I was glad my sister had taken charge of getting my space in order. I used it as a place to crash after long residency hours, but she’d barged in and announced she was decorating it. We were the closest of our siblings, and I never took her for granted. When Ivan, our Russian mob nemesis, tortured her, it had been some of the darkest moments of my life.
I’d been up for forty-eight hours straight between the hospital shifts and researching Hailey. Soon, I would crash. I had about two hours tops before that happened, and I needed to get to a place with her where I wasn’t worried she would kill me in my sleep.
“Why didn’t you finish at MIT? It’s a great school.”
Silence hung heavily between us until she pushed out a breath. “I was bored. I guess I lacked purpose there. I was skipping classes and partying too much, and the major I was in just didn’t seem like a good fit.”
“Why didn’t you change majors?” I took a large gulp of coffee, praying the caffeine would do its thing.
She snorted. “Okay, boy genius. We’re not all wired like you, knowing what to do with the rest of our lives.”
I chuckled at her ridiculous nickname. “Lots of people don’t know what they want to major in or even what career to choose. But giving up… it seems like a waste unless you’re committed to being a socialite like your mother.”
“Yeah, no.” She gestured to her high-end yoga pants and sweatshirt—which I only knew were designer because my sister had a similar outfit. “That’s not me.”
“Tell me why you did it?”
Her brows furrowed. “Drop out of college? We’ve been over that.”
“Faked the abduction,” I clarified. She worried her lower lip, and I had to fight from fixating on how soft it looked.
As she parted her lips to finally tell me what her reason was, my phone rang. I was on call and had to answer it. She snapped her mouth shut, probably happy for the reprieve. Sandy’s voice came through the speaker, letting me know that Katherine had checked out and my parents had taken her with them to our jet, which would fly them to Italy.
CHAPTER SIX
HAILEY
Icouldn’t look away from Trey. With his phone pressed to his ear, his gaze locked on me. He thanked whomever it was then disconnected the call, a slow, calculating smile curving his lips. The intensity was staggering. So many emotions bombarded me, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to run to him or away. My nerves kicked into high gear as if he could see into me. I was leaning toward running away.
“What was the money going to be used for?”
“The children’s cancer wing,” I blurted. I didn’t know whether I told him out of fear of whatever that look he had on his face meant or if I was in shock from the day’s events.What just happened?
“Huh, okay.” He eased back. “I’m on board with that.”
“Really?” I couldn’t believe it. I rubbed my eyes then blinked a few times. I’d never thought things would go that way. But maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. Sofia always spoke highly of Trey, and blackmailing someone wasn’t above him—he was Mafia, after all.
But I was still wary of him. He had rejected me, after all.
He chugged the rest of his coffee, and I couldn’t help but notice the deep circles under his eyes. My plan to find a way out of the mess wavered. “What will you get out of this deal?”
“A position on the board.” He pushed the mug aside and leaned his elbows on the island.
“Why do you need Allen for that?” I couldn’t believe he didn’t have other contacts who would give him a spot.
Trey chuckled. “I don’t. But can you imagine him having to sponsor me for a chair?”
I wasn’t following. “So you took on his crisis rather than tell him to shove it? He could have gone to the cops. I don’t understand why you got involved. It seems like this is more of a headache for you.”
“It isn’t. I couldn’t pass up a chance to make Allen squirm. And the interesting part was when he said he couldn’t involve the police further was because of his fear of the repercussions if he didn’t meet the ransom demand. I didn’t buy it. Plus, he hates me. I guessed that he was hiding something, and I suspected you were too.”
That surprised me, momentarily distracting me from how close he was and from the way his eyes seemed to reach the deepest part of my soul. My pulse kicked up a notch. His nearness made my train of thought waver and I blurted out my last thought before it was gone. “Why did you think I was hiding something? You said you saw the recording of when I was snatched in front of the hospital and Allen.”
“It was a tiny moment before you were tossed into the van. You hesitated. There was no one else on camera helping your attacker.”
“He could have said something threatening to cause me to stop struggling.”
“That was a possibility. Tell me the real reason you staged your abduction and went after Allen. Why him?”