“You said it yourself. You owe me for saving Eva, for saving your sister,” I reminded him in a mild tone. “Well, this is how I want to cash in. Now, are you going to introduce me? Or am I going to have to take care of that myself?”

Pretending to be a prostitute. Propositioning Mab Monroe in her own bathroom. Hinting I was going to go fuck another man for the mere promise of money. Owen Grayson had seen and heard me do all those things in the space of five minutes. I resigned myself to the disgusted sneer that was coming my way and the harsh words that were sure to follow. No man liked being cuckolded.

But to my surprise, Owen Grayson just smiled. A familiar emotion shimmered in his eyes, one that had gotten me into trouble on more than once occasion. Curiosity.

It burned even brighter than his desire had a moment ago.

“Oh, I’ll introduce you to Dawson, just to see what you’re up to.” Amusement colored Grayson’s voice, and he held his arm out to me for a second time. “Shall we, Gin?”

Owen Grayson’s curiosity might cause me problems later on, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

So I placed my hand on his arm. “Let’s.”

28

28

Owen Grayson escorted me back into the ballroom. We stood by the terrace door, looking for Dawson. Finally, I spotted the cowboy dwarf, standing near the long, crowded bar. Tobias Dawson drank a shot of what looked like whiskey, chased it with a mug of beer, belched, and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. Classy.

“You sure you want to do this?” Grayson murmured.

I paused. Grayson probably thought I was reconsidering approaching Dawson, given the dwarf ’s obvious disregard for napkins. But really, I was remembering Violet Fox and the way Trace Dawson had bashed her face in.

The way Tobias Dawson had spit tobacco juice on the floorboards of the country store. The way that diamond in his office safe had practically sung. The way Warren Fox’s shoulders had drooped when I’d told him what Dawson really wanted his land for.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Owen escorted me through the crowd. We passed Mab Monroe, who was now speaking to an elderly Asian vampire. The Fire elemental saw me on Grayson’s arm and raised her champagne glass in a silent toast. I must have made more of an impression on her than I’d realized.

Not good, but I smiled and tipped my head to acknowledge her. More importantly, Mab’s toast also told me she hadn’t found Jake McAllister’s body in the bathtub.

Which meant I still had enough time left to kill Dawson.