Page 26 of Miles

11

Miles

“Two cars,”she whispered as we hurried down the hall. “Mom’s in her office, monitoring the security feeds. Klaus and a few of the others are on their way. Gate, Alan and Tamhas are waiting out front.”

“Damn it. We were too late.”

For what, I didn’t know. To anticipate what Davison might do. To get her out of there in case he decided to tear the place apart, brick by brick. Not that Mary would ever allow that, but she didn’t need a new war to fight. There was already enough of that in her life.

“You’d better go in with your mother,” I advised Martina. “Or make sure none of the girls come out.”

“I will.”

She hung back while I continued across the lobby and out the door to join Gate and the rest.

I got there just in time to watch two long, black cars glide down the wide, gravel driveway and into the circle which surrounded a grand, marble fountain. Gate shot me a knowing look, which I returned. We both knew what was at stake in this.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and the dragon waited, watching, ready to burst out and wreak havoc at the slightest sign of danger. Not just to myself—I could deal with that—but to her.

What if he tried to take her back? What was she trying to tell me before Martina came in? Something terrible had to happen to push her as far as she’d gone. She’d lied because she was afraid of being sent back to him. When I thought of that and the photos in that file of Mary’s, I could understand why.

The lead car stopped first, the doors opening.

Three men in black suits stepped out, scanning the area from behind dark sunglasses. Did he need this much protection? Probably, considering the things he’d done and how many enemies he had. His wife had learned about that the hard way.

One of them men opened the back door to the second car, and a tall, thin man stepped out. In contrast to his men, he wore a white suit.

And he was much too young to be Richard Davison. A representative? Perhaps a man as powerful as him didn’t have the time to fetch his things in-person.

He approached us, peeling off his sunglasses to reveal eyes which at first glance reminded me of cold, lifeless marbles. He looked us up and down, then took in his surroundings.

The way his mouth curled up into a slight sneer told me all I needed to know about his opinion.

“Good afternoon. I’m looking for a young woman who went missing several days ago.”

I looked at Gate, who looked at the others.

We shrugged.

“This resort isn’t open for business, you see,” I explained, the lie rolling easily off my tongue. For the first time, I felt comfortable while making up a story. “We’re performing renovations at the moment. The only people here are people we know.”

He looked around again, the sneer on his thin mouth spreading.

I detested him, the rattlesnake.

My dragon stood on-guard, all instincts warning me to keep my distance. Whoever this guy was, he was bad news.

“In a place as big as this, you don’t think it possible to lose track of a young woman?”

“Who is this young woman, exactly?” Gate asked, positioning himself between us. “So we know who to keep an eye out for.”

Our visitor waited for a beat, holding my gaze in a steel grip before turning his attention to Gate. “My fiancée, to be exact.”

Disgust hit me like a ton of bricks, threatening to crush me under the weight.

Don’t show it, don’t show it.

My hands curled into fists, something I could only hope wasn’t noticeable.

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