“You can give up on that prize, you dead fuck, because I’ll never live up to any bargain you’ve made.”
“Oh,” he straightened, “if the price is high enough, you will.”
“No price is worth my soul.”
“Not even Alice?”
Ivan stormed at Boris, his body tense with the urge to fight, to protect, to do whatever he had to keep her safe. “If you so much as look at her…”
“I’m going to pay her a visit later, see how she’s doing. I do enjoy watching her. When the time comes, you will do what Godfrey asks, or Alice ends up even prettier than what she already is. She’s a real looker, that one, but she’ll make me even hotter when her life drains away in front of my eyes. Oh, yes, she’ll be perfect with her lustful eyes poked out and her deceitful tongue cut off. That way, she’ll never see or speak to another soul after me.”
Ivan launched himself at the spirit with a vengeful cry. His hands gripped air as he went for Boris’s throat. He only managed to graze his knuckles on the textured plaster of the wall.
Crim appeared in the door. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Ivan shook his bleeding hand. “Go back to work.” He walked past her and grabbed his phone from the table. In the privacy of his bedroom, he dialed Cain’s number.
Cain answered with a lazy drawl. “Are you back in jail?”
“Is the line secure?”
“You can talk.”
“It’s Alice.”
“If you put her life in danger, I swear to God—”
“Just listen,” he growled. “Boris knows she’s important to me. He’s going to use her to make me do what Godfrey wants.”
“You’re a dead man, Ivan Kray. I told you to stay away from my daughter!”
“Now’s not the time for slinging mud balls.”
“You listen to me, you little fuck. For years I managed to protect her, only for you to come and screw it all up, like you always screw up everything.”
“Get it together, Cain. Are your people still with her?”
“Lann is.”
“Only Lann?”
“Don’t underestimate his slender appearance.”
“Why aren’t the others there?”
“Josselin is working on tracking Daniel. Clelia is hunting shifters, Sean is taking care of security, and Maya is getting some much-needed sleep.”
“Where is Alice, now?”
“At the office.”
“I’m calling her.”
“Stay off the phone. First of all, the phone in her office may be tapped. Secondly, you don’t want to scare her. Let me handle it.”
Despite his urge to argue, he knew Cain was right. Cain was better equipped to protect his daughter. “Call me when you’ve spoken to her. I want to see her.”
The line went dead. Fuck that. He wasn’t going to sit on his ass and wait for Cain to tell him Alice was safe. He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.
“Lock up after me,” he said to Crim. On the way down, he called Donald. “Get the car.”
Chapter 13
It had started raining. Alice buttoned her summer coat up over her dress and put her head around Johnny’s door. “I’m having dinner with Henry. See you, tomorrow.”
“Why?” he asked with a note of worry.
“Really, Johnny, that’s none of your business.”
“No, but it is. I’ve already driven Mandy into the printer’s arms. I won’t be held responsible for landing you in the editor’s bed.”
She laughed. “You take credit for way too much. Go home.”
“By the way, I have a confirmation for a date. We’ve moved the premiere out with a week. That should give us enough time to jack up our security and for you to practice…” he rubbed his neck, “…a bit more.”
“Have faith in me,” she chastised. “No one else does.”
“Thanks for what you did with that announcement about the scholarship. I know it wasn’t easy.”
“It’s the truth. I only found out myself when Henry told me.”
“What’s really going on between you and Ivan?”
She bit her lip. “I wish I knew.”
He sat up. “If he’s bothering you—”
“Nothing like that. I just need to sort myself out.” With a wink, she left.
In the bathroom, she retouched her makeup. Since it was after hours, she was the only person there, but her scalp prickled as if someone was watching her.
“Is anyone there?” she called.
When there was no answer, she locked herself in the first stall. She’d just sat down with her stockings and underwear around her ankles when her phone rang. She checked the number. It was Cain.
“Did something happen?”
“We found Daniel. Clelia just took him out.”
She leaned back with a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Wait. Can you mention this over the phone?”
“Don’t worry. This line is secure.”
“Does Ivan know about Daniel?”
“I just got the information. You’re the first one I’m speaking to. Where are you?”
“Um, in the bathroom. Give me a second.” Clutching her phone in one hand, she adjusted her clothes with the other, battling with the stockings. She changed hands only to lose her grip. The phone hit the water with a clonk, splashing her legs.