Ivan stood there knowing that his name wouldn’t be on the list. He wished he had told Emilio to look out for him just in case he swung past the party later. But he planned to argue his point to the doormen anyway. All he needed was someone to go inside and find E.A. for him.

As he waited there on the sidewalk for the inevitable, the valet staff sprinted to the curb, where another stretch limo was pulling up.

The crowd got excited in anticipation. Even Ivan watched to see who it was. Was Big Deke Walker, the superstar slugger, at the party yet? He was never known to attend a party early.

But when the valet guys opened the limo doors and let out its passengers, there were only sexy women inside. They climbed out one at a time and stood on the sidewalk until the last one had joined them. There were seven of them in all, the perfect number to pack inside their stretch limo. And they were all of different races: white, black, Latina, Filipina, and exotic mixtures in between.

Were they a cheerleading squad or models? No one was sure until their leader stepped out last and was immediately recognized by the doormen.

“Lucina,” one of the doormen said to her.

“Hey, Matt, how’s it going?” she addressed him with a light hand to his arm.

“You know the party don’t get started until you arrive,” he teased her.

“Stop it,” she told him, and laughed. “Then again, don’t stop,” she teased.

Ivan heard a slight accent in her voice, but it didn’t sound Mexican or Filipina. It had more of a Mediterranean swagger to it. Maybe Italian or Greek.

“That’s Lucina Gallo,” he overheard one the twins comment from behind him.

Ivan stared at this Lucina Gallo woman up close and was impressed with her immediately. She wore a thin silky dress of a dark blue and baby-blue mix that stood out from the mostly solid colors of the other girls. Her sparkling purse, necklace, bracelet, watch, anklet, and heels all glittered in the night, like a live advertisement for a glamorous fashion magazine. And her height mixed in well with the others’. She was not the tallest or the shortest, but she definitely had the most presence. She looked no older than he was, twenty-eight. However, Ivan only gave her that because she was in a position of authority. Otherwise, she looked a spoiled twenty-two, a rich man’s college-aged daughter.

Then she looked in Ivan’s direction to survey the crowd. When she did, he noticed that her eyes twinkled with a multicolored hue of their own. Her eyes were in contrast with her moody, olive-toned skin and thick, dark, two-toned brown hair.

Ivan was frozen stiff just from looking at her.

Damn, she bad!