Sophie (The Boss 8)

“There’s something very wrong,” Laurence said, crossing his arms.

“I agree,” Valerie said to Neil. She turned her attention back to me. “We would love to discuss things over dinner, Sophie.”

“Just the four of us,” Laurence added.

I swallowed, too afraid to do anything but agree. I’d just opened my mouth when Neil said firmly, “I think not. The five of us.”

“This is a family concern.” Valerie’s icy tone was a dare.

Neil took it. “El-Mudad is a part of Olivia’s family. I’d like you to remember that.”

Laurence took a step forward; he’d done that more than once in confrontations with us, and it made me incredibly nervous. So did the anger that flared his eyes wide with surprise. “I’m not going to entertain—”

Valerie put her hand out to stop him. “The five of us. I have some questions for your friend, as well.”

“His name is El-Mudad, Valerie.” Neil’s jaw looked tight enough to burst his teeth. “You know that.”

“Neil, why don’t we go see if there’s anything we can do to help Mariposa,” I said and slipped my arm through his to drag him away if necessary.

As it turned out, he almost dragged me. I tripped over my own feet as he stalked down the hallway toward the nursery.

“The gall! The gall of them, to come in here and start issuing their edicts—” he raged.

“I know.” I cut him off before he could get too loud; the house was huge, but the hallways were echoey. The last thing I wanted was to give Laurence and Valerie the satisfaction of knowing they’d caused a fight.

Or to have Olivia overhear us, of course. That should be your primary concern.

“You can’t fly off the handle right now,” I went on. “It’s not going to be good for anyone. I promise, the second they leave, you can take all the wine glasses out to the driveway and smash them with a hammer if you want.”

“I might,” he grumbled.

I patted his elbow. “Take a broom with you.”

That got a rueful chuckle out of him, at least.

When we walked into the nursery, Mariposa was dutifully packing up everything Olivia ordered her to. And it was everything; four pieces of Olivia’s little eight-piece luggage set were out on the floor, and she struggled to pull another from the walk-in closet.

“I think you have plenty of room for everything you need,” Mariposa said gently, her expression troubled. When she spotted us in the doorway, she looked relieved. “Olivia, why don’t you tell your Afi and Sophie why you need to take so much.”

“Because I need so much!” Olivia stamped her foot, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she veered close to a tantrum.

Neil went to Olivia’s side, helped her with the suitcase, then stooped down to meet her eye level. “You’re only going away for three days.”

“That’s two sleeps,” I clarified for her.

Olivia shook her little blonde head stubbornly. “No. They’re going to keep me.”

“Wherever would you get that idea?” Neil glanced to me then to Mariposa, who shrugged helplessly, just as confused as he and I were.

“They said that when I was sleeping in the car,” Olivia responded, smacking her open palm with the side of her opposite hand as she laid out the relevant points. “They said when I stay forever. They said when they keep me.”

Oh, the fuck they were keeping her. Neil’s shoulders visibly bunched beneath his shirt.

“There must be some misunderstanding,” Neil said with cheerful calm. “You’re only going for two sleeps. I promise they are not going to keep you.”

“Are you sure?” she asked doubtfully. “You could come visit me.”

“And I absolutely would.” He scooped her up and hugged her tight, blowing raspberries on her neck while she squealed and giggled. “But there’s not going to be any need to visit you because you’ll be home in two sleeps.”

“Or you’ll come get me?” she asked.

“I will always come get you,” he promised, and I saw the reluctance in him as he set her down again. “Now, let’s unpack some of this. You won’t need it all.”

She went to one of her suitcases and began whipping toys out of it. Neil motioned to me, and we both faced away from Olivia. He asked softly, “Did they return her passport and birth certificate when they came back from London?”

A chill raced over my body at the implication of the question. He was afraid they were going to try something. “I don’t know.”

“Go and check the safe, please.” The calm in his tone was utterly forced. To Olivia, he instructed, “Don’t forget your Gizmo watch.”

My stomach pitched, and my knees wobbled as I left the nursery and headed for Neil’s study. We hadn’t bought Olivia the child-friendly GPS tracker just for fun. Neil had always been upfront with me about the dangers of kidnapping when someone could pay a large enough ransom. We’d never been afraid that the person who would take her might be her freaking grandparents.