Innocence (Tales of Olympus #1)(5)

She looked down at herself. Her little black dress was smeared with mud from the street and she was sure her face didn’t look much better.

But she was thinking more clearly. Finally. So there was that.

And there wasn’t a bouncer that she could see. When she paused and listened hard, all she heard was the pounding of her heart, and a few subdued voices in the back. The place was closed for the night, or very, very exclusive. If she moved quietly enough she might be able to find a back door and leave unnoticed.

Her plan held for a few seconds, but the door behind her burst open, slamming into the wall with a loud bang. No! She bit back a scream, cringing in the shadows. The arrival of her pursuer caught more than her attention, though.

From the far left came a shout. The bouncer, finally making an appearance.

“Hey, man, you can’t come in here.”

Cora blindly felt along the wall until she nearly fell into a corridor. She waited a moment, listening.

“I was with my girl—I need to see if she came in here . . .”

Scared as she was, everything in Cora protested: I’m not his girl; I’d never met him before tonight. The bouncer was also arguing with him, telling him the place was private.

“If you remain here, Mr. Ubeli ain’t gonna be happy with you.” The man’s voice was unnaturally deep, and Cora imagined he was a huge man, a brute in a suit. “You need to leave.”

“No, I’m telling you, she ran this way . . .”

The seconds ticked by, and Cora realized that her pursuer wasn’t going to leave.

Thumping footsteps, a shout— “Hey, you can’t go in there!”

Cora backed deeper into the hallway. She turned and grabbed the closest door knob she could find. Locked. Frantic, she moved down to the next one. The voices were getting closer.

The door opened. Blindly, she rushed through and closed it, cutting off the shouts.

Inside the light was subdued, the room a long dim expanse filled with as many shadows as the club. Cora stood with her back to the door, and gasped as soon as her eyes adjusted to the light.

In front of her, beyond an expanse of rich red carpet, was a desk.

Behind the desk was a man.

She froze. Her sluggish mind turned to this new problem. The man wore a suit tailored to broad shoulders. His head was bent, his dark hair gleaming, as he worked by desk light in the long, dark room.

He looked important. Interrupting this man with his imposing office in a very private club would probably only lead to trouble. Still, anything was better than the situation she’d escaped. Right?

She stood, barely daring to breathe, water dripping from her hem onto the beautiful rug. For a second Cora thought that the man hadn’t seen her, he was so absorbed in the papers in front of him. In a fluid movement, though, he raised his head and looked straight at her the next moment.

Cora moved back against the door. He was handsome but in a terrifying way, like he’d been cut from marble but the sculptor had forgotten to smooth out the edges to soften the features. She could only guess at his age. Early-thirties, maybe? Shadows rested on much of his face, especially under his eyes. These he moved over her, taking in her too short dress, her unshod feet, her wet hair.

Cora, heart racing painfully, stood like a statue.

Neither of them said anything.

Slowly the man rose, a question forming on his lips. Cora also stepped forward, mind racing with possible explanations.

But she met the man’s eyes, dark gray, accented by the brooding light, and her mind went blank. She wasn’t sure if it was the remnants of the drugs in her system or just being near this man. She swallowed hard.

Behind her, a knock sounded sharply against the door. Cora shot backwards, her arms wrapped around herself.

“Mr. Ubeli?” someone called.

“Yes?” the man answered without taking his eyes from her.

The door opened slightly and Cora shrank back. The speaker didn’t enter the room, though, and she was completely hidden behind the door.

“We got a guy out here, says he’s lost some lamb he’s lookin’ out for. You hear?”

“I hear, Sharo,” said the man called Mr. Ubeli. “Get rid of him.”

Cora felt her whole body relax. Her breath escaped silently, even as Sharo said, “You got it, boss. Do you want me to dump him?”

“No, turn him away.” Mr. Ubeli glanced down at his desk, shifting some papers as he called out orders. “Smack him a bit if he means trouble.”

“Yeah, Mr. Ubeli. Will do.”

The door closed, leaving Cora exposed again, alone with Mr. Ubeli. For a moment, he studied her with narrowed eyes.

“Was that guy giving you trouble?” he asked, moving out from behind his desk.

“Yes,” Cora whispered. “Thank you.”

Hunching her shoulders, she shivered, and Mr. Ubeli came forward, carefully like she was a wild animal that might run.

She shrank away, but he walked past her, going to the coat rack beside the door and lifting a coat from it. Returning, he held it out, shaking the sleeve toward her arm.

For a second Cora didn’t move. She stared up at the man, into the deep, shadowed eyes. Turning, she put her arm through the sleeve, and let him help her into the coat. Once it was on, she realized it was a suit jacket, gray and too big for her, hanging slightly over her hands.

But as she wrapped it around herself, it felt like a shield against all that had happened tonight. The wave of relief hit her so hard that she all but collapsed into the chair the man guided her to in front of his desk.