***
Hawk says nothing when he sees me dragged into the open by Scarface. A muscle is jumping under his eye, though, and his face is deathly pale.
I failed him. Failed us both. Now I can’t call, can’t leave, can’t help him.
My face is too hot as I stumble in the thug’s hold. So stupid, Layla. Hawk was right, you should have left. He depended on you.
And you stayed, as if you can fight off these people and save him, keep him from getting more hurt.
God, what a joke.
“Do we know her?” Sandivar asks indifferently. “Does she look familiar?”
“Hawk sleeps with her,” the thug says, throwing me down, at Hawk’s feet. “Seen pictures of him with her.”
“The little girlfriend, then. I wonder how she got in here.” He frowns. “How did she get in?”
“The bathroom window wasn’t locked. She could have fit through.”
“I see.”
Hawk gathers me in his arms, lifts me to my feet, and I cling to him, terrified, breathing in his scent of male spice and blood.
“Let her go,” he says. “She only wanted to see me.”
“Only wanted to see you,” he mocks. “And how did she know where you are? Do others know?” Sandivar stands in front of us, cold and angry. “Did she call and tell her friends, or the police?”
“I didn’t,” I say, my voice steadier than I thought it would be. “Didn’t tell anyone.”
Sandivar’s gaze would freeze a glacier. “Check her phone.”
Scarface digs through my purse and finds my phone on the first try.
So not fair.
He clicks through my call history, then my messages, and I’m too exhausted and scared to even care about that violation.
“She called someone called Dodo this morning. And before that a call to the police.”
Oh crap.
Sandivar nods, his expression grim. “The police wouldn’t believe her. They think he’s on a business trip.” He glares at me. “Lock them up. Lock the door to the stairs. Don’t leave them any escape route.”
“What about the prisoners?”
“Prepare to move them elsewhere. Bring the van. And keep checking with the bank for that transaction, although I’m quite damn sure Mr. Fleming here thought he could play us for fools. He’s about to find out that doesn’t fly with the Organization. He’s made the biggest mistake of his life.”
Chapter Eleven
Hawk
“Dodo?” I mutter, sitting on the floor for a change, my back to the pillar, Layla in my arms. She’s dozing, her head on my shoulder. “Like the bird?”
Or thinking. She’s so quiet.
She stirs now. “My friend, Dorothy. I had to talk to her, but I didn’t tell her anything. You said I shouldn’t.”
“I also said you should leave, but did you? Nah.”