display enough side cleavage so that no one could possibly think Olivia and Jax were the same person. Not that many would be looking at her face.
The women gave a red tint to Jax’s blonde hair and added some extension by route of a long, loosely curled ponytail. Her makeup gave her a sharper jawline, and the red contacts she chose had literal sparkles around them. Disguises were expected in these places, and eye color was an easy switch. Where Olivia’s sun-kissed olive skin was hard to hide when wearing the kind of gown Jax was wearing, Jax’s creamy complexion did not look the same. Anyone reporting to Schmidt, or relaying the information about who was asking for an audience, would not mistake a disguised Jax for Olivia.
Jax wore a tracker in her hair, and Leo had one in a cuff link on the chance that the establishment commandeered their cell phones.
A knock on the door sounded their time for departure.
“That’s our ride,” Jax announced as she reached for a coat.
Leo opened the door, found a man who looked like the perfect chauffeur standing on the other side.
“Leo?” the man asked.
Jax made the introductions as Sven walked in the room. “Sven, this is Leo, Leo, Sven. And that’s Olivia.”
“A pleasure.” Sven’s eyes traveled to Jax, his mouth gaping. “Damn, Jax.”
Jax smiled, handed her jacket to Leo to help her. “Not to be a girl, but if I move the wrong way, everyone gets a peep show.”
“Do you want tape?” Olivia asked as she turned toward her bag of disguises.
“No. Much better if I leave less to the imagination once we’re there.”
None of them could argue with that. Leo opened the jacket for her to step into.
Olivia clipped her earpiece in with a built-in microphone. They’d already done an equipment check and were ready to roll.
He turned to Olivia, uncertainty written on her face. “We’ll be in and out of there in less time than it took for you to do all this.” He pointed to his torso.
Sven moved toward the door. “We have a van out front. I’ll introduce you to the team.”
Olivia’s eye twitched.
“Let’s do this before I change my mind.”
Leo knew none of this was easy for her, any more than it would be for him to be on the outside once she went in.
They exited the room and let the fun begin.
Entering A Róka reminded Leo of his history lessons on Prohibition in the States. The first door was not the door . . . and the initial fee was not the only cost.
Jax hung on Leo’s arm like the gold digger she was to portray, and him as the cradle robber.
The foyer of the actual nightclub was a small, dimly lit bar with a dozen patrons sipping cocktails and talking softly.
At the second door, two large men greeted them. “Good evening, Mr. . . . ?”
“Anderson. And my companion, Miss Swan.”
His smile was nice enough, but the physical space the man took up told Leo he was capable of enforcing the rules of the establishment.
“I will assume you have been briefed on our . . . guidelines.”
“We have,” Leo replied.
“Then you won’t mind that we secure your weapons.”
A contingency they all saw coming.
Leo glanced at Jax and reached for his sidearm. He pulled the magazine and emptied the chamber before handing it to the man speaking.
“I’ll feel absolutely naked,” Jax said with a pout on her lips.
“Sorry, love.” Leo stepped behind her and helped her out of her coat.
The men shifted slightly when Jax revealed the dress and averted their eyes when she lifted it enough to reveal a small holster strapped to her thigh. With her coat and the gun in the doormen’s possession, Leo removed an envelope and placed it in one man’s hand.
Only then did they stand aside and let Leo and Jax pass. “Enjoy your evening.”
The second set of doors emptied into a much grander space with many more people.
“We’re in,” Leo whispered softly for the team to hear.
A tone in his ear was his only reply. The goal of the team was to listen and intervene only if the proverbial shit hit some kind of fan.
“This looks like it was once a ballroom,” Jax said as they walked through the room. Chandeliers lit the thirty-foot ceilings. Long columns flanked the room, with soaring windows looking out over a courtyard. What once might have been a platform for a small orchestra now had a single piano player and a singer entertaining the