My mouth goes dry.So it’s Yvette’s fault.Alexandre must have called her last night after I ran away—to vent, to commiserate, maybe even to ask advice. Clearly, she’d come right away, seeing her chance to dig her hooks into him further. But of course, he doesn’t see it like that. He never has—for the brief time I’ve known Alexandre, he’s always been mostly blind to Yvette’s flaws and tolerant of the rest.
“I’m going to call Liam,” Alexandre says calmly. “He’s going to come here, and we’re going to—discuss what’s to be done about this. You will be leaving here with me, Ana,” he adds, his voice cold as he digs his phone out of his pocket, heading to the door to step out into the hallway to make the call.
The last thing I want in the world is to be left alone with Yvette, but that’s exactly what happens.
“Miserable little bitch,” she hisses. “I should have shot you.”
“I’d hoped you were dead,” I snap back, my fear momentarily turning to anger and bubbling up. “I wanted Liam to kill you. You’re poison to Alexandre, you—”
I don’t see the slap coming. Yvette’s hand cracks sharply across my cheek, burning as my head snaps to one side. “He’s never going to love you,” I spit out, gritting my teeth against the bloom of pain and forcing myself to look directly at her. “Never—”
This time the slap comes from the other side, wrenching my neck to the left, my face now nothing but stinging heat. “Littlecunt,” Yvette hisses. “Chien—”
“Stop!Non,Yvette.” Alexandre’s voice is sharp and commanding when he steps back into the room, and even Yvette draws back, her hand dropping to her side. “I told you she wasn’t to be harmed.”
Yvette frowns, but steps back.
“Did you call Liam?” I whisper in a small voice, and Alexandre nods.
“He is on his way. When he arrives, we will deal with all of this then.”
Fear snakes its way down my spine, cold and icy. “Don’t hurt him, Alexandre, please! Whatever you want from me, I’ll do it. Just don’t hurt Liam—”
Alexandre says nothing, only turns away from me, watching the door with his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw set. On the other side of the room, Yvette is wearing a triumphant smile, and I can feel my heart sinking to my toes.
I’m almost certain Liam is walking into a trap.
And there’s nothing I can do.
FOURTEEN
LIAM
ALEXANDRE HAS ANA.
The fear I felt when I heard his voice was sharp and immediate, chilling me to the bone. He hadn’t sounded angry, but somehow that felt even more terrifying, as if the calm, cold tone meant something far more ominous. Anger and passion I could deal with, but if he’s ceased to care about Ana, if all he wants is his revenge on us both, that’s a far more dangerous situation.
I was walking out of the drugstore when he called. Now, with the phone clutched in one hand and the bag holding Ana’s pregnancy tests in the other, I’m standing at the curb in the warm early summer air, feeling a dark sense of dread growing until it nearly overwhelms me.
I’m in such a daze that it takes me a second to realize that my driver has pulled up to the curb. He steps out, his wrinkled brow creased as he peers over the top of the car at me. “Mr. McGregor, is everything alright?”
I blink, snapping out of the fugue that Alexandre’s call had left me in. “Yes. Just a slight change in plans, Ralph. I have another stop to make.”
“Of course, sir.”
I give him the name of Alexandre’s hotel, leaning back against the cool leather of my seat and closing my eyes as Ralph pulls out into traffic. My heart is hammering in my chest. Every second that ticks by reminds me of the hours and days and weeks that I’d worried over Ana, trying to find her, wondering what was happening to her while I was searching. Now Alexandre has her again, and my imagination runs to all the worst places as the car stops in the lunchtime Boston traffic, again and again, panic rising into my throat in a hard lump.
“Can we get there any faster, Ralph?” I lean forward, looking at the gridlock ahead of us, and Ralph glances up, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“Going as fast as I can, sir.”
Shit.I grit my teeth, forcing myself to remain as calm as I can all the way until we’re two blocks from the hotel. When the traffic slows to a dead halt again, I can’t take it any longer.
“Stay in the area, Ralph. I’ll call you if I need you.”
Before he can ask unnecessary questions or protest, I’m out of the car, still clutching the bag as I start to jog the two blocks to the hotel, dodging passersby as I go. It’s not overly hot out yet, but my button-down is still clinging to me with sweat by the time I reach the doors to the lobby, and I’m faintly out of breath.
Clearly, I need to swap out some of my weightlifting for cardio.