Christen walked into the lobby of the Wexler building, reining in the urge to adjust that red dress with its plunging neckline, open back, sleeveless, silky material with a slit just this side of decent. Never had she worn such high heels, and if not for her DNA, she'd have trouble balancing. As is, she walked as if she'd been born wearing those red pumps. A few discreet accessories directed the eye, and as she caught her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't believe it was her.

Watching her family die and waking up five years later in the body of a twenty-two-year-old woman that she never pictured herself growing into, was the hardest thing to get used to. In her head, she was still a kid and had missed all the growing-up stuff in between. The milestones, the markers, and although she was mature for her age, this wasn't easy.

Alexander's DNA changed her physically into the best combination of her genes, but Dana spent some time and effort teaching her how to dress like the socialite she was supposed to be, apply makeup, disguise herself, change her appearance, and how to play a role.

Although she loved dressing up as a child, Anna always displayed a flair for roleplaying, so Christen picked the photography club instead of the drama club.

Competing with Anna caused too much drama, so she spent her life avoiding anything Anna saw as "her domain." She never expected to have such a knack for it, but the girl she was and the person she became wasn't the same.

Hell, she'd killed six people since she started this mission, and as bad as it made her feel, she had no choice. The Christen from before would have found no justification on earth for killing someone and wouldn't have been able to do it.

***

When she first woke, she had avoided looking in the mirror, maybe evading the truth of her new life. Lately, she'd found herself staring at her image long and hard.

Apart from her dark hair, she didn't recognize herself. It was more than her face that changed. More than the fact that she looked like a supermodel with nice curves that included bigger boobs, which made her highly uncomfortable around guys, or her suddenly flawless complexion.

There was something underneath the skin and bones of it all at the core of her that changed. When she lived at home, she had been fierce, if angered, but passive under normal circumstances, which was probably why Anna walked over her in those last few months. Anger boiled in her when she lost everything to Anna's scheming, but she was so used to controlling herself she just bottled it up inside.

That passive girl no longer existed.

Something dangerous stirred in her more and more that unsettled her. A predatory side to her nature crept into her way of thinking that fit her new role in life, but it had not been there before.

Even the way she walked and held herself had changed. This woman would not have been intimidated by her sister, nor would she have allowed anyone to mess with her.

Christen noted wryly how the security guard and the desk clerk reacted to her.

"Morning, Mam," both greeted respectfully.

The guard opened the door for her, looking dazed, while the perfectly groomed receptionist's expression betrayed instant jealousy, which caused the tiniest bit of hostility.

"Hi, I am Christen. I have an appointment but don't quite know where to go. This is the man I am looking for," she looked her right in the eye and smiled, watching that antagonism melt away like ice in the sun. It was almost unnatural how people reacted to her when she was in this mood.

She handed the receptionist a piece of paper,

Yesterday, when she wore overalls and didn't want to be noticed, it was like she was invisible. Now as the femme fatale, she drew every eye.

"Third floor, fourth office on the left," the receptionist replied, and Christen pushed her dark glasses onto her hair like an Alice band.

"Thank you very much. You've been so helpful," she said, nodding and making her way to the row of elevators.

The reflection in the mirrored wall showed her how the woman blinked several seconds later, almost as if she had been in a daze.

She turned as she stepped into the elevator and waved, and the lady waved back with no idea that she had influenced her.

Not that she enjoyed doing it, but there was no other way she would have gotten this information without breaking into the building.

Although she could have done the same to her instructors over the last few months, she preferred earning someone's respect and camaraderie.

***

The expression on Moore's face when she left her apartment this morning made Lagerveldt hit him on the back of the head. Neither of them had seen her all dressed to the nines with none of her usual shy charm or her seeming unawareness of her own beauty in evidence.

The woman who greeted them knew she was stunning and how to work her image with grace, charm, style, and class.

Every time she wore a disguise, she turned into someone else. Although both of them were more than adequate at this little game they played in their short undercover excursions, she bested them with ease.

His mouth fell open a second time when she retrieved her red Corvette from the underground parking garage.

Somehow Dana's organization made Christen the sole heir of her family estate. She had no other relatives, and although her father did well for himself as a lawyer, as wise as he had been, he took out a massive amount of life insurance on the family and invested with reputable firms.

He wasn't near as rich as her real father, Gerrard Black had been, but she would never want for anything.

Even though her father bought her a car for her sixteenth birthday, he didn't give it to her when Anna brought her world crashing down around her ears.

Yet her twin got her car, a flashy little yellow Porche, while their father put Christen's car in storage. Dana sold it after she realized Christen might never wake. When she awoke, her half-sister bought her a new car with the money from the sale of the old car plus the interest it gained over five years.

***

The dress belonged to Dana since they were about the same height and build. Christen had had no time to improvise. She managed to avoid the shopping trip Dana promised her for long enough that unless she wanted to end up with an entire wardrobe of her sister's barely worn clothes, which the lady won't even miss, she had to buy some clothes of her own.

Dana had a weakness for clothes and shoes that she did not share.

She pushed the button on a device in her pocket that would loop the cameras to display an empty corridor and walked to the office. She banked on the offices already being locked for the day at four in the afternoon. Knowing the security cameras would play the looped feed, she quickly picked the lock and entered the office.

A quick scan with her senses told her that the posh eggshell and pastel-decorated offices were empty. Making her way to the office at the rear, she picked the lock to the outer office and then the one to the inner office.

There were no cameras, as she expected. At the desk, she woke the computer from its sleep, connected the little device that would crack the codes, and downloaded the hard drives to Dana's server farm.

***

Someone unlocked the outer door to the offices. Christen quickly closed the doors, made the screen go dark, and hid behind the desk.

The security guard opened the door, scanned the room, and left.

He had probably noticed which elevator she took and came after her to tell her that the offices were closed for the day. Since the elevator only stopped on three floors, he would search for her and wonder where she got off.

The device still had six more minutes to download, and by then, he would know she wasn't on any of the floors. Luckily, the offices were empty, but the helpful security guard could ruin everything.

She hurried out of the office and made her way to the stairs. After checking that the elevator was still on the next floor, she ran up a flight of stairs, slipped into the hallway, found the ladies' room, and strolled outside just as the doors opened.

"This is the wrong floor, miss," he told her, and she smiled at him, checking her watch.

"My friend, Liv Rosty, works around the corner; she just called and told me the same thing. I told her I'd meet her in ten minutes to get a coffee while I visited the facilities, but alas, she can't join me for another twenty minutes, so she told me to wait in reception. She also warned me that she might not make it," Christen smirked, using her charm.

"The elevator stopped on the second floor," he said with a frown, and she laughed.

"I took the stairs to kill some time and make up for the cream latte I'm salivating over," she countered without even needing to think about it.

Hopefully, he wasn't paranoid enough to check the footage.

"Hope your friend can make it," he said as the doors closed.

She watched the elevator return to the first floor before going down to the second floor to retrieve the stick.

When she exited the building, she smiled at the guard. She'd gotten the name Liv off the office roster for the floor and didn't even know if the woman was in.

She pulled her phone from her pocket as she called herself from her HUD and put her phone to her ear.

"Thanks, Liv, and I understand. Work comes first. I'll see you," she said, walking away.

This seemed like the easiest way to access the building, but it turned out to be a risk, and her adrenaline had geared up into first for a bit there.

She never pictured this life for herself and loved it despite the dangers. Now, she could only hope the curious guard didn't go snooping any further or asked Liv about her. Even as she walked away, Dana hacked their feeds and erased her from their hard drives and backups.