vibrated with energy, as if his blood were already well up. Which it likely was, given that she was sitting basically naked in front of him; that didn’t bode well should she try to reject him.
She decided to try deflection first. “Should you even be here? I thought the reason you left Chicago was to get the Feds off your tail.”
He shrugged, his gaze dropping to the reflection of her admittedly bountiful breasts. “I got a loose end I need to clean up. You know, business. But not tonight. Tonight”—he exhaled an invisible stream of air down her neck, and she fought the urge to bolt—“I got other plans.”
He straightened abruptly and then ran a surprisingly gentle fingertip up her spine. Her body shivered, confused about whether to respond.
At first glance a gal might think, given Tony’s expensive pinstriped suit, his stylish silk tie and pocket handkerchief that added just the right dash of color, and the impossibly white shirt, that he was a real catch. He also smelled good, if one liked spicy aftershaves, and paid meticulous attention to the details of male grooming, right down to the slicked-back gloss of his Brylcreemed hair.
But Vi wasn’t swayed by any of that. She could never get past the reptilian coldness lurking in his nearly black eyes.
Nor could she get past what he did for a living. While usually not one to throw stones at other people’s choice of work, Vi did have a problem with Tony’s.
And yes, she was completely aware that as someone who took her clothes off for money, she was hardly the model of virtue. But killing people just because your boss told you to, people you had no personal beef with? That was flat-out wrong. At least in her book. Even if your boss was the head of the Outfit, Chicago’s branch of the Mob.
He lowered his head again and nuzzled her temple. “So what’s it gonna be, Miss Lily Lamour? My place or yours?”
For a moment she couldn’t even respond, she was so paralyzed by the sight of their faces together, pale and dark, bleached blonde stark against midnight black, her bright green eyes wide next to his fathomless black. It was like a pictorial representation of good and evil, except that neither one of them was on the right side of morality.
He licked the top edge of her ear. The awful, unwelcome feel of his tongue on her skin broke her paralysis. She jumped to her feet and then hurried to the garment rack by the door. “I don’t do permanent arrangements, either.”
He stalked her, his voice silky, soft . . . deadly. “Lily, are you rejecting me?”
Ice swept through her blood. “Not necessarily,” she said, placatingly. “But I’m of no use to you tonight. It’s—it’s the wrong time of the month, if you catch my meaning.” Her tongue almost tripped on the lie. She prayed he wouldn’t ask for proof.
He huffed in amusement. “Lily, you should know better than to think a little blood would repulse me.”
Swallowing a surge of panic, she tried a different tack. “I’m also so exhausted from the performance, I can hardly stay awake. Perhaps we could postpone until the next time you’re in town?”
“Sweetheart,” he said softly, the lethal edge in his voice chilling her. “You know patience isn’t my strong suit.”
“Yes, I mean, I know. But I want to be sure I’m in the proper state of mind to hear you out. You deserve a girl’s full attention.”
The muscle twitching in his jaw told her he wasn’t buying it.
She tried again. “How about tomorrow night after the show? I’ll take a nap in the afternoon so I’m not so tired, and perhaps it will be cooler . . . What do you say? We can have a couple