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Alina reached out and curled her fingers around Midas’s hand. She could feel eyes on her, but she didn’t care. She wanted them all to know that she backed up Midas. He’d saved her. He didn’t need to be treated like some kind of criminal.
“It’s not easy to break someone’s neck,” Calvin mused. “Not at all like what you see in movies and TV shows. Takes a whole lot of power. Some specific know-how. You don’t just wrench a neck to the side. If you’re gonna break a neck, you need to know exactly what you’re doing.” His gaze sharpened on Midas. “But you’d know exactly what to do, wouldn’t you? Tell me, did your father teach you those moves?”
Midas pulled from her. Both of his hands fisted, and she could feel the sudden surge of fury surrounding him.
“I am nothing,” Midas gritted out, “like my father. Don’t ever make that mistake about me.”
His father? Lost, her gaze whipped around the room. It darted from person to person as Alina tried to figure out what was happening.
“Oh.” From Joyce. She stared at Alina with a dawning realization. “You didn’t know, did you? Like, you really, truly don’t know who he is.” Compassion flashed on her face. “They kept it from you, didn’t they?” Her mouth tightened and she shot a look of disgust at Ryker. “Overprotective father bullshit. Didn’t tell your daughter that you’d hired a bodyguard to watch over her, did you? And if you hired the bodyguard without telling her, it does make me wonder, did you know this abduction was coming? If so, how did you know?”
Ryker pulled out his phone, stared at the screen, and nodded. “Two of my best lawyers are in the parking lot. This discussion is over.”
“Why are you stonewalling us?” Frustration seethed in Joyce’s voice. “Don’t you want to find out who arranged your daughter’s abduction? Who the mysterious ‘boss’ is that she referenced?”
Ryker put his phone back in his pocket. Said nothing.
Midas had turned to stone.
And Alina stood there, in her paper hospital gown, with bandages around her wrists and ankles. She kept her chin up. Her spine straight.
“Fine. Don’t talk to us, but I have something else to say because I happen to think Alina deserves some truth from someone.” Joyce pointed at Midas. “This guy makes a living protecting the rich and famous. That was not bullshit. In plenty of elite circles, he’s known as being the best bodyguard in the business. Alina, I suspect if we dig into your father’s accounts, we’ll see that he recently paid a very large sum of money to Mr. Midas Monroe. The man’s services certainly aren’t cheap.” Her cheeks puffed out as she exhaled. “Though, considering the way the night went for you, I’d say you were lucky to have him.”
“The two dead men weren’t so lucky,” Calvin noted.
She needed clothes. Real clothes. Or else maybe she’d just walk out in the hospital gown. Alina wanted to escape.
“But you should really dig a bit deeper into the lives of the people close to you. Midas has quite the backstory.” Joyce grimaced. “One that just does not look so good considering the way one of your abductors died.”
Midas stepped toward the detectives. The small hospital room felt even smaller with his movements. “I didn’t kill anyone. Though the temptation was sure as hell there.”
“Shit,” Ryker muttered.
“They were alive when I left the men zip-tied. Look for their boss—he’s the killer.”
The door swung open. Two men in suits with crooked ties and askew hair spilled inside. “We’re here, Mr. Bellamy!”
The lawyers.
Alina didn’t pay them much attention. Midas had turned back toward her. His face seemed like such a hard, inscrutable mask. “I didn’t kill them,” he said, his voice low. Low and so deep.
She nodded.
“But…” His nostrils flared. “I was hired to be your bodyguard.”
Chapter Eight
He didn’t like staying at Ryker’s mansion. Even if Midas and Alina were lodged in the guesthouse, he would have preferred to secure her in a place where he had total control.
Not like the guesthouse was small. Not by any means. Alina was actually up on the second floor. She’d gone to shower. To put on fresh clothes. Midas had already changed. New jeans. Old t-shirt. Same scuffed shoes.
The sun was about to rise, but he hoped like hell that Alina was going to get some sleep.
The cops hadn’t been ready to let them go, even with the arrival of the lawyers. Or, more specifically, they hadn’t wanted to let Midas go. I didn’t kill those goons. But he truly had been tempted.
And the fact that one of them had been left with a broken neck? Like that shit didn’t seem to be a message? One personally sent to Midas.
“I told you to leave the cops out of the situation.” Ryker stood in front of the fireplace. His back was to Midas. “Why didn’t you follow my orders?”
