“I’m glad I forgot about my tea,” Sierra says, placing her small hand on my thigh while she snuggles in close to me.
“What do you know about her?” I ask, peering into her tired green eyes.
“Not a lot. The manager hired her. She’s a few years younger than me. Degree educated. She was having a hard time getting the hang of the job, but now I’m wondering if that’s because she was a plant with no skills suitable to the position.”
“I will have Phillip pull up everything we can on her. Your father said she wasn’t in the building when he arrived, so she’s most likely on the run already.”
“What about the manager?” Leo asks. “And other staff members? She might not have been acting alone.”
“She’s a stickler for the rules and completely honest,” Sierra explains. “There is no way she is involved with the Russian mafia. The other therapists have all worked at the center for years, and I doubt they are involved either. There were only two other therapists, me, and Lucille in the building yesterday.”
“We will check them all out,” Leo says.
“I want the receptionist found. Alive,” I add.
At least for now.
If I find out she conspired to drug my fiancée, I can’t guarantee her survival. I’m enraged and itching to make someone else pay.
Sierra stiffens against me, and I know she wouldn’t be down for that plan. “I want to talk to her myself,” I say.
“I’m very sorry, Sierra,” Alessandro says.
“It’s not your fault.” She is quick to reassure him, and a surge of jealousy slaps me in the face. I know Sierra isn’t interested in Alessandro like that. They are friends, and I’m being ridiculous. I know I’m acting like a moody possessive teenager, but I can’t help how I feel.
She is mine.
Mine.
“It’s my job to protect you, and accepting drinks from strangers is sloppy,” he tells her. “I know better.”
“You do.” I drill him with a look, but I don’t rip him a new one. Not in front of Sierra. He nods, understanding fully that he messed up. Sierra yawns, and I press a kiss into her hair while maintaining eye contact with Alessandro. “It’s been a long day. Get some rest. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
Both guys stand.
“I want a quick word, Leo,” I say, hauling Sierra to her feet. Leo flops back on the couch while Alessandro walks to the elevator. Gently, I palm Sierra’s uninjured cheek. “Alessandro put your bag in my room already, but if you’d prefer to stay with Rowan or in the other bedroom, that’s your choice.”
She places one hand on my chest, staring me straight in the eye. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
Thank fuck for that because I need to keep her close. To remind myself she’s safe. I nearly lost her today, and it’s put a lot of things into perspective for me. I brush my lips against hers, uncaring that Leo is here. “I will be up in a few minutes.”
“Good night, Leo,” she says, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle another yawn as she walks off.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Leo says, and she smiles before grabbing hold of the glass bannisters. “See you in the morning,” he adds, and she nods. I watch her walk up the stairs and disappear into my room before I reclaim my seat.
A shuddering breath escapes my mouth as I lean forward on my elbows, running one hand through my hair.
“You look beat,” Leo says.
“I am,” I truthfully admit. Lack of sleep is catching up to me. “It’s been one hell of a day.”
“What time do you want to head out tomorrow?”
“Before lunch to beat the traffic, but it will depend on when Rowan and Sierra wake. I don’t want to rush either of them. They’ve had a traumatic day.”
“I’ll ensure everything is ready to go, and I’ll touch base with Phillip first thing.”
I already called my IT guru when we were en route to Chicago and got him to pull up the employee listing for the center. I knew someone who worked there was involved, so Phillip is already looking into everyone. “Call him now and ask him to prioritize Lucille. We need to find her.” Hopefully, Phillip will have background information tomorrow so we can narrow her whereabouts down.
“Consider it done, boss.”
“One other thing. I need you to accelerate finding a property for Saverio and Anais.”
He nods. “I’ll consider it a priority. Until then, why don’t we move them to the west wing of the house?”
The last place I wanted to take Salerno and his daughter was my house, my own personal refuge, but he called in his favor, and I had no choice. He was badly injured in the attack on Vegas and lucky he got out of there with his life. As far as we know, the Russians are still after them. As long as Salerno is alive, their hold on Vegas is not guaranteed, so the threat to his life is considerable. I couldn’t turn him away in his time of need, so Leo drove him, Anais, and a couple of their soldiers—all with blindfolds on—to Greenwich in the dead of night. All the staff has been sworn to secrecy so no one reveals the location.
I had put them in the east wing so Angelo could keep an eye on them while I’m not there during the week, but housing Sierra and Rowan with them is not a good idea. There is no love lost between her and Salerno, and I want him nowhere near my future wife. I haven’t forgotten how much he wanted her.
Having them in my house is not ideal—at all—and it was only meant to be temporary while Salerno healed and we identified a secure house to move them to. Their remaining men are scattered across a few different safe houses, and the plan is to find one large property where they can all regroup and we can plan retaliation.
Now my priorities have changed, and I need to get them out of my house ASAP. Until then, I want them kept far away from Sierra and Rowan. If she knew they were there, she would resist moving in, and I can’t let them fuck this up for me.
“Ask Natalia to make it happen.” I called my sister earlier, and she immediately dropped everything to go to my house. I had a list of things I wanted her to set up for me, and she didn’t hesitate to offer her help.
Leo sees himself out, and I grab a few bottles of water from the refrigerator before switching off the lights and heading upstairs. I set one bottle down on the bedside table in Rowan’s room, kissing his brow and watching his breathing for a few minutes to reassure myself he is okay, before I pad out of the room and into the master suite.
Sierra is already in bed, but she’s not sleeping. She is sitting upright against the headrest tapping out a message on her phone. “Is everything okay?” I ask, tugging my shirt from my pants.
“I’m just updating Esme and Pen. The news is all over Glencoe, and they were worried about me.”
“Don’t tell them about the Greenwich house,” I say, perching on the side of the bed beside her as I unbutton my shirt.
She frowns. “Why not?”
“I don’t want anyone to know you and Rowan are there. As far as family and friends are concerned, you are both living here. Until we figure this out, keeping our location a secret is critical. Besides, no one knows where my house is. I have gone to great lengths to keep it hidden, and I’d like to keep it that way.” I remove my shoes and socks, digging my toes into the soft plush gray carpet.