“I’ll talk to Ivy again. See if she’ll share more information.”
Hyde pressed his lips together, concern clear in his eyes. “You want me to do that? Might be safer.”
I grunted. “For me or for Ivy?”
“Yeah, not fucking sure at this point.”
I contemplated it but decided we had more of a shot at Ivy talking to me than anyone else. “I’ll do it. You keep on top of our guys in Melbourne and let me know if they find him. And call Scott Cole. Tell him to get his men ready. I have a feeling we’re gonna need them on this.”
He nodded. “Will do.”
Turning my attention to Devil, I said, “I need you with Skylar today. She’s got a uni class on that she can’t miss, so I need you to make sure she’s safe there.”
“I’m on it,” he agreed.
I rubbed my temples some more. “And don’t fucking let her talk you into anything other than that, Devil. My sister has a knack for asking for the fucking moon and getting it.”
His lips twitched. “You forget I’ve played a round of that with Skylar, King. She’s not getting anything out of me today.”
“Good.” I pushed my chair back and stood. “Fucking hell, is the fucking air conditioning working?” I felt like I was burning from the inside out.
Nitro frowned. “You okay, brother?”
“Yeah, just fucking hot. Get someone to look at the air con,” I barked, irritated as fuck. Between the heat and my headache, I could hardly keep a straight fucking thought.
“King, it’s not fucking hot today. It’s raining and cold. You sure you’re not running a fever?” Devil said.
I scowled at him. “I’m fine.” Turning to Nitro, I said, “You good to deal with Marx this morning?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll leave in about twenty to take care of that.”
“You want someone with you?”
“No, I’ve got it covered.”
“Good.” I didn’t want to pull anyone off what they were already doing.
Hyde opened the office door. “Text me if you need me.”
The three of them left me alone with my headache and my thoughts. If I knew anything, it was that my headache was going to get worse before it got better. This fucked-up situation we were in pretty much guaranteed that.
“She’s not eating much,” Winter advised me an hour and a half later when I met him outside the room we had Ivy in. I intended to keep her there until I’d dealt with her husband.
“Keep an eye on that and let me know if she still refuses food later.”
I entered the room to find her sitting on the bed staring out the window. Her back was to me, but it seemed she could still sense my presence as easily as she could fifteen years ago.
“What do you want now, King?” The flat tone of her voice didn’t surprise me. Ivy hated being confined in small spaces. It stemmed from the horrific childhood she had when her biological parents sold her for weekends at a time to men who locked her up and abused her.
“Why aren’t you eating?”
She remained silent and still for a few moments, simply staring out the window. Then she turned slowly and found my gaze. “Why do you care?”
“Just answer the question.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “No.”
“No?”