“You’ll see,” he said, as he knocked on the door.

“You sure you don’t want to put the aviators on?” I asked. I could still see them looped over the top of Cary’s white shirt.

“It’s night.”

“Still.”

“And indoors.”

“Even so.” I gestured down to my still-zipped navy coat. “Is it okay that I’m dressed like this? And not like Kelly McGillis?”

“It might be more concerning if you were, actually.”

The door opened, revealing a harassed-looking woman in her twenties, dressed all in black with an earpiece in. “Maverick Cleaners,” Cary said, holding up the bag.

“Oh, thank god, come in,” she said, swiping down at the iPad she was carrying. “We have no napkins or towels left—it was going to be a disaster.…”

Cary followed her through the apartment, and I trailed behind him, trying to take in everything. I’d never been in a penthouse before. This almost could have been a hotel—the rooms looked pristine and matching, no personal touches anywhere—and it was huge. It wasn’t until we were almost to the kitchen that I stopped short.

In what was probably supposed to be the living or dining room, a poker table had been set up. The room was filled—waiters walked around pouring drinks, there was a dealer at the head—and every seat at the table was full. I realized with a shock that I recognized a lot of the players. There was one of the Yankees, a singer who was a judge on a singing show, an actor who’d been in a bunch of action movies about ten years ago… and was that the mayor?

“Kat,” Cary hissed, and I turned my focus away from the room and hurried to join him. He was in the kitchen, taking out what I could see now were linens and towels from the black bag.

“Thanks so much,” the woman said, still looking stressed. “Tonight’s been a disaster, and it really needs to go right.”

“So it’s… high stakes?” I asked, my expression innocent. Cary bit his bottom lip like he was trying not to laugh and shot me a look. The woman, however, just nodded.

“Yeah,” she said as she took the napkins from Cary and hustled out. “Thanks a lot! Water in the fridge if you want it.”

When she left, I widened my eyes at Cary. “That’s an…” I nodded toward the other room, then mouthed, Underground poker game.