Sonny tossed me the smallest server uniform. I faced the corner, peeled off my T-shirt and pulled on the uniform top. It smelled of knockoff perfume with a faint touch of body odor. As for the former wearer, presumably she was tied up somewhere. Bianca, Max and Tony had been luring servers out for the past twenty minutes, getting their uniforms. It wouldn’t be long before someone noticed a marked decrease in waitstaff.

“Sonny, here.” Guy handed him one of the masquerade half-masks. “You and Max go. Your trays are right around the corner. Jaz, stop fussing with the damned tie, get out there and start charming. Faith—”

“Stay with you. I know.”

He handed me my mask, and I put it on. It covered the top half of my face. I blinked, getting accustomed to it.

When the others were gone, Guy snapped on a mask, tugged at his tie, then rolled his shoulders. From the waves rolling off him, it wasn’t anxiety he was fighting, but anticipation. There was probably no one in the gang who didn’t get off on this, to some degree. That’s why they were here—to exercise their powers for profit and, yes, for fun.

The swirl of chaos…about to turn into a maelstrom. I looked away so Guy wouldn’t see my reaction.

“You ready, Faith?”

“Yes, boss.”

He smacked a hand against my back. “You’re doing just fine. We’re about to give those talents of yours a real workout. You know what you’re doing?”

“I’m your bodyguard against chaos.”

A deep laugh, all traces of the reserved leader vanishing. This was Guy in his element.

“Ready to have some fun?”

“Yes, sir.”

He put his hand against my back and guided me from the room.

HOPE CRY HAVOC

HOPE

CRY HAVOC

The appearance of waitstaff in masks had caused little stir, even among the servers themselves. All were contract employees, and probably didn’t even notice their coworkers had changed. The girls noticed, though.

Soon each of the guys was surrounded by a coterie of admirers, cajoling them to take off their masks. Even Sonny was playing it up, making motions toward his shirt and, I guessed, offering the teens the choice between having him remove that or the mask.

Jaz had the birthday girl in his circle and was doing an impromptu magic show complete with sexy smiles aimed her way. Her parents watched indulgently, whispering to each other, probably trying to decide what kind of tip the catering service should get for this unexpected extra.

“Stay close,” Guy murmured as we headed for the front of the room, where the hood of the Jag protruded through the doors. A man stepped in front of us and fixed me with a sloppy grin.