Aleki just snorted. “We didn’t flirt with her. I’ve never in any way led her on. If she thought there would or could be anything between us then that’s some delusion she has cooked up.”
“Guys, don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Vivi said gently, looking around at the three of them.
Aleki shook his head and turned to Wolfe and Caleb. “We need to protect her better.”
“Fuck yes, we do,” Wolfe added.
“She’s obviously got something wrong with her,” Vivi told them. “We should find her some support or something.”
His soft-hearted baby girl. This is why she needed them. He could see that more clearly now. She’d help everyone if she could. She might have sequestered herself away, but hadn’t she done everything that her father and husband had demanded from her to protect them?
“We need to lock her up somewhere dark and nasty. Then fucking leave her there to rot,” Wolfe said darkly.
“Amen to that,” Aleki added.
“Guys,” she said. She turned to look at Caleb. “Caleb, tell them they’re overreacting.” She stared at Caleb, obviously expecting him to be the voice of reason.
“They are absolutely not overreacting.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Caleb!”
“Once she’s brought in, hold her in interrogation for a while. Let her wait. It will make her nervous and unsure.”
“Caleb!” she said again.
“After we talk to her, we’ll decide what to do.”
“Can’t you just fire her?” she asked, sounding confused.
Aleki shook his head then lifted her into his arms, worried about her standing for so long on her foot. He set her on his hip. Fuck yes. This was where she was meant to be. Right with him.
She stiffened and he thought she was going to demand he put her down. But then she relaxed into him.
“There are laws here in Escana about harming women,” Caleb told her. “All females are well protected. Guarded fiercely. Especially by their harems. Anyone who harms a female, well, their harem has the right to demand a severe punishment. It’s a bit trickier since it’s a woman who attempted to hurt you. And it wasn’t technically in Escana. Although I think the fact that it was the princes’ private airplane and she is their employee means that Escanaian laws apply. She’s lucky she is a woman. She wouldn’t want to suffer the punishment a man would be given.”
“I just don’t want to create any more issues,” she said quietly.
“This isn’t your fault,” Aleki told her gently.
Caleb eyed her then stepped forward to tilt up her chin. “You look tired, jelly bean.”
“She needs a nap,” Wolfe stated.
“I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I already had so much on my mind. Now there’s this. Plus, there’s the funeral tomorrow.”
Caleb cleared his throat. “Tonight.”
“What?” She stiffened.
“The funeral is tonight our time. At ten,” Caleb said gently.
“Let me down, please.”
Aleki reluctantly set her on her feet, holding onto her hips.
“You weren’t going to tell me?” she asked.
“We just did,” Wolfe said.
Uh-oh.
She narrowed her gaze then pointed her finger at Wolfe. “Wolfe Callahan, do not think that you can keep important things from me. I needed to know this.”
“You’re not supposed to be stressing,” Wolfe pointed out.
“I’d rather know what is going on than be kept in the dark and have things sprung on me! Can I watch it? Has my dad made any statements about me? Shit. He has to be looking for me, right?”
“Vivi, calm down,” Caleb told her.
“You can’t keep this stuff from me, Caleb.”
Caleb held his hands up. “Nobody is keeping things from you.”
“I don’t believe you.” She glared up at him.
“Cranky, she needs a nap,” Wolfe commented.
“Grr, I’m not cranky. I don’t need a nap. What I do need is to not have things hidden from me.” Turning, she limped her way out of the door, shutting it behind her.
“Cranky,” Wolfe stated.
Caleb stared after her with narrowed eyes. “She’s probably not wrong.”
They shot their gazes to him. “We didn’t want her to stress, but having things sprung on her is stressful. And we don’t want to make the mistakes of the past. If there’s a threat to her, then she needs to know about it so she can protect herself.”
“But we protect her,” Wolfe stated.
“And what about if we’re not here?” Caleb asked gently.
“Simple,” Wolfe replied. “One of us will always be with her.”
“That’s fine now,” Caleb replied. “But it might not always be possible.”
“Why not?” Wolfe asked.
“Because we work, man,” Aleki reminded him.
“I’ll quit.”
“Wolfe, you can’t just quit.” Caleb gave him an alarmed look. “You’ll go insane not having something to do.”
“I will have something to do. Take care of Genevieve.”
Caleb shook his head. “Much as I want to keep her safe, we can’t smother her. She might want a job, she doesn’t want one of us constantly following her around.”
“Dude, she’d kill you within a week. Guarantee it,” Aleki told him.
Wolfe frowned. “But I’m her favorite.”
Aleki and Caleb shared a look.
“Wolfe, she needs some space. I know you want to take care of her, we all do. But some space is good as well,” Caleb told him. “Have you heard anything from Micah?”
“You know that he tapped her father’s office and his house. Micah overheard him talking to someone, demanding that she be found. He put the funeral off as long as he could. The press is starting to question why it’s taken so long and why they haven’t seen Genevieve. We could send a message to her father, tell him to stop looking?” Wolfe suggested.
Caleb shook his head. “We run the risk of tipping him off as to where she is. And Micah hasn’t noticed him meeting with anyone shady? Anyone who could be our mystery man?”
“No. Says he goes straight from work to home. Other than that conversation, there’s been nothing. The call couldn’t be traced, it was too short and to a blocked number.”
Caleb frowned. “Keep him on the Governor.”
“What do we do about the funeral?” Aleki asked.
“One of Micah’s guys has connections and managed to get a way in,” Wolfe told them.
Caleb looked thoughtful. “Is he going to be wired up?”
“Yeah,” Wolfe replied.
“Right, so she could watch that feed if she wants. I assume her father will make some sort of statement about her lack of presence. I thought he might have made it already but maybe he’s waiting in case they find her. We’ll sit down together tonight and watch it. Aleki, can you contact Micah and set that up? Wolfe can you keep on top of Marilyn?”
They both nodded.
“What are you going to do?” Aleki asked.