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“Butprincipessa, the best part of having a mate is never having to handle anything alone.” He reached out to cup my cheek, and I prepared to pullaway.
Now that I had denied him, his touch felt like battery acid on my skin. At the same time, when his feelings hurt, I felt it. I seemed to be wracked withpain.
“Let go,mi amore. Whatever is holding you back, don’t let it keep us apart.” I could tell Blaise was prepared to say more, but before he could my father’s phone began to ring insistently from the table where I’d droppedit.
I hopped off the bed and bolted for the door. After sprinting down the hallway, I dove onto the bed to grab it off the nightstand on the far side. Glancing at the screen, I realized I didn’t recognize the number, but any distraction was welcome right now. “Hello?”
“Oh, I think I have the wrong number. I was looking for Malcolm Wallace,” the mangrumbled.
“I’m his daughter, Maggie. I manage his phone while he’s working.” I rocked nervously on the bed. A cold chill ran through me. When I peeked at the doorway, I realized Blaise stood there, leaning on theframe.
He lifted his watch to show me the time. Then he made a chopping motion under his chin. I guess this was my cue to get off the phone. The more he tried to tell me what to do, the more I wanted to resisthim.
“Hello, Maggie. This is Ira. We met at the show.” His greasy voice oozed false charm and I shivered inresponse.
“How can I help you, Ira?” I tried to wave Blaise out the door, but when he heard who I was talking to, he came rushing over to thebed.
“Off the phone,” he hissed. “Now.”
“Stop it, Blaise. I’m talking,” Igrumbled.
He paled and raked both hands through his hair before he sank down on the bed besideme.
“Oh, Blaise Draco is there?” He seemed incrediblyinterested.
“No, we’re at hi…” Before I could finish my sentence, Blaise snatched the phone from my hand and hit the speaker button. I glared at him, but didn’t try to reclaim it. Given his size and determination, I’d neverwin.
“It’s awfully late, Ira. Why are you calling?” He stood and began pacing while hespoke.
“Well, I was hoping to make a deal with Mr. Wallace. The bigger question is: why are you together?” I could hear the irritation in Ira’svoice.
“Actually, this shouldn’t surprise you. I’m in security, which means it’s my job to protect Maggie and her father from people like you.” He planted his feet and stared at me to see if I was payingattention.
Ira chuckled. “Why would they need protection fromme?”
“How about because of the program Malcolm has developed? I heard how interested you were at the show.” He licked his lips and I could tell this was leading up to somethingbig.
I wrapped my arms around my knees and rocked slightly on the bed. Once again, my heart was pounding. Only this time it had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with fear. For the first time in a long time, I was actually afraid. The last time I was this scared, I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. Somehow, I had the feeling I’d unintentionally messed upagain.
“That’s just ludicrous.” Ira released a nervous, stiltedlaugh.
“Is it?” Blaise’s brows peaked. “You should know my forensic team has finished analyzing the fingerprints from the crimescene.”
“Crime scene?” He sounded positively weak. There was a sound, like he’d dropped onto a deskchair.
“Are you now going to try to convince me that you knew nothing of the break-in at the Wallace home?” Blaise waited patiently for aresponse.
“Yes…”
“In that case, let me tell you what’s ludicrous: thinking you were smarter than me, that you could hide your intentions from me, that you could harm anyone I care about. See, those actions aren’t just ludicrous, as you so craftily commented. Those actions are downright lethal,” Blaisegrowled.
Ira hiccupped. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but did you just threaten me? I should call mylawyer…”
“Call. You’re going to need one. The men who broke into the Wallace home were employed by Sterling Girard, no doubt alerted to the program by you.” Blaise waited a moment, but the only sound from the other side of the phone was Ira swallowing hard. “I saw you run off with your cell phone at your ear. The police can subpoena your phone records. Soon enough, they’ll come to the same conclusion I did. You…and Sterling…are goingdown.”
Then Blaise ended the call, without so much as a goodbye. He tossed the phone on the bed. His arms were wrapped around his body and I knew he was trying to figure out what to say tome.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Iwhimpered.
