Page 37 of Devilish Prince

When movement outside the window catches my eye I turn my eyes that direction. It’s a crow, perched on the deck railing, staring right at me. The beady eyed bird’s head tilts and angles, but its eyes stay fixed on me. The omen of death is enough to make me reach up and snap the blinds shut, but even with my movement the bird stays in place. He’s out there staring at the window and I am in this damn bath shaking, scared of a ghost.

“You’re safe here, Sofi… Try to breathe. He can’t get to you if he doesn’t know where you are.” I set my phone down and try to relax again, but that part of this bath is ruined. Now I have tomake a plan. I can’t stay here forever and if he comes looking, he’s going to find me. I have to get away for real, before anyone else I love gets hurt.

24

LORENZO

Iconsider myself a patient man but I’m done with patience, and mercy, and second chances. Kline and Baker stand in front of me while I sit at the head of the conference room table on the fourth floor of Bellevue Hospital, overlooking the great city of New York. The Hudson Bay shimmers in the sunlight, leaving rippling fingers of light on the ceiling overhead. Kline is obstinate, glaring at me with fury. But Baker is weak, wringing his hands in fear next to the older, wiser man.

“I’ve been more than generous with this place. My donations have gone unnoticed.” I press a finger into the mahogany table and lean my head to the side. “You have no surgical chair. You have no specialized trauma surgeon. You have no fucking clue where she is!” My voice rises in tone and volume with each sentence. I look at Lord, my new right-hand man, promoted when Norman had his little accident.

Lord rolls his neck, cracking it loudly. The door is locked, the blinds to the rest of the hospital closed off so no one can see us, but they can definitely hear. I’m not worried. Kline and Bakerare going to tell me what I need to know and then I’m going to leave peacefully.

“Where is our good doctor?” I splay my palm on the table and purse my lips, waiting for a response.

“Carter is in the wind. She requested a leave of absence.” Kline acts like he’s not intimidated, but I see fear in his body. It shows up in the vein throbbing on his forehead, the sweat beading across his upper lip. I’ll never break him, but Baker? Child’s play.

I nod at Lord who moves swiftly, gripping Baker by the back of the neck and slamming his face forward until it smashes into the table. He shouts and comes up with blood gushing from his nose, both hands scrambling to cover it.

“Holy fuck, man,” he whimpers and Kline shifts nervously on his feet.

“Maybe Mr. Baker here knows where she is…” I sit straight up, both feet planted firmly on the floor and nod at Lord again.

“Mr. Gatti, I assure you neither of us knows where Dr. Carter is. We were only told she is taking time off.” Kline adjusts his tie and Lord snatches it from his hand, sliding the knot all the way up to his neck so tight he gasps and grips Lord’s wrists. “Please, we don’t know.”

“Mr. Baker, please tell me where Dr. Carter is.” I stand, watching as Lord tightens the knot around Kline’s neck. The man gasps and claws at Lord’s grasp as his face turns red.

“I don’t know, man. Please, stop this…” Baker has his face covered, blood running down his arms and ripping from his elbows. “Let him go.”

Lord watches me for direction and I nod at him. He pinches harder, tightening the knot further. Kline drops to his knees, letting guttural gasps for air escape. His face is so red it’s comical, like a cartoon character whose eyes are bulging.

“Looks like Kline needs a little help, Baker.” I tap my finger on the top of the table and turn my gaze on him.

“Listen, we honestly don’t know. Sofi said she wants her brother to go through with the trial in July and I offered to help. Besides that, I know nothing. Jen will know. She’ll tell you where Sofi is.” Baker squeals like a fucking pig and I nod again at Lord who lets Kline fall to the ground in a heap, sucking in air like it’s a line of snow off the table.

“Thank you for the information gentlemen. We’ll be going now.” We walk toward the door and I look back over my shoulder at Baker. “Where will I find this Jen?”

“Second floor… doctor’s lounge.” Baker uses his sleeve to dab his nose and I’m certain we’ve made our point.

I follow Lord to the elevators and then toward the doctor’s lounge. The signs point us in the right direction, but before we even get there we are met with a flurry of activity. A woman with fear in her brown eyes ducks her head and stares at her phone, rushing past us toward the exit. There is a door directly into the parking garage at the end of this floor. I know because I’ve seen it myself on the surveillance footage from the day Sofia was attacked near her car. That has to be Jen, and she has to have been warned by Baker.

“This way,” I growl at Lord and he turns to follow me this time. We walk faster, trying to match her pace, but she glances over her shoulder and takes off running. “Fuck.” I gesture at Lord andwe take chase. Doctors and nurses stare at us as we pursue her out the door of the hospital into the heat of the June temps.

Jen weaves through cars and vanishes for a second. I think she’s climbing into a car but I hear no doors shut. So I stop and let Lord continue the chase. Trying to calm my breath, I lean against a parked SUV and listen. I hear his footsteps and the engine of a car somewhere in the garage on another level. Then I hear whimpering. She’s close.

Walking silently, I creep forward, checking between cars as I go. When I get to a large panel van, I stop and look beneath it. I see a woman’s feet there on the other side and know I’ve got her. Lord is off somewhere, so it’s just me for now.

I pull the gun out of my waistband, and hold it in front of me as I swing around the van and point it at her. I have no need to use it if she responds the correct way but if she resists me, she’ll learn as quickly as Dr. Kline how she shouldn’t cross me.

“Please, don’t shoot!” Jen cowers, holding hands up in front of herself. She drops her cell phone and her arms shake. Large tears stream down her face smearing her mascara as I jerk the tip of my gun upward.

“Come here.” I remain there by the van, just out of sight of the cameras. If Kline knows what’s good for him he’ll have security erase this footage.

Jen moves forward, no cell phone, no bag, no car keys. The only thing she has is her stethoscope draped around her neck but off balance. It teeters on the edge of sliding off and she quivers in fear as she moves closer to me.

“Please, don’t hurt me. Sofi just wanted out. She’s scared.” She sniffles and blinks out more tears and as soon as she’s closeenough, I grab her wrist and pull her into me putting the gun into her rib cage.

“Hands down,” I tell her, hooking an arm around her side. She complies, glancing at her phone on the ground behind her. “Walk with me nice and steady now and you won’t be hurt.”

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