Page 55 of Tarnished Reign

“Because,” I say, “we know he waived one million dollars in debts owed to him for her.”

“And?” Virgil says.

“She's definitely worth something to him. He was going to sell her to an auction, and that’s when things took a turn. Some guy has requested to buy her directly—no bidding— for two million dollars.”

“Jesus Christ.” Jacob whistles. “I need to see this woman.”

“He has very specific tastes,” I say.

“Specific how?” Virgil asks.

I take out my phone and show my father and Virgil the painting of Snow White reclining. “He wants a woman who looks exactly like this.”

“And does she?” Jacob asks.

“It could be a painting of Adriana herself,” I say.

“How weird.” Jacob scratches his cheek. “Some people are fucking freaky. I mean, the painting is of a beautiful woman, but who becomes obsessed with a picture?”

“Might be the other way around,” I say. “He might have seen Adriana and then the picture. Was obsessed with her first.” I scratch my chin, not liking discussing this in front of Virgil but I have little choice. “I want to move the party up to in a few days, and then I want off that yacht and back here. I need to have more protection for what I want to do.”

“Which is?” Jacob asks.

“I want to show Adriana off. I don’t simply mean on the yacht amongst our kind; I mean at the clubs, in front of the whole city. We will get papped, and she’ll be seen by many people. Maybe some of the people who run the auction will see her, or even this guy. Damen is trying to entrap this dude too, but I want to explore all options and try to flush him out.”

“Does this mean we could end up in a confrontation with this other party?” Virgil says. “This auction group obviously is an extra threat, but also this man might be. If you do as you say and parade this girl around town, it's not only going to infuriate Dorian’s remaining soldiers, but presumably this other person, and we have no idea who he is. Is that correct?”

“That pretty much sums it up,” I say. “At least, if I do this, we can flush him out. Dorian’s crew is a busted flush, and so far the auction cabal have no idea I have Adriana. If they did, I’d have been off that yacht immediately. Damen is monitoring their chatter.”

Virgil and Jacob look at one another, and they have one of those silent conversations with their eyes that longtime colleagues and close family friends sometimes do.

“Do you think we should let her go?” Virgil asks.

He’s speaking to Jacob, but I answer. “Absolutely not. Firstly, I kept her with me on your orders.” I hold my father's gaze. “So now, she's my responsibility. She has nothing. No one. Her own fucking stepmother sold her. I can't just let her go; she would be in danger.”

“So fucking cold,” Jacob says, shaking his head. “To do that to your own.”

“She has no money or identification, and she can't go home. There's no way I'm just dumping her on the streets. If you ask me to do that, you might as well ask me to shoot her in the head.”

“I understand where you're coming from,” Virgil says. “The problem is, we can't start another war on another front while we're dealing with Dorian and the remnants of his gang. Nobody's found Ari yet; he's in the wind. Dorian’s been sitting at the cabin for days. I started to work him over after it was clear you weren’t going to be there anytime soon.”

I glare at him. “It’s been three fucking days, Virgil, and I have already spent some time with him right at the start of this shit.”

He holds his hands up. “Not having a go, my friend. Simply saying Dorian’s not said all that much. He's alive, but by the time you get around to interrogating him, that may have changed.”

“I've been busy on the yacht. How is your daughter? Is she feeling better?”

I don't need to add that the only reason he knows how his daughter is, is because of me. If I hadn't rescued her, she'd still be on that cursed boat.

“She's fine; thank you. You know I appreciate what you did for her and for us. I’d do the same for any of you. This is different, though, Dimitri. This isn't a girl we know. She isn't one of us. I don't see why we can't discuss what would be the best thing for us in this situation. Which may be letting her go.”

“We can discuss it,” I say calmly. “I'm simply stating there is no way I am dropping her onto the streets alone and leaving her. It's not an option.”

“Then I guess we need to figure out exactly who is trying to buy her, don't we?” Jacob takes an easy sip of his whiskey as he regards me. “After all, if we're going to war, we need to know who the enemy is.”

“What's the immediate plan?” Virgil loosens his tie and pulls it away from his collar slightly as he addresses Jacob, freezing me out. “Do you agree with the kid going around town with this girl and being photographed?”

The kid? Fuck him. This kid saved his fucking daughter.

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