Page 44 of Dauntless

I chewed on my bottom lip. I didn’t have a good argument against that. “I know, but I’m okay now. I don’t know why you’re so upset.”

“You don’t?” He clasped the sides of my face. His pale blue gaze bore into me with such a raw intensity that it stole my breath. “Did you stop to think how I felt when I couldn’t find you?”

The look he gave me was full of emotion and my heart constricted. My awareness of the cars and people around faded. There was only the two of us.

My blood pounded hard enough that I could hear it in my ears as I trembled in his hands unsure how to answer, not that I didn’t have one to give. Putting myself in his shoes, I know that if I couldn’t find him and he was in danger, it would’ve been pure agony. “I know you must’ve felt awful…”

“Awful?” he repeated, his tone sharp. “Awful isn’t a fraction of all I’d feel if something had happened to you. I’m telling you now, from here on out, you don’t go off on your own or try to put yourself in danger again. Are we clear?”

Every corner of the space of my heart filled up with the raw honesty and strength of his emotions. I had tried hard to keep myself open, but I realized now I’d been closed. I shared myself, but I had kept a part of me back out of fear of losing Elliott or Dane if I was honest about my true feelings. I didn’t want to lose Elliott. I liked and cared for them both, a lot, but there was only one that was I falling for. But was he ready to hear it from me?

My breath quickened as my heart pounded. Our gazes locked together in a moment that neither one of us were willing to move on our own.

“Elliott, Gia, we should be going back inside if we are returning to the dinner,” Tove's voice broke the moment apart.

“Yes,” Elliott said and placed his hand low on my back. “Let’s get you back inside.”

We had only made it to the entrance when Elliott received a call.

My missing phone. I needed to find it.

We stood in the breezeway of the hotel and waited. When he finished the call, he told us, “That was Dane. He asked if I can come by. He said it’s important. I’ll drop you off at the hotel I had planned for us to stay in tonight… I arranged it as a surprise for you.” He gave Tove the address of the Waldorf Astoria.

A surprise indeed, but there was something else I remembered I needed for him to know. “I overheard Angel speaking with Walter Prescott.”

His eyes widened, and I quickly related what I thought were the highlights of their conversation in the bathroom.

“Fuck,” Elliott said when I finished. “We checked Walter out in the beginning and found nothing. He and Dane don’t speak, so it surprises me that Angel was seeing him, but then she loved to go to the extreme. From what we’ve uncovered so far from the passports we found at Vincent’s, Angel lived under different names and have never been in one place for long until recently. We’re still looking for Dimitri, who we believe had Angel last. We believe he was the one to cause the most permanent, physical damage.”

“Angel said she killed him when I spoke with her in the hospital,” I reminded him.

“Or he made her think that to avoid capture,” Elliott replied. “I’m not letting any of these assholes get away on a word. I’ll believe it when I see a body. I know Dane doesn’t want you to come over with me right now, but I’d like you to come. I’ll take the heat.”

“I think I should be there too,” I agreed. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but Dane needed support, and I was going to be there for him whether he wanted me to be or not.

***

After returning to the bathroom, I found my phone with a cracked screen. I cursed. Can I ever catch a break? Elliott sympathized with me, but we both agreed fixing my mobile would have to wait for later. We headed directly to Dane’s home on the Upper East Side from Bryant Park in Midtown. The door opened before we could even ring the bell. It was Dane, and he immediately stepped in front of Elliott. “Why did you bring Gia? I specifically asked you not to.” Dane’s tone was harsh, and I would’ve been offended had it not been for the stricken expression on his face.

I was cautious when I answered him. “I asked to come. I wanted to support you.”

“I don’t need support,” he jerked his hand through his hair. “I needed to talk to Elliott as an FBI Agent so he could help me with something involving Angel’s kidnapping.” He turned away from me.

I pulled back slightly. Did he know of Walter’s involvement with Angel? Had Angel told him what I’d overheard in the restroom? Whatever his reason, he didn’t want me here. “I’ll go.”

“It was my call,” Elliott said placing his hand on my lower back. “You want something official, I’ll call Trish to come over too. Kevin is on his way over to relieve Tove for security of Gia. When he gets here, he’ll take Gia to the hotel—over and done. I can see you’re upset. I brought her because she wanted to help you.”

“I’m not sure I can be helped,” Dane murmured gravely. “Never mind me, Gia. My father is here and has been talking nonsense. Something serious has come up, and I didn’t want you involved or to see me like this.” He swung the door wide. “Just… come in.”

“I’ll stay out of the way,” I said warily, and we followed him through the entrance. “You can meet with Elliott privately. I’ll just go upstairs and collect the things I left.”

I hadn’t brought or left much here, but I didn’t know how welcome I’d be later. If I were to stay in New York longer, I’d have to consider my own place anyway. I needed to tell myself that to soothe the feeling building up inside of me. I felt rejected.

“Gia, wait,” Dane said, then turned to Elliott. “I’ll be right there.”

Elliott walked on with his phone out, and Dane followed me up the stairs.

“This is serious… well, it could be,” Dane tried to explain his voice gravelly. “I don’t want him here, and it takes all my energy to deal with him. I don’t want you to think I’m being rude to you, but I’m unable to divide my attention right now.”

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