I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could take. “That wasyou?”
“I was going there to ask him for it,” she said, clipped and annoyed, “butyouwere there—and then that other guy arrived, your bodyguard or whatever? Why doyouneed a bodyguard? Anyway, when I originally gave it to Nate, he didn’t want to take it. So I told him to hand it toyouif he didn’t hear back from me for a while. Then I heard Nate yelling as you drove off that I owed him cash, so I thought he must’ve gotten tired of waiting for me to turn up and gave it to you.”
“So then you tried to search my rooms,” I finished. The fact that she’d been puttingmein danger too hadn’t seemed to occur to her. Or maybe she just didn’t care. “Why didn’t you just ask the staff to let you in when the code failed?”
“Becauseno onewas supposed to know where she was,” Dad snapped, seizing Annie by the arm. “It’s time, Anaïs. Say goodbye to your brother.”
Annie gave me a half-hug that I did not return. “Try not to worry about me too much,” she whispered in my ear. She released me, and then said thoughtfully, “Wait, sodoesNate still have the necklace?”
“Nate doesn’t have it,” said a new voice from the door, making both of us jump. “But I know who does.”
CHAPTER52
MILLER
“JJ,”I breathed, and then I flew at him. He lifted me bodily with one arm, hugging me. In his other hand, he held his gun. “JJ,” I whispered, “I’m sosorry.”
“I’ve got you, Trouble,” he said in my ear, steady and sure, and hugged me tighter. “It’s all going to be okay.”
“Anaïs, get over here,” my father said coldly, backing up. “That man is a Castellani.”
Annie jerked back a few feet, but looked warily between me and my father. Jack set me down on my feet and pushed me a little behind him, but let me keep hold of his arm. Only then did I realize he was wearing leather pants and a long-sleeved black tee.
He hadneverbeen more attractive to me than he was at that moment. Probably it was a combo of the outfitandthe fact that he was there to save my life. Apparently deep relief was an aphrodisiac.
“You’re Edgar Beaumont,” he said to my father. It wasn’t a question. Then he looked at Annie. “And you must be the woman who caused all of these problems.”
For the first time, in the flickering flashlights of three phones, I saw a glimpse of the old Annie: arrogant, confident, self-assured. “I’mnot the one causing problems. This is all Roxy’s fault. Roxy and that sleazy boyfriend of hers. Who the hell are you, anyway?”
“I’m the guy who’s going to get you out of here alive.” On his bicep, my hand gave an involuntary squeeze. He half-turned and dropped his voice so only I could hear him. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’ll be okay.”
My father flashed his phone light full on JJ’s face. “Get out of here or I’ll call security.”
“Your security people are incapacitated,” Jack said, just as calm as he had been from the second he showed up. “And the man I had watching over Miller is busy looking after the ones who are still alive.”
My father’s hand was shaking. I could tell because the light he was shining into Jack’s face was shaking, too. “You killed the guards?” he whispered.
“No,” Jack said, with more patience than I would have been capable of myself, “Ifoundthem. Like I said, my friend managed tosavea few of them, and he’s getting help for them right now.”
“Notofficialhelp, I take it,” Dad said with a soft, bitter laugh.
“You want your daughter’s face all over the next news update?” Jack asked. “Go ahead and call 911.” He turned to Annie. “As for you, young lady: I found the necklace you stole from Ciro Castellani. I returned it to him earlier this evening. But unfortunately for you, he’s not a forgiving man. He’s sent three of his second-best men to eliminate you tonight, for being so disrespectful.”
“Oh, my God!” Annie squeaked. “Wait—secondbest?” She sounded almost offended.
“That’s right,” Jack said. “Because his best is otherwise occupied inprotectingyou.” He reached up to pat my hand where I was still clutching at his arm. “So like I said, my Boss sent three guys. I already took care of one, who was waiting in front of the house. But there are two more, and they’ve split up inside the house. Do what I say and you’ll live through this.”
“No one is goinganywherewith you,” Dad spat.
“Well,Isure as fuck am,” I said at once. “If people are coming for us, JJ’s the only one I—”
A loud smash sounded downstairs, followed a few seconds later by another rolling boom of thunder. I could see my father and Annie imagining the same thing I was: the large vase in the foyer had been bumped off its pedestal and shattered on the marble floor. Someone must have knocked it over in the dark.
We had minutes, at best, before we’d be cornered in the study. Probably the only things that had kept us alive so far were the myriad halls and staircases throughout the house, and the noise of the storm outside covering our argument here in the study.
Jack pulled me out into the hallway, keeping me behind him, his gun high and steady. “Lights off,” he snapped, and we all turned off our phone flashlights.
From the study, I heard Annie’s nervous whisper. “Daddy, maybe we should do what this guy says? Or we could call the police—”
