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Until we identified her secret, there wouldn’t be a single one of us who could rest easily.
I headed out the door and heard her tiny voice, the luminating sound like the sweet kisses of a newborn or the wings of a butterfly.
“Please don’t go, Daniel. I’m afraid.”
I was forced to suck in my breath, struggling with the man I’d turned into and the brutal savage from my past. Coddling her wasn’t going to gain any information, but goddamn it, I wanted to hold her in my arms more than anything. I dared not look in her direction, the draw that significant. She’d yanked as the darkness inside of me, pulling at the strings until they’d finally started to unravel. What I knew without a doubt is that I would taste her soon enough.
When I did, I would make her mine.
And there was nothing Alexander, Brogan, or anyone else could do to change that.
When I tipped my head, the sight of her in the thin sheet covering her naked body made my mouth water. She’d ignited embers I’d purposely kept dead. Damn it. I wanted her.
I left the room, but when I closed the door, a wave of anxiety crawled its way into my system. There’d been things left undone, threats we’d made that had never come to fruition, but it was no doubt we’d made plenty of enemies along the way. As I locked the door, the wave of anger swimming inside of me was significant.
Answers had to be found and quickly before it was too late.
I stormed down the stairs, moving through the hallways until I found an expansive commercial kitchen with two workers inside. I didn’t give a shit about Alexander’s commands that the staff remain out of view. She might be our prisoner, but she would be treated with respect and common decency.
As soon as I entered the room, both women stopped what they were doing, which looked as if they were preparing a feast for the king of the estate. I glanced from one to the other, seeing fear in their eyes. I could see that Alexander’s usual methods of keeping people in his control remained the same as it had been years ago.
“Provide our guest with nourishment and water. Make certain she has some fruit and something substantial to eat.” My words seemed hollow, devoid of any emotion as various stages of anger ran through my veins.
“I’m sorry, sir. Mr. Durante hasn’t told us we could do that,” one of the women said, the tremor in her voice obvious.
“I don’t give a shit about what Mr. Durante directed or didn’t direct you to do. I’m a guest here and my orders are also required to be followed. Do you understand me?”
They shared another look, the second girl nodding. “We understand, but we’ll need to check with Mr. Durante.”
“Follow his commands, Sheila. He’s right. He’s aguesthere.” Alexander’s emphasis on the single word pissed me off as much as everything else the man had done. He walked in as if this was nothing more than a standard vacation, leaning against the huge kitchen island and grabbing an apple from the large bowl of fruit positioned in the center. He didn’t bother washing or rubbing the bright red orb, merely bit into it with the same gusto he used for everything he did.
Then he stared at me. Gone were the days he could intimidate me. I’d made certain years before that he understood that I wasn’t his lackey. He hadn’t been anticipating a broken nose or the intense bruises I’d given him all those years ago.
“It would appear you like this girl, perhaps too much.”
“And it would also appear that you’re less human than you were before, which I find hard to believe,” I countered. “You were a bastard then, coldhearted and unfeeling. You’re no different now.”
“You don’t know me any longer, Daniel.”
The look in his eyes was entirely different than I’d seen before. Was there a level of remorse hiding behind his cold gaze? “Maybe I don’t want to know you.”
He studied me intently then burst into laughter. “I do so like your style, my friend. How was your discussion? Did you learn anything?”
I shot the women a look, but they’d already busied themselves in handling my order. “She didn’t send the threats. I also doubt she knew about the other assassin.”
He seemed surprised at my answer. “Do you honestly think we can believe anything she has to say?”
“Answer me this, my friend. Why would she warn us ahead of time? It obviously wasn’t her behind the weapon and don’t give me bullshit that she was working with someone. I refuse to buy it. And did you honestly think that by seducing her, she would be so caught up in some crazy passionate web that she’d expose her plans, or the person you think hired her? That’s bullshit, just like I told you before. She failed with her use of poisons, which doesn’t equate to a professional killer. She concocted the doses herself. Keep that in the back of your mind, myfriend.”
His eyes lost focus as they did when he was required to concentrate on something that was being said. “While I understand your logic, Daniel, I’ve known many an asshole who issued threats of a more egregious nature, then followed through. I wouldn’t put anything past her. Maybe she was used as a pawn, doing little more than sending us a message. Have you thought about that?”
Everything out of his mouth was utter bullshit.
“She’s not a career criminal and you know it!” I loathed he could still get under my skin. “To that end, I’m making a phone call to a buddy of mine. He’ll be able to determine the location where the burner phones were purchased. Maybe you should find out if any of your men were injured. My bullet hit the man. That much I know.”
“There isn’t a single man in my employ who would dare cross me!” Now he was irritated. As if I cared. “And what the hell good will it do determining where those phones were purchased?”
“It’s information we need to know, whether you like it or not.” I kept my hard glare on him until he backed down.
