“Facet, let her reach out. Keep it brief,” he said to me.
“Ms. King, we’ll do everything in our power to keep you safe, but we need you to work with us,” Raptor said.
“Why? Why are you willing to help me? You were paid to find me. I don’t understand why you didn’t let the other assholes get me. Unless you’re holding me for them.” Horror filled me at the thought. I could only imagine it was a significant amount of money.
Several of them looked at me like I was out of my fucking mind. Then they glanced to each other as if wondering who was going to tell me.
“Honestly? Part of it is the fact that you’re a woman. We don’t hurt women. But the biggest reason is Ghost,” Venom said as he held my gaze.
“But he hates me,” I whispered—the words like a rusty knife to my aching heart.
Facet scoffed, then stood. “You have a lot to learn. Come on, Scarlett. Let’s make your call.”
The men all stood when I did, but none of them made a move to leave the room except Facet. He held the door open for me, and I stepped around him. When we went past the hall that led to the common area and bar, I stopped in my tracks.
There at the bar was Lucian, and practically draped over him was an attractive blonde who was whispering in his ear. She noticed me standing there and froze as she gazed over his shoulder at me questioningly. Then she must’ve dismissed me, because she smiled at something he said and threw her head back in a husky laugh.
My chest ached.
“Laila?” Facet asked as he waited for me outside a door down the hall. Lucian’s head swiveled, and his blue eyes hit mine. Unable to watch the display any longer, I looked away and picked up the pace to follow Facet into the room he entered.
As he started digging through a drawer, I leaned against the door, closed my eyes, and drew in a ragged breath. I’d known there was the possibility he was with someone, but seeing it firsthand hurt more than I could’ve imagined.
“Here, this one will work,” Facet said as he clicked a battery in place on a cheap cell phone. He held it out to me.
I quickly dialed the number I knew by heart. As it rang, I waited and tried to ignore the tinkling sound of the shards of my heart falling to the floor.
“Who’s this?” Ryan’s gruff voice growled through the phone.
“It’s me, Laila. I can’t talk long. I’m safe, but I need some time.”
“Yeah, well, your apartment was ransacked, and you weren’t answering your phone, messages, or emails. What the fuck, Laila? You scared me to death!”
“Sorry, that’s why I’m out of pocket for a bit.”
Facet made hurry-up motions.
“I’ll be in touch soon,” I said, then ended the call and handed the phone to Facet. He quickly disassembled it and tossed most of the pieces in a bin.
“My apartment was ransacked,” I whispered as worry hit me for Mrs. Aberdeen and the other tenants.
“How the fuck did he know that already? It’s only been hours,” Facet said with a frown. His question had me wondering as well. Ryan made it sound like he was on the East Coast.
“Is there a room I can use? I’d really like to get cleaned up,” I murmured emotionlessly. I had to shut my feelings down before I fell apart.
“Yeah, I’ll take you down there. When you’re ready, I’d like to sit down with you and go over what you have. Maybe we could bounce ideas off each other and get farther. Maybe with both of us we could track down the missing girl and figure out this shit with our client. Two heads might be better than one, yeah?” he asked as he gave me a smile.
“Sure,” I said with a tight smile. “Facet? Was it you that looked into my real hospital records from after the shooting?”
“No, it wasn’t,” he said with a concerned frown. “But I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Thanks,” I said, now more worried than I was before. If it wasn’t Facet who had found my stuff when he was digging into me, who was it?
Facet was showing me into a room at the end of the hall when I caught motion in my periphery.
Lucian stood there with a hand resting on the wall watching me. His expression was blank, so I had no idea what was going through his head.
He needn’t worry about me. As soon as I helped his club with what they needed and ensured no one was after me, I’d be gone.