No one.
I lean in until her cloudy eyes meet mine. “That’s not an option you have, Ruby.”
She leans closer, arthritic fingers lacing in the metal gridwork between us. “What are you gonna do? Kill me?” She snarls. “Because I wish you would.”
It’s a challenge I should meet, especially since Victor has witnessed her open disrespect.
But I’m not in the business of killing old women.
I hold her glare a second longer before standing. “Fine. Suffer then.” When I turn Victor is staring at me. I avoid his shocked gaze as I stuff my hand back into its glove. “Let’s go.”
I’m not happy.
Not with the news of Frederick meeting with the three men most likely to be willing to help his attempt to take me down, and not with the way Ruby behaved in front of Victor.
Victor hasn’t been at my side long enough to understand me the way Sebastian did, so right now there’s a good chance he’s questioning everything.
Including the power I will hold onto until my dying breath.
I fought too hard for it.
Sacrificed too much.
I yank off my glove again and tuck it under one arm as we walk down the narrow alley, making our way back to my waiting car. The light of my phone screen seems much brighter out here in the darkness as I wake it up and tap the number I was able to track down earlier today.
I slow my steps as I wait for the line to connect. I want this conversation to be private.
More private than the one we had yesterday.
I stop when I hear a mechanical voice instead of the ring I’m expecting.
The number you are trying to reach is currently unavai—
I disconnect the call as my anger boils over and rush the final few steps to my waiting car, yanking open the door and slamming it behind me. “Take me to Tremont.”
* * *
I STEPINTO the dim light of Platinum for the second night in a row.
Like last time I went to Duchess’s apartment, the homeless man camped outside the building told me the woman I was searching for was here.
Working.
In spite of the money I know is now in her bank account.
“Mr. Valinov.” The woman with short blonde hair steps in front of me again, her smile just as easy as it was last night.
“I don’t want a private room.” I don’t bother looking at her. She’s not who I came here to find.
“That’s good, because you aren’t allowed to rent one.”
This drags my gaze from the crowd to her still smiling face. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She steps closer, her pleasant expression holding. “You aren’t allowed upstairs until I’m sure you understand the rules that come with privacy.”
What the fuck is going on today?
I lean toward the woman dressed in a fitted suit cut all the way down to her waist. “I don’t believe you understand who it is you’re talking to, Miss….” I want to know her name, so I know who exactly I’m adding to the list of people that don’t seem to recognize where their respect belongs.