Page 67 of Kissed By the Alien
Something isn’t right here. This male’s behavior is nothing like what I expected given how lovingly Lexi spoke of him and his work. I see nothing before me but a callous male more interested in amassing his wealth and keeping it, at any cost, including sacrificing his daughter.
“Do you really think I don’t know when my daughter leaves here? Or where she goes? I have men assigned to follow her when she sneaks out. I know everything there is to know about her, including her hideout that she and that insipid friend of hers, Vivienne, go to in that abandoned office building. I’m the reason that block hasn’t been demolished yet. I bought the entire area, so she’d have her little house to play in.”
“You wish to control her.”
“I’m trying to protect her. If that means employing unusual tactics, then so be it.” He lifts the paper again, offering it to me. “Go ahead, Warrior. Continue your investigation. You’ll see. Within a day or two, Lexi will return home, as she always does.”
“Why would she make it appear as if she’s been kidnapped?”
“Sympathy,” he says so casually. Then he sighs as he puts a fatherly hand on my shoulder and leads me toward the door. “Don’t blame yourself. You’re not the first male to fall for her games, and you won’t be the last. The girl is bright and bored. It’s why she runs off periodically. She needs adventure. It’s her age. She’ll outgrow it eventually, and then I’ll find her a suitable husband.”
The thought of another male mating Lexi has my horns dipping forward. I force them back, before her father thinks I’m challenging him. Though I’d like to. The way he protects Lexi isn’t love. It’s control and power. He doesn’t know her at all, and I question if he even cares about her, beyond being a commodity in his opulent life.
“You can’t control her,” I say. “If you cared about her, you’d give her the freedom she craves and deserves.”
“That’s why I allow her to go off on her adventures. To go to Valentine’s Day balls with alien warriors and hang out with her friend in her little hideout.” His lips curl into a grin. “Yes, I know she’s been seeing you. I have more than security following her. I have friends and associates in many high and low places. So I’ll give you some friendly advice, Warrior. Take the note, talk to my contact, and find your blasters. But leave my daughter to me. She is none of your concern.”
With one swift motion, I stab the note with one of my knives, pinning it to the wood door as I leave the house. “You will not keep me from Lexi. No one will.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
LUTAN
Idon’t understand what’s going on between Lexi and her father, but everything about that conversation put me on edge. Though he came across as relaxed, Mr. Barrington was eager to get rid of me. Too eager, and not because of a call.
I sink into the shadows of the estate and wait. Three hours pass. My horns itch from the shrubbery in which I hide and my legs cramp, but I will remain here until I have the information I came for.
While I wait, two things occur to me. Lexi would not be in danger if I had not indulged my curiosity. Inviting her to that Valentine’s Day ball was selfish of me.
At first, I told myself she might have information that I needed, but I was lying to myself. Everything about her intrigued me, especially her courage and determination. And there was such life to her, refilling the spirit that had been draining out of me since Narzan’s death.
My second realization is that while I want her with all my being, what I want is irrelevant. I’m not good for her, and it is Lexi’s needs and safety which I must put first.
My comm vibrates. A message from Hunzu.
He’s spoken with the local law enforcement for me. None of them has seen or even heard of Moses. Doubtful. Unless they’re completely inept, which I find unlikely. Moses stayed calm in the cells at the embassy. The male has been in prison before. Law enforcement here have to know him. And they’re protecting him. Why?
A noise catches my attention. A car rolls up to the front steps of the mansion and Lexi’s father and two bodyguards climb inside. It appears I’ll finally have the opportunity to stretch my legs.
I will find you, my sholani.
As I trail the car on foot, I repeat the words, hoping that through the will of the gods, she’ll hear me, that she won’t give up despite whatever hell she’s experiencing.
The car turns into a street that looks abandoned. Buildings destroyed in the war litter the car’s path, forcing the vehicle to stop. Barrington exits the car and orders his guards to remain behind while he ventures down a path carved through the rubble.
I skirt the car, staying hidden from the guards’ view. Half-way down the path, Barrington shoves a small white bag, no larger than my hand, under a rock with a red X painted on it.
A ransom drop. The drekker lied to me.
As Barrington turns to leave, a man I know all too well appears.
“Barrington,” Moses calls
They speak, their words too low for me to hear.
Minutes later, Barrington’s back in his car, leaving the area. I settle in behind remnants of a wall and wait for Moses to claim his ransom.
* * *
