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“No. I knew who he was, but I never had any contact with him, even when Mom was alive. And after she died, I stayed far, far away.”
“Because he’s a primus. De Froulay?”
She blinked several times. “How did you know?
“You look like him.” I lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “It wasn’t hard to guess once I knew you were a princess. He doesn’t want to acknowledge you? Claim you as his heir?”
“Lord, I hope not.” Her lip curled. “Until this year, he didn’t even know I existed. To be honest, I don’t know how he found out. I sure didn’t tell him.”
“But someone put out a hit on you. Someone who knows you’re his daughter. Maybe it’s not SI who put out the hit. Maybe it’s something to do with your father.”
“Sperm donor,” she corrected absently. She frowned into her wine. “I suppose you could be right. Someone in his syndicate, maybe.”
“Who knows he sired you?”
“No one. For a long time even he didn’t know. My mom was afraid to tell anyone, even him. But someone obviously knew—or found out. We were hunted for years by Paris Syndicate vampires.”
My heart squeezed for that young, defenseless girl. No wonder she thought all vampires were monsters.
“How did de Froulay find you, anyway?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She turned her palm up. “He just sent for me one day. I thought he was going to hire me as a mercenary or bodyguard—that’s my cover. I’m a merc for hire. Unless…”
“What?”
“The vampires who killed my mom. They wanted me. As far as I know, I’m de Froulay’s only spawn. They demanded she tell them where I was that night. And when she wouldn’t, they—” She rolled in her lips, shook her head.
I touched her leg. “I’m sorry.”
She dipped her chin in acknowledgment and continued, “I thought I’d buried that part of me for good. I lived on the street for six months. The official story is that I died along with my mom but that my body was never found. But maybe they never stopped looking. Maybe they’ve been looking for me all this time, and when de Froulay sent for me in Paris, they put two and two together.”
“Mm.” I hesitated, but it had to be said. “I wonder how your alpha comes into this. Crow.”
She heaved a breath. “I’ve been wondering about that too. Because George said the reward was for both of us.”
“And you thought SI might have put out the hit on us. Who is your alpha, exactly?” I only knew bits and pieces about the secretive slayers’ organization.
Ridley’s silver eyes clouded. I could tell she didn’t want to think about this—she clearly idolized her alpha—but Crow was rapidly becoming my number one suspect for the person behind George’s attack.
“She’s in charge of the entire North American operation.”
I whistled. “So she’s a biggie, a VIP.”
“Yeah.”
“Does she have another name?”
“Yeah, of course. But I don’t know it.”
“It worried you to see her at the Hotel Garnet. Why?”
She gave a you-still-don’t-understand shake of her head. “Because of you.”
“Me?”
“I was afraid she was there to stake you.”
All the air went out of my lungs. I sat back. “You’re saying you would’ve stopped her?”
