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Was I all right? Hmm, how did I answer that?No, I’m not fucking all right.All I could think about at that moment was Ryzen. Charming, lethal Ryzen who had tried to murder me just a few weeks ago for the second time.
I gripped the handrail and squeezed my eyes shut.
Just breathe, Nova.
“We’re gonna get out of here.” Juliet’s voice washed over me, calming me down.
Get it together, Nova.
“It’s OK. I’m OK. Just brought back some memories.” The elevator swayed, and I inhaled sharply.
“Oh, fuck, how could I forget that?” Juliet turned back to the elevator panel and pressed the emergency button. A moment later, a voice came over the speaker, telling us the elevator would move in less than a minute.
Just count to ten, and you’ll be all right.
I squeezed my eyes shut, counting and breathing in and out slowly. After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator jerked and started moving. Only when we were on the ground floor and the doors slid open did I let go of the breath I had been holding.
“Hey, hey, are you all right?” Valik’s face twisted in concern.
“Yeah, I just need a minute.” I looked around the lobby, finding the bathroom just a few feet away. Everyone followed behind me, the same look on their faces. “Guys.” I held up my hand, making them stop. “I’m fine, just a little claustrophobia. Wait here and I’ll be right back.” Valik tried to follow behind me inside the bathroom as I pushed the door open, and I puckered my lips, shaking my head. “That means you too, big guy. Nothing’s going to happen to me on the toilet.”
His cheeks flushed, and he peered over my shoulder into the space. “I guess so.”
I chuckled and shut the door, locking it. My shoulders sagged as I leaned against the door, and I wanted to kick myself for overreacting. If Dr. Loomis had been here, I knew what he would have said—that it was normal to feel this way. I’d been through a traumatic experience, and anxiety was bound to happen a few times. Blah, blah, blah.
The water was cold as I splashed it onto my face and neck, cooling myself down. I’d known a panic attack was bound to happen at some point, but I wished it hadn’t happened when I was hundreds of miles away from Cian. I pulled my phone out and pressed the FaceTime button. He picked up right away, and I grinned at the messy hair and lopsided grin.
“Were you taking a nap at your desk, Mr. Blackwood?”
He narrowed his eyes at me, shaking his finger at the screen. “Well, if a certain vixen hadn’t kept me up all night with her sexual demands, I might have gotten enough sleep.” He chuckled, then froze as he searched my face. “What’s wrong? Did the meeting not go well? Where’s Valik?”
“Everything’s fine.” I giggled and pointed the phone at the bathroom stall. “I don’t think you want Valik in the bathroom with me, do you?”
“Something is bothering you. Tell me.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, watching me intently.
“We got stuck in the elevator after the meeting, and I kinda freaked,” I muttered, scrunching up my nose. “But I’m OK now. Just wanted to see your face.”
“You’re sure you’re OK?”
I nodded my head, the anxiety slowly seeping out of my body. Cian always had that effect on me. He knew how to calm me down with just one look, one word. “Yeah, the meeting went great.” I checked my watch. “We’re heading for the airport now, so I’ll tell you all about it tonight.”
“I’m proud of you, little star.” He traced his finger over the screen and my face heated at his words. “Now, give me a kiss.”
I puckered my lips and pressed them against the screen, and he did the same. After a few more minutes of making sure I was calm and collected, I went out to the lobby where everyone was sitting. They all stood when I walked up, and I gave them a thumbs-up with a crooked smile.
Valik went to get the car from the attendant, and after a few minutes, we were on our way to the airport. And by “on our way,” I meant crawling at a snail’s pace through New York City traffic. And here I thought traffic in Chicago sucked. I drummed my nails on the seat as we sat idle, bumper to bumper.
“Should we do the ‘Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer On the Wall’ song, guys?” Valik called over his shoulder and I pressed the button to roll the glass divider up, chuckling at the hurt look on his face.
“I’m just messing with you.” We all laughed as I lowered the divider back down. Juliet and I did some quick brainstorming on a possible design for R.L. Hemingway’s, and after about ten minutes, we had barely moved half a block.
“Accident up ahead, should be moving any second now.” Valik hummed along with the radio, every now and then muttering a cuss word as someone tried to squeeze in our lane. I looked out the back window, making sure Harvey and the other guard were still behind us.
As we inched forward, I gazed out the window. My eyes widened as an SUV pulled up next to us, its windows down so I could see directly into the back seat. My heart slammed against my chest as Althazair Voledetti tossed his cigarette out of the window and leaned back. He was the spitting image of Kaviathin with dark hair and tattoos covering his hands and up his neck, where he had a tattoo of the word “omerta” in dark ink that stood out. I held my breath as he looked at our car, but relaxed when I remembered the windows were tinted.
What the hell was he doing here? Was he following me? No, he couldn’t possibly be that stupid to just pull up next to us. It had to be a coincidence, and a fucking terrible one. The man next to Althazair waved his hands around, and I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out where I knew him from. He was older, maybe in his fifties, with rosy cheeks and white hair that was thinning at the top. Damn, he looked familiar.
I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. Just when I was about to snap a picture, Valik hollered in victory from the front seat, and we sped down the street. What was Althazair up to, hm? I would have to tell Cian, but the thought made it feel like a boulder was sitting in my stomach. He would only worry. God, he would be angry if he thought Kaviathin had had his brother follow us to another state. No, maybe Cian didn’t need to know this little tidbit of information. What good would come of it? Probably nothing.
