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He answered on the second ring. "Why are you calling me?"
"You tell me. Someone tossed Nissa’s place."
He was silent for a beat. “What the fuck are you on about?”
"Somebody tossed her flat."
"Where the fuck were you?"
"Doing my job. I was with Nissa. And that was a good thing because who knows what would have happened if she had been there."
He cursed under his breath. "You see, this is why you're needed. Where are you now? Bring her home right this minute."
Like hell I was doing that. “I have her somewhere safe. Bringing her home is only going to put more of a target on her. If she's in the crosshairs because of you, the last place she needs to be is standing right next to you.”
He was silent for a breath and then asked, “Did they take anything?”
“Not to my knowledge. Is there something specific you need to know about?"
"Never mind, you just keep doing your job. I want you on her like glue. She never leaves your sight. I don't care what you have to do.”
"What's going on, Montgomery?"
"What's going on is that I made a deal with the devil, and he's looking to collect. I thought you'd make a decent deterrent. But right now, it seems that Antonio Igno doesn't follow the rules of engagement. He wants something he thinks I have, or Nissa has, and if I don't hand it over, he's going to scare Nissa until I get it for him."
"What have you done, Julian?"
"You don't worry about what I've done. You worry about the job I hired you for, protecting my daughter."
After hanging up with him, I lightly knocked on the bedroom door, and Nissa answered with a soft, “Yeah.” I poked my head in the doorway and saw her sitting up against the pillows at the headboard. She just seemed broken. So frail and fragile, but I knew she wasn't. Her brown skin looked sallow, her curls less shiny, like all the exuberance that normally glowed around her had dimmed to a dull hue. "Nissa, why don't we get you in the bath.”
She shook her head. "I don't know what to do. All my stuff. They just destroyed everything."
I licked my bottom lip, hoping I didn't have to make her leave. "Just get in the bath. I'll take care of cleaning up when we go back in the morning to pack up a few things."
Shoulders slumped in defeat, she walked toward the ensuite bathroom. I watched her close the door and my heart just shattered, even though I knew it wasn’t supposed to feel anything for Nissa.
Someone had stolen a bit of her shine today. And I wasn't going to stop until I made them pay for taking that away from her.
25
Nissa
I was frozen. Honestly, just frozen. All I could do was hold myself together from crying. Someone had done this to me. Rifled through my things, broken the snow globes, and the worst thing, they rummaged through all my notes on my sister. I couldn't even tell anyone what was gone. They'd been looking for something, and I didn't know what.
My mind flashed back to the mess of my flat as I sank into the tub, trying to ascertain what to do next. Was it even safe to return home in the morning? I didn't want someone to chase me away; it was my home. It was the only place I'd had since my parents died that felt entirely mine.
After my bath, I went downstairs in the loft. Westin was organizing a cleaning crew to go through my place. “You don't have to do that. I would have done it in the morning.”
His gaze flickered up at me. " You need help. Let me help."
"I appreciate it, but you've done a lot for me tonight."
"Not nearly enough. I can however take care of at least the big stuff. You know what you're going to do? You’re going to stay here and take the day off. Sleep it off or do whatever you want. Anything, but don’t go to Jamila's. It's better if no one goes looking for you there, too."
My heart twisted then. That was the first place I’d thought of going.
I eased down onto the couch, allowing myself to be sucked into the comfort. “I guess I've made your job a little difficult tonight. I wasn't much use.”
