“Well, I’ve been driving for like an hour, so I need a break.” Celeste pressed her hand against my back and started pushing me toward the safehouse’s front door. “And you really should offer me a drink. Looks like you could use one, too. You’re vibrating like a hummingbird.”
I didn’t fight her gentle push or reply to her words. She was right. With a ragged breath, I felt my pulse flutter behind my ears. A drink might help settle me, help me think more clearly, more rationally. Fear and panic forced you to act on emotion, instinct. I couldn’t afford to be that sloppy now.
“Interesting decor,” Celeste said after we stepped through the door.
She used ‘interesting’ as an insult. Her nose scrunched with the word as her narrowed eyes took in the room. Everything from the ornately carved lacquered folding screen with a mountain scene painted on it to the bamboo plants and liberal use of red had been designed for the previous owner to replicate his home in China. It wouldn’t fit Celeste’s tastes.
“It used to belong to a Triad captain,” I replied offhand, almost without thought. My mind remained elsewhere, trying to quiet that storm of bees.
“No wonder we couldn’t find you,” Celeste muttered, nodding at her own words.
“You were looking for me?” My feet stopped propelling me forward.
“Of course we were, at least since yesterday,” she answered without hesitation. Her hand patted my back, rubbing a soothing circle. “My father came home after meeting with Dimitri, showing him the evidence that his uncle was the one who sent the man after you, after us.”
She shivered and the hand on my back slipped to the side. Her one-armed hug bent me into her. I twisted and held her close, a lifeline against the anxiety and fear. And now guilt. I’d been just about to second guess her when she’d been looking out for me.
“Hey, it will be okay,” she whispered, offering a squeeze. “Why don’t you go get us a couple of drinks? You can’t deny you’d feel better with one. I’d get them myself but I don’t know this place.”
“It’s too early, but I think you’re right,” I admitted as I pulled away from her. “I’ve got wine in the kitchen. I’ll go get some.”
Almost on autopilot, I walked through the safehouse to the kitchen. After I poured two glasses, I upended my own before even corking the bottle. In two gulps, I emptied the glass. Once full again, I corked the bottle and grabbed both glasses.
I’d only sip from this one. A hit of alcohol might keep me calm; too much and I’d get sloppy. Returning to the living room, I held a glass out to Celeste. Only then did I notice the small silver pistol occupying her hand. She aimed it at me.
“What the hell?” I stammered.
“Don’t move, Olivia,” she replied. “Not a fucking inch.”
That panic attack I’d seen coming rumbled ever closer. The wine glasses almost slipped out of my hands. That inner voice that had been praising Dimitri, arguing his innocence would have smugly celebrated had the pistol not been pointed my way.
“And my father was worried you’d never fall for it,” she snorted a laugh. “After hearing you talk about your soon-to-be husband when we dress shopped, I knew it would only take a simple push to get you thinking that Russian bastard had betrayed you.”
I glared at the woman with the same rage-filled look I’d offered Dimitri when I’d learned about my father’s plan. The only thing worse than being beaten was when you tasted the sting of defeat at the hands of an inferior player. I was smarter than Celeste. I should have seen it coming.
“Oh, you don’t even have a response, do you?” Celeste mocked. “No wonder your father married you off to him instead of letting you take control. You wouldn’t have been able to handle the men, not like my father will once we get rid of you and the Russian.”
My lips curled into a smile, destroying my severe expression. The wine I’d gulped down a few moments ago might have played a part in that, but then I remembered the conversation I’d had with Dimitri last night when we’d been in bed. He promised to do everything and anything he could to protect me.
I might have doubted him, thought he betrayed me just a moment ago, but with Celeste’s true nature revealed, I understood how wrong I’d been. Dimitri would come for me. A cackle escaped my lips.
“My father chose Dimitri for a reason,” I spat, stifling another crazed laugh. “He’s a lot smarter than you know. You might have tricked me, but he’ll come for me. You aren’t going to like what happens then.”
17
Dimitri
Ifollowed Donnie out of the bistro when the meeting finished. As much as I wanted to find out what had happened to our hijacked shipment, the prospect of heading into the swamp to our smuggling camp had me bristling. I wanted to be back at the safehouse with Olivia, especially after I gave in and had my security team move back.
It wasn’t like I was Sherlock Holmes or anything. Examining the scene wouldn’t help me divine the true culprits. Donnie could send any surveillance footage we had to my computer. This was the 21st century. With tech, I could investigate the problem from home.
“Donnie, hold up a sec,” I said before we reached his car, “I want you to send me any surveillance we have from last night. If you find out anything else from the men who were there, send that too. I’ve got something else I need to take care of.”
“Okay boss,” he replied with a frown, eyes narrowed, brows pinched.
“I trust you to look into this, find out everything I need,” I reassured him. Hopefully it would erase his doubt.
“I’ll do my best,” he nodded, enthusiasm returning.
