She did put something in my purse. It could be her phone number, for all I know. Shit, it could be his phone number. Or it could be something more dangerous, though I can’t imagine what would be more dangerous than hitting on me while my dangerous boyfriend has you trapped in his vault.
He’s not my boyfriend, my brain supplies.
They don’t know that, the same brain argues.
Alessio unlocks one of the safe deposit boxes and pulls it out.
I can’t stand the suspense. I open my purse. A metal piece as long as my finger slips past my phone. I reach for it, but the man clears his throat. I look up, and he sighs dramatically as if bored. Or as if annoyed with me.
“Perhaps we could get some dinner later,” the woman says.
“I’m afraid Lake and I already have plans,” Alessio answers on his way back. He pockets the key the man gave him. “I accept the initial bid.”
“A bid?” The man looks surprised.
Alessio, standing beside me, offers me his hand. I take it and rise because I think we’re leaving.
“Your purse.” The woman pushes it toward me. “It’s lovely. Small. Fits right in your grip.” She squeezes my purse as she hands it to me. I feel like I’m a part of something she’s saying, but not quite. She talks to me as if she knows something I don’t.
“My associate will contact you,” Alessio says.
“You would be wise to reconsider,” Hades says.
“I can’t do that since I already opened the bidding. You’re welcome to join.”
“I already paid for Margaret. I’m not keen on having to pay for her twice.”
“Then you must steal her back.”
The man blinks. “Are you inviting me to try?”
“Certainly. You seem to have infiltrated Margaret’s caretakers, or else you wouldn’t have known that’s what I call her. I invite you to try to take her back. Otherwise, you can bid like everyone else.”
The man licks his lips and then shows Alessio his teeth. “My people are everywhere, Mr. Angelini.”
“If you mean the three of your nationals that are on my island, rest assured that I’ll find them, even if they fled.”
I stiffen. What does he mean by this man’s nationals? Three is a specific number. The woman slipped something into my purse. These two aren’t connected to the three people who ambushed me in the hotel room, are they?
My heart’s pounding wildly now.
I’m sure Alessio notices because he starts to rub my back.
“My country has over seventy million citizens,” Hades says. “Unless you’ve banned my people, they are probably on vacation. I hear your island is paradise.”
“Maybe. Maybe they’re looking to buy a yacht.”
A yacht? People sail on yachts. Didn’t the sadists mention someone sailing and disappearing into the sea? I can’t think right now.
“Do you like yachts, Ms. Wilder?” Hades addresses me for the first time, his gaze intimate, knowing. I am his spy. His.
I swallow because I can’t speak.
“Galden.” Alessio addresses the man. “If you speak with my date again, I will send this dress to your daughter so she can wear it at your funeral.”
The man chuckles as he stares at me, daring Alessio to do something.
If the man opens his mouth again, I’m dead. Alessio won’t forgive me, not after trusting me with his nephew. Alessio dressed me in millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry and clothes. A man, no matter the size of his fortune, would never spend this much money on someone he didn’t care about. If Alessio cares about me, it means he wants a relationship with me, and that pains me because I’m nothing but a liar.
