“I don’t remember what I said. My uncle orders them to watch over me. They don’t work for me.”
“Watch over? Not protect?” CJ’s mouth twitches. He doesn’t believe me.
“They’re there to make sure I don’t go where I shouldn’t.”
“And where is that?” CJ keeps his voice low and controlled, encouraging me to speak freely.
“The twenty-fifth floor for one thing.” The moment I blurt that out, I regret it.
“Oddly specific.” Liam’s fingers sweep across my shoulder, sending a flurry of chills fluttering down my back.
“What’s special about that floor?” CJ leans forward.
“It’s where my uncle conducts his business.”
“Such as abducting women?” Liam’s voice turns back into that threatening growl.
“Evidently.” I don’t care one bit that my reply is flippant as shit. “Welcome to my shitty life.”
Was my father involved? Or is it only Marco?
My dad was the best dad in the world. Sure, he didn’t let me pursue frivolous things. His words. Not mine. He wanted a son. Got me instead. He groomed me to take over the Belvedere. Why would he do that if he was a monster involved in human trafficking?
Have I been a fool my entire life?
“Miss Rossi, I’d like to know why you were watching that room.” CJ’s voice snaps me back to the present.
“Why?”
“Correct.”
We’re in a stable of sorts, painstakingly maintained. The air is damp, full of musty smells. My mind conjures images of horses stamping in stalls to my right and grand carriages getting ready to take out the master of the house.
“Because of Sybil.”
“Your friend?” Elbows on knees, CJ clasps his hands and props his chin on the tips of his fingers.
“My best friend.” These men need to understand what Sybil means to me.
“Why did you think Sybil Niles was in that room?” CJ wants an answer, and I’m okay with giving one.
My heart tells me any chance I have of getting Sybil back rests with these people. I’m not sure why I trust my gut on this, considering how epically it’s failed me in the past, but I go out on a limb. I’ll do whatever it takes to rescue Sybil.
“Tonight was our annual charity auction. Sybil, along with our other interns, was getting auctioned off. The last time I saw, or spoke, to her, she was heading to the spa, along with all the other interns as our treat. When she didn’t answer my texts, I got worried. When she was a no show for the Gala, I went looking.”
“And what did that entail?” Liam, who’s been quiet for a spell, chimes in. There goes that voice of his, melodious, multi-tonal, rich, and layered with all kinds of heavenly hotness.
I shake free of the spell he seems to have over me and think back to what was going through my head earlier today.
It feels like Sybil’s been missing for weeks.
CJ lowers both his hands and rests them in his lap. His sympathy is almost too much. It’s real. Not imagined. Not made up.
When I fail to say anything further, CJ clears his throat.
“Miss Rossi, this whole situation is as unusual for us as it is for you.”
“Enlighten me.” There’s a shift in the conversation, a sense of wrongness being righted.
“Our mission was to rescue those women. Your security detail was closing in. We didn’t know if they were after you, or after the women we rescued.” CJ leans back.
His gaze shifts to Liam, the man I feel all the way down to my bones. The one man who stands out from all the others. And it’s not because of his Hollywood-heartthrob looks. It’s in the way Liam looks at me, like I’m some tasty morsel he can’t wait to devour.
“I’m not certain of anything anymore. Maybe they followed me, or maybe they were after you. I just don’t know.” My shoulders slump, defeated and overwhelmed. At lunch, life was good; happy and bright, full of so much promise. Less than ten hours later, it’s all gone to shit.
Liam removes his hands from my shoulders and takes a step back.
CJ stands and presses out the wrinkles in his slacks. “I’d like to continue this conversation in more comfortable surroundings. I’d appreciate it if you would join us as our guest.”
Their guest?
CJ’s smile is genuine. It’s the kind you get from long-lost friends happy to see you after too much time spent apart. Friends who are thrilled to have you once again in their lives.
But I’m a stranger to this man.
I sense great warmth beneath his stony exterior.
Compassion.
He’s the kind of man who takes all the broken pieces and puts them together again. Not because you asked, but because he’s compelled to help.
I try to clear my throat, but there’s a lump filled with sadness and tears. A cough fails to dislodge it. A swallow only settles it firmly in place. I sniff to push back the sadness welling up from deep within me and one lonely tear trickles down my cheek.
“Your guest?” I croak out a weak reply.
How did I go from prisoner to guest in the span of a heartbeat?
“Yes.” There’s no lie on his lips. No duplicity in his eyes. Only kindness shines from his face. It makes me believe he truly wants to make the world a better place. “Sometimes, it’s necessary to extend a bit of trust. I’m willing to do that for you, and hope you consider doing the same.”
“A guest means I’m free to go if I want. Right?”
“If you decide to leave, no one will stop you.” CJ gestures to Liam.
Liam moves around to stand directly in front of me. “If you want to go back, I’ll take you.” His head tilts to the side, assessing, judging, peeling me apart layer by layer. “But if I do that, we won’t be able to update you about your friend.”
“Sybil?” My heart leaps to my throat. “What do you know about Sybil?”
Liam does something that completely wrecks me. He reaches out and cups my cheek with his hand. The rough pad of his thumb brushes against my cheek where that single, lonely tear dares to slip past my restraint and reveal my sorrow.
“I’ll be in the library with the team.” CJ walks past us, headed to a door, which leads out of this place.
Something releases in my throat. Tension drains out of me, and it takes my fear with it.
“You’re not the enemy, are you?” I blink to clear my vision and force the tears away.
“Not in this life nor the next.”
Liam intrigues me. I might stick around if only to spend more time trying to figure him out.
14
LIAM
There’s something about Maria. She’s resilient and tough under pressure. That kind of strength is admirable.
“What do you know about Sybil?” She clears her throat and bunches her fingers, curling them into tiny fists.
“CJ and the others will tell you what they can about your friend.”
“Why won’t you tell me about Sybil?” Frustration bleeds through her expression. “You know something.”
“What I know isn’t of value to you.”
It’s the truth.