Marcos patted her butt with familiar intent. “Later. Don’t get lost.”

Teresa quickly made good her escape. The floor where the spill had occurred was immaculate, and Philip was all smiles now that he thought Marcos would use his upstairs rooms. Isabeau reached up and rubbed at imaginary lipstick at the corner of Elijah’s mouth and then quickly dropped her hand.

“You haven’t tried the mushroom cakes,” Philip said to Elijah.

“They’re wonderful,” Marcos agreed, looking as if he and Philip had become good friends. “And the crab cakes are even better. You really must try them, Elijah.”

Elijah nodded with a faint smile. “You’ve always been a great judge of food, Marcos. I know you’d never steer me wrong.”

“He’s a good judge of women as well,” Philip said, his grin malicious as he looked Isabeau over. “Teresa is beautiful.”

Elijah slipped his arm around Isabeau and moved her out of Philip’s way as he led them to the long buffet table. He did it casually, as though he was simply helping his cousin, but he knew Philip would take the gesture as ownership. Isabeau belonged to Elijah and everyone else needed to stay clear of her. Philip had a secret smile on his face as he pointed out the various delicacies to them.

“Would you like to dance, Isabeau?” he asked, with another smirk.

In character, she glanced hesitantly at Elijah, who stared back at her grim-faced. Hastily she shook her head. “No, thank you. I think I want to try the crab cake.”

“You’ll find my chef is amazing,” Philip said.

Elijah looked him over, his expression bored. “It’s amazing how you can lure anyone to this place.”

Philip’s face flushed just a little, but he managed to keep his smile at the implied insult. “Secrets, everyone has secrets. It’s a matter of capitalizing on them.”

A slow smile, with just a faint touch of admiration lit Elijah’s face for a moment. Isabeau was impressed with that look. It was as if he’d waved a magic wand in front of Philip. “I suppose it is. Isn’t it interesting how the right leverage changes minds?”

Philip puffed up again, looking extremely pleased, as if in that one moment he’d won over Elijah Lospostos, the infamous drug lord. Isabeau realized Philip’s downfall was his vanity. He didn’t have enough people to admire his abilities and he needed an audience. His criminal activities isolated him from most. There were only his victims and Imelda Cortez to see him as he really was, and Imelda was dangerous to him. Here was a group of sharks. He recognized them and wanted to be part of them.

“Elijah,” Marcos said, “perhaps we can stay a few extra days and enjoy the offerings in Philip’s little city here.”