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Sometimes my imaginary Baptist can be a bastard, and I rarely listen to him.
They cross and I follow, but instead of staying on my side of the street, I switch over to theirs. I head up behind them moving faster than they are. I don’t want Heiko to reach his destination—probably a car parked nearby or a Crawford safehouse or a business they own. They pause at another intersection and I decide I can’t let them get any further.
I speed up and make my move.
“Good to see you again, Heiko,” I say, stepping forward and breaking his grip on Marie’s arm. She gasps in surprise as I push her to the side, getting between her and Heiko as he flips a blade from the pocket of his jacket, snarling in rage.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Drake?”
I knock his hand wide before he can make a huge mistake and step back, putting distance between us and keeping Marie at my back. He doesn’t lose his grip on the knife, but he seems to realize he’s brandishing a weapon in public. Heiko’s dangerous and unstable, but he’s not an idiot. He flicks the knife closed and shoves it back into his pocket as I slowly move away, one hand behind me and on Marie’s hip, making sure she’s close.
“I heard my employee went for a walk and got lost. I decided to fetch her.”
Heiko’s snarl twists and he runs a hand through his hair. “This is really how you want to play it?”
“This is how it’s got to be.”
“Ansell,” Marie says, but I silence her with a nudge.
“You’re making a big fucking mistake.” Heiko watches me back off, staring with rage in his eyes. “Magnus is going to murder you. Before, he was willing to overlook your involvement. Better to ignore you than to escalate things. But after this fucking display, he’s going to give me the green light to put a bullet in your head, and I’m going to love it.”
“I look forward to the day we can match wits together again, Heiko. It’s been a real pleasure.” I turn my back on him and hurry off with Marie at my side.
“Is he following?” she whispers, her eyes wide with fear. The tears are gone and she’s breathing hard.
“No, he won’t. He’s not stupid.”
She looks over her shoulder and lets out a breath. “He’s just standing there, watching.”
“Like I said.”
“How can you be so calm right now? You realize what this means, don’t you?”
I nod and say nothing. Am I calm? I don’t feel calm. I feel like I’m cracking up, like every piece of me is about to crumble. Seeing Heiko with his hand on Marie shoved my body into overdrive and the only thing I could do was rescue her from his clutches.
Even though I knew it would damn me.
“It’s me and you against the Crawfords now,” I say and glance down at her. She’s giving me this strange, unreadable look, half terror and half excitement. “You could say thanks.”
“I didn’t want you to do that for me.”
“It happened. We can’t change that now.”
She leans her head against my shoulder. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Pearce. Now, come on. My driver’s nearby. We’ll go back to my office.”
“And do what?”
“Discuss what I’m going to do with you.”
Chapter 11
Marie
I drink some cold bottled water Ansell’s secretary brought in and wipe my face with tissues. I check myself in a compact mirror and groan at the ugly streaks of makeup. “God, I can’t believe that happened. What was I thinking?”
“You ran from your father.”
“He said he’s going to kill me.” I laugh bitterly and Ansell only stares at me with that slight frown, which could mean anything. I’m starting to think it’s his happy face though. “I believe him, by the way. I think he really might do it if I don’t find a way to make things right with the Crawfords.”
“Are you going to do that?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. My hands are still shaking and I keep feeling the ghost of Heiko’s hand on my arm. “Not even if I could.”
“Good.” He leans back, studying me. His office is sparse, almost spartan. The windows are big and have a lovely view of the city, but there’s no personality, only small flourishes like someone else decided it needed a little something beyond the bare minimum. Probably Baptist or his secretary.
“I know I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve stayed in the car and let my dad take his anger out on me, but I was scared and I just, I screwed up, and now you’re involved. I’m so, so sorry.” I lean forward, face in my hands. “God, this is such a mess.”
“Stop apologizing.”
“I feel like I need to apologize to the entire world.” I groan and feel my skin turn bright red, utterly mortified. “What are we going to do now?”
