What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,82

such a “Valentine look”, she was actually impressed he'd picked it out on his own. She pranced up and down her room in it, looking at herself from every angle in her full size mirror. Saint Valentine was in full effect in a dress like that, and she gave her reflection a naughty smile.

She spent a lot of time on her hair, braiding it upside down in the back before spinning it all into a large bun on the top of her head. She put a matte claret color on her lips, wondering if Ari would notice the nod to the dress he'd shredded, and did a heavy smoky eye to match. Highlighter shimmered from her cheekbones, and strong contouring gave new depths to her face.

Valentine had always loved makeup, and at one point in time had thought about becoming a beauty blogger. But around that same time, her parents died, and she'd put all that stuff aside. Then everything had happened with her sister, and from then on life had been a shit show. Now makeup was her escape, her way of donning a mask – so she could do the things she had to do in order to survive, and still look in the mirror.

She heard someone knock on the downstairs door as she finished strapping herself into a pair of black heels, and she smiled when she heard Nurse Crockett let Ari in. Good. She wanted to make an entrance. She slipped a thick, silver bangle onto one wrist over her sleeve, then dropped a long necklace over her head, the pendant settling in at the bottom of her sternum. The chain with Ari's key on it was safely hidden under her dress.

Lastly, she grabbed her most prized possession – an Alexander McQueen Knuckle clutch. The last present she'd ever received from her parents, right before they'd died. She put all her essentials in it, then gave herself one last look in the cheap mirror.

Not too shabby.

“Sorry,” Val called out when she started down the stairs, holding the hem of the dress in one hand so she wouldn't step on it.

“It's seven-forty,” Ari said, chastising her. “I said seven-thirty.”

She finally reached the last step and walked up to him, giving him a big smile.

“Perfection takes time,” she replied, resting one hand on her hip. His eyes leisurely looked her over from head to toe, then the corner of his mouth quirked up in a little sideways smile.

“Apparently. Let's go.”

She folded herself into the tiny front seat of the Porsche and double checked her makeup in the visor's mirror while he drove them to the restaurant.

“So what exactly is happening tonight?” she asked, smoothing her finger along the side of her top lip.

“We're meeting some reps from ADM,” he said. “It's a food processing place, one of the biggest in the world. They're looking for a new law firm to represent them. My father wants to be that firm. So they're sending me in to make the firm look good. We're gonna talk a little shop, but nothing serious, and we're all going to act like we're rich but we're ambivalent about it, and we're all going to size each other up.”

“Sounds fun,” Valentine yawned. “And what's the point of me in all this? Sounds like this'll be a waste of a look.”

Ari glanced at her.

“Your look is your point,” he said. “You're here to look good. To make me look good. Be sexy and flirty – within reason – and then when we're done with dinner, you're gonna make sure we all get into Caché. I don't want there to be any problems if they're not members.”

“I already told Del I'd be coming in late and bringing new potential members. Do you know their names?” she asked, pulling out her phone and opening her boss's contact.

“Yeah, Scott Dangle and Evans Daniels.”

“Evan Daniels?”

“Evans,” he corrected. “Fucking ridiculous, I know, but it is Evans, the S is supposed to be there.”

“His name is plural,” she snorted as she typed out a quick message, telling Del she'd be bringing the two gentlemen by sometime after ten. That would give him plenty of time to run a quick background check and get back to her.

“His name could be Sue for all I care – when he introduces himself, make him feel like it's the most interesting name in the world,” Ari ordered her.

“You sound like you're my pimp,” Val sighed, tucking her phone back into her purse. He laughed, then patted