“She is not.” Sam leans forward, intently watching my reactions.
“Please tell me you’re doing something to find my friend.” My fingers claw at the leather armrest and my other hand flies to my belly. That queasy-shaky-going-to-get-sick-any-minute sensation returns.
“I can’t divulge anything at this moment.” That must be Sam’s way of telling me not to delve too deep into what they’re doing.
I understand. I’ve done nothing to make them trust me. As far as they know, I might be involved in the whole disgusting business. I try not to react, but it’s hard. I feel vulnerable and helpless.
“Miss Rossi, we need to discuss the problem you present.” Sam taps the leather armrest.
“I’m not comfortable having you call me a problem.” I use finger quotes to emphasize my point.
“The armed security team in pursuit …” Sam cuts straight to it. “What would be their immediate response to your abduction?”
“They’d call my uncle.”
“And then?”
“With the money and resources at my uncle’s command, he won’t stop until he finds me.” A chill runs down my spine. I may very well have led my uncle straight to the Guardians’ front door.
16
LIAM
I say nothing while the others speak with Maria, keeping my own council. There’s something about her, a vulnerability beneath her steely exterior, which intrigues me.
She’s a trooper, strong under pressure, she recovers quickly when out of her element, and she’s incredibly brave.
“That’s what I was afraid of.” Sam exchanges a look with Forest and Skye.
“How did you know who to follow on the roof?” Mitzy pipes up, interrupting Sam. She looks up from her tablet. “I have a feed with you by the elevator. The flash mob was already in progress. It was chaos. How did you get there?”
Yeah, Mitzy Magic created that chaos, which gave us the perfect escape from the Belvedere.
Maria’s gaze cuts to me. I give a nod of support which Maria takes. “I was looking for Sybil …”
She repeats what she told me, how Sybil failed to check in, what Maria did to find her friend, and how that led her to us.
“Where was your security detail?” Sam presses his hands together, holding them in front of his face. “Why weren’t they with you?”
“They only follow me when I leave the Belvedere. When I got on the rooftop elevator, they weren’t able to join me because of the crowd.”
“That explains why they were behind you out on the street.” He nods, putting the picture together in his head.
“I suppose. I don’t pay attention. I rarely do. It’s not my job to keep up with them.” Her mesmerizing gaze jumps from person to person, barely landing on me.
That stoic exterior of hers shows signs of weakening. Her friend is important to her, and Sam isn’t giving her answers.
Which I get.
Right now, Alpha team is somewhere on the Mississippi River attempting to rescue her friend and two others. Anything can happen. Anything can go wrong. He won’t confirm anything until those women are safely in Guardian HRS custody.
“Why are you assigned a security detail?” Forest’s glacial gaze is fierce. His temperament odd.
“For my safety, I suppose.” Maria holds her own against Forest’s barrage of questions.
Forest leans forward, making the leather seat creak. “Since being assigned a security detail, have you ditched your security team before?”
“Sometimes.” Forest’s final question brings a light to Maria’s face, brightening it and making her look even prettier than before.
I’m curious where he’s going with this.
“You mean what did my uncle do?” She blows out a breath. “He was pissed. Said I needed them for my safety. That I was being irresponsible and acting like a child.”
“How is your relationship with your uncle?”
“Why?”
“Please answer.” Forest isn’t as smooth as Sam and CJ with his questions, but that’s a part of his personality. Neurodivergent is one term. High-functioning Asperger’s is another.
Either way, Maria responds better to his line of questioning than she did to CJ’s mini-interrogation.
“My uncle’s always been distant.”
“Why?” Forest presses his point.
“I don’t know.” She puffs out her cheeks and stares at her lap.
“There has to be a reason.”
“I mean nothing to my uncle. No reason why.” Pain threads through her words.
“Your uncle married your mother not too long after your father’s death. He’s your stepfather.” Forest continues his questioning.
“He did, but he’s not my stepfather.” Her arms cross, closing herself in. “At least, we don’t use that term.”
“Don’t you find that odd?” Forest presses his point, whatever that might be.
“Not really.” Maria’s brows scrunch together. “Are you asking if it’s odd I don’t call him stepfather or that he married my mother?”
“That he married your mother?”
“He told my father he would take care of us.” Maria shrugs, like the whole arrangement isn’t as odd, and fucked up, as it appears.
Personally, I find the whole thing somewhat grotesque.
“But marrying your brother’s wife is a few steps beyond simply taking care of you.” Forest drums his fingers on the armrest of the chair.
“I don’t know what you’re looking for.” A hard tone edges into her voice.
“It’s important.” Forest snaps his fingers. “Mitz, I need a deep dive into the Rossi brothers. Anything you can find.”
“On it, boss.” Mitzy’s practically attached to that tablet. She carries it with her everywhere.
“Dig deep.”
“I always do.” Mitzy’s tablet glows as she fires it up.
“Back to your security detail. You have ditched them before?” Forest kicks back, getting comfortable. Sam and CJ haven’t said a word since Forest took over. Skye’s rather quiet.
“Yes.” Maria blows out a breath. “I don’t like them looking over everything I do and reporting it back to my mother and my uncle. I like to go out and not worry about what I do.”
“And you go out with your friend, Sybil?” Forest shifts in his seat, attention fixed solidly on Maria.
“We do everything together.”
“How would you ditch them?”
“Different ways. Sometimes, after work, Sybil and I would decide to go clubbing, or we’d go to the bars in the French Quarter or Market District. It depends really. She’d call for a car or have her friends pick us up. I’d wander out the front of the Belvedere, security detail in tow, then make a break for the car.”
“It’s safe to say ditching your security detail is not that far out of your usual behavior? Is that an accurate statement?”
“I don’t do it all that often, but yes.”
“That’s our answer.” Forest turns to his sister. “And our solution.”