This was supposed to be easy. Infiltrate the gala and swap the codes. Don’t pay attention to the spy. The cute and charming one. The one whose eyes draw you in like a bird to the sky and a flame to air.

_What was I thinking?_ I drew my eyes away from his and trudged to the edge of the dance floor. I looked around for an exit and found one almost immediately—the gala was held in the middle of the huge mansion.

Now I just had to quietly slip out and find the owner’s office. Located on the third floor, I’d take the stairs down and then turn left twice. The door should be on the right. I recalled the directions easily, thanking my _almost_ flawless memory.

He was staring. I felt his eyes boring into the back of my neck. I needed to get him off my ass. I didn’t want complications. If I screwed this up, our entire plan could be screwed up too.

I walked across the dance floor, leaving his field of vision and slipping out one of the doors. I breathed a sigh of relief at the newfound quiet and started walking towards the staircase.

I rushed down, holding the ornate marble railing as I went. The heels weren’t hard to run in, but I didn’t want to risk it when my heart was beating so fast.

I turned the corner, one, twice, until I made it to his office. I didn’t run into anyone on the way, and wasn’t expecting to either. The only guards on duty were either at the gala or at the exits.

I opened the office door, made of a deep wood color, and gazed inside. I stepped closer to his desk, pulling the sheet of paper out of the hidden pocket in my dress in the process.

My dark blue gown and gloves were meant to be somewhat bland, so I didn’t draw attention, but I secretly loved the way they settled on my body. And the fact that I could hold weapons beneath my dress made me giddy.

My hands shook with excitement and nervousness, but I honed in on the desk drawers and shuffled through the various forms until I found the file I needed.

I knew it was going to be unlocked. This was one of the easiest missions of my entire career. The guy was an absolute idiot and didn’t know how important this code was to us. Such a stuck up prick.

I swapped the codes, leaving everything just how it was. I closed the door behind me gently and walked to the staircase again.

Because I already had the code, there was no point going back up and risking being caught. I had a meet-up point with the rest of my team a few blocks away from the gala and that’s where I was headed.

I took the stairs two at a time, still holding onto the railing, and acted as confident as possible as I passed the four guards by the main exit. They nodded their heads and I did the same in return. They saw people entering and exiting all night. They just wanted to make sure no one was stealing anything. Which I _wasn’t_ necessarily. I just did a little trade.

I walked down the winding driveway—no car because I’m not that important in others’ eyes—and smiled at my small victory.

“Not enjoying the party, miss?” A voice rang out behind me, and I knew exactly who it was.

_ That damned spy_. I turned around, facing his dark silhouette, and scowled.

“It wasn’t exactly up to my standards.” I retorted, trying to sound disgusted by the idea of a nobody man trying to talk to me.

The nobody man that was standing a little more than ten feet from me, blade in hand.

“Is that why you took the code to the entrance of Point Whitaker?” His eyes danced with amusement and I smiled.

“What do you mean? Why would I have any use for that?” I was inching towards my own small blades, trying to distract him and gain myself more time. The host of the gala might be a stuck up-prick-idiot, but he had connections. This spy, however, was not up to par with my skills.

There was no point in trying to hide the fact I stole something, but there was no point saying it aloud to him either, just in case there was no brain behind that asshole’s golden smile.

His steps quickened to get closer to me, his sword raising ever so slightly.

“You know what you did.” He was only a few feet from me now, and I realized I wasn’t getting out of the situation without a fight.

In a blink of an eye, I pulled out my dagger and effortlessly sent it straight to his chest. Just because he was charming didn’t mean he was going to fuck up our plans.

My dagger hit its mark and I watched him realize he already lost. He gasped, staggering before regaining his footing.

“If you can get back to the doors, maybe you can get medical help in time. Don’t mention me or the swapped code and maybe I won’t come back and finish the job.” I showed my other dagger, gleaming in the dim light, and twirled it before sheathing it again.

I turned back around and headed for the meet-up point, not glancing back once.

_Don’t fall for pretty faces_.