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Andre
VICTOR STANDS IN the doorway of my office, staring at me.
I ignore him, continuing to focus on the stack of papers in front of me. I have too much to do to waste time playing whatever game he came here to play.
“A party?”
“Is there something you need?” I lift my eyes from the rental agreement in front of me. “Or did you just come to offer an opinion I’m not interested in?”
I know Victor isn’t happy with the way I’ve handled things recently.
He believes I’m distracted. That my focus is somewhere it shouldn’t be. That Paisley takes up too much of my time.
I don’t care.
“Actually,” he comes into the office, closing the door behind him, “I came to update you on the situation with Dr. Marshall.”
My hand freezes, coming to a stop in the middle of my signature. “Have you found him?”
“Possibly.” Victor sits in one of the wingback chairs on the other side of my desk. “One of our informants believes they saw him go into The Hudson Hotel this morning.”
I lean back in my chair, surprised. “He’s still in the city?”
“It would seem so.” Victor crosses one leg over the other, balancing his ankle on his knee. “I have two men sitting outside, waiting for any sign of him.” He taps his fingers against the armrests as he watches me across the desk. “She might not react to this the way you think she will, Andre.”
In all honesty, I haven’t thought much about how Paisley will react to my plans for Dr. Marshall. It doesn’t matter to me.
So I ignore his comment and finish signing the agreement, stacking it to one side before moving to the next one in line.
“So it’s true?” Victor eyes the catering menu I’m staring at. “You’re throwing her a Christmas party?”
“Not that it should matter to you, but yes.” I double check the selections listed, making sure they are what I specified before signing my name at the bottom. “I suppose she will expect me to invite you as well.” I lift my eyes to his. “Considering she has no clue about your opinion of her.”
“And what do you think my opinion is?” Victor’s tone is sharper than I’ve heard it before.
“That she is a distraction. That I should send her back to where she came from.”
“I’m not wrong, Andre. She is a distraction.” His eyes move over my face. “But I’ve never told you to send her back where she came from.”
“It wouldn’t matter if you did.” I won’t be giving Paisley up. Not now.
Not ever.
I should have known from the beginning I would never be able to walk away from her. Looking back it’s obvious.
She is mine, but more than that, I am hers.
It’s a fact she seems to have no clue of, and one I’ve been forced to recognize.
“You have to deal with Frederick, Andre. You can’t let this go on any longer.” The seriousness in Victor’s words adds to the unease I carry. “He will come for her. He will use her against you.”
“Then we will just have to keep her from him.” It sounds so simple in theory, but I can’t deny how difficult it will be to accomplish.
“He will kill her if he gets his hands on her, you know that.”
It’s a possibility I can’t consider. Won’t consider. “If he so much as puts a finger on her I’ll—”
“He will do much more than put a finger on her.” Victor points in the direction of the room where Paisley is currently curled up next to her dying mother. “The things he will do to her just to get at you are unlimited.” Victor’s frustration bleeds into his words. “That girl doesn’t deserve it. She deserves to be safe. She deserves to be happy. She deserves to live a life without fear.”
