From her pocket, she pulled out my keys. “They were on a table.” I hadn’t remembered there being a table but didn’t take the time to go back through my memory.
“Good girl. Let’s go,” I commanded.
She didn’t move. “I can’t.”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Liam, you don’t understand.” I shook my head to clear it as another spell of dizziness overcame me. “Liam.”
This time I couldn’t stop it. I doubled over and puked the remnants of what little I’d eaten. She wasn’t grossed out and came closer, touching my head.
“Do you have a headache?” she asked.
I nodded but stopped quickly from the growing pain.
“Dizziness?”
“Yes,” I croaked.
“Ringing in your ear?”
“Not now, but earlier.”
“What day is it?”
“What?” The question seemed out of place when we needed to leave. “I don’t know. What does it matter?”
“Because I’m sure you have a concussion. You need to go to the hospital.”
“You’re going to need to drive me,” I said, using this medical issue to my advantage.
Her features softened as if I was a patient assigned to her. “Fine. Get in. But I’ll need you to give me directions.”
“I can do that,” I said. Though I had no intention of taking us to a hospital.
When we got to a red light, she asked me for the directions again. I had a hard time keeping it together. I managed to put my destination into the map on my phone and activate the voice mode. Then I leaned my head against the cool glass and drifted off.
“Liam.” There was such desperation in hearing my name, I awoke with a start. A quick glance was enough to prove we had arrived exactly where I’d hoped. “We were supposed to go to the hospital,” she said, sadness covering her pretty face.
“We need to leave New York,” I said, feeling slightly better than I had before. “This was the best way.” We were parked next to the curb in the departure lanes at the airport.
“How do you expect to get past TSA with your face looking like that?”
“What? Are you saying I’m not pretty anymore?” I flashed her a grin unwisely as a spark of sharp pain hit. I rubbed at the ache.
“I can’t go with you,” she said,
“Why not? Who are these guys?” A tap came at my window. I expected a cop because these days you weren’t allowed to idle near any US airport. Only it was the guy I referred to as Thing Two. The guy that had tuned me up earlier. I whipped my head back in her direction. “What have you done?”
Her eyes were filled with sadness, but it didn’t explain why she’d betrayed me. “I made a deal. You were supposed to end up at a hospital, safely. Then, I would return of my own accord.”
I didn’t like the sound of ‘my own accord’. “They tracked your phone,” I accused.
She shrugged but it hadn’t been a question.
A man appeared at her door and opened it. “Well, you must be Hotel Romeo,” he said.
I might have laughed from all the bitterness I felt, but it would hurt too much. Thing Two had gotten in some body blows as well. Now that my head didn’t hurt so much, I felt other aches. The voice, however, was familiar given the slight accent.
The only thing good about that was Natalie looked surprised as well by the nickname the man gave me.
“My guess is my daughter hasn’t told you the good news.”
Panic covered Natalie’s face as shock covered mine. Father? “Natalia is getting married to David Royal. I’m telling you so your quest to save her ends now. You can look him up. He’s everything you’re not. Though it’s hard to see what you look like under those bruises. My men can be… too eager at times. Anyway, David Royal is the son of the hotel mogul Dwight Royal.”
“Married?” Though I’d said the word, I wasn’t really asking anyone but Natalie.
“It’s not what you think,” she pleaded as her father ushered her out of the car.
“Marriages of convenience are as old as time. I’m sure Adam wouldn’t have had anything to do with scheming Eve if there had been another option.”
I wasn’t sure his analogy worked. I was more concerned about what I heard or didn’t hear.
“Remember what you told me about your purpose the first time we met,” she said, cryptically.
That was a fight I wouldn’t forget. I’d told her I came to New York not only to meet my father but to ultimately help my mother by getting what she deserved. Was she doing this for her mother? Her father didn’t give me a chance to ask.
“Don’t follow, lover boy. As you can see, this is her choice. I have to thank you for your choice of destination as it works well for us. Now we will take an earlier flight. No need to follow as you won’t get past the guards.”