I frown at him. 'About?'
'You asked me to find out about that reporter, the one you gave information to at the Heath.'
'Yeah,' I say. 'Has she published something?'
'No. Chéri… I’m afraid she is dead. Natalie Mason was found floating in the Thames just last week. I have someone looking into it for me, but the authorities say it was suicide.’
‘She was going to expose The Heath,’ I say. ‘Why would she have killed herself?’
Sauvage shrugs. ‘Perhaps she carried sadness, and it became too heavy for her to bear. Or, perhaps, she was killed for what she was going to tell. I will have my contacts find out what they can. Perhaps there is a place where she kept her evidence. If there is, they will find it.'
I sink down onto the other chair in front of him.
'What if she’s dead because I gave her those documents?’
‘She was at The Heath already. You did not seek her out, chéri. If there was danger, she must have known of it, or else why would she have been at the clinic undercover?’
‘I guess,’ I murmur despondently.
'What is your plan for this evening?' Sauvage asks, changing the subject.
'Nothing,' I sigh. 'I was just informed that my new guardian is Andrew Novelle, and he wants me to marryMarcus Banderville.' I shake my head. 'I need to get out from under this.'
Sauvage sits back and regards me thoughtfully. 'Perhaps this will be another Aqua Tofana scenario?'
I shake my head. 'I can’t keep killing people. The police will catch on eventually. Although if Andy dies, I guess Shade wouldinheritme.’
Sauvage purses his lips. 'Perhaps it is time for you to understand that there may only be one way to be free. A new city. A new country. A new name. A new life, perhaps. But you would not be able to take your paramours. Three men, one woman… You would not be able to hide in plain sight no matter where you went.'
I don’t like what Pierre is saying. I have problems, but being on the run without my guys, even Blake… It wouldn’t make my life better. I stand up, feeling stuck and trapped.
I want this life, but on my terms. No one else’s. I just need to fix it.
***
Blake
I finally get the call in the middle of the night.
I sneak out, hoping the others don't wake up because I don't want to have to explain what I'm doing or why, even though they already know that the debt was sold to the cartel. I haven't met any of my new bosses yet. I haven't done any work for them either, and I feel like a fish on a hook, just waiting to be reeled in.
I get dressed, my mind helpfully supplying all the ways I’ve been a dick to my friends and to Daisy since Sauvage told me about my change in circumstances. I didn’t mean topush them away, especially not my gorgeous girl. But I did and I made her upset, and I even forgot about that damned flash drive for days. She’s pissed and she has every right to be. I’m an asshole and I deserve it. Maybe that’s why I haven't apologized yet. I have almost broken through the encryption though, so my plan is to give her the info from the folder while I beg her to forgive me and hope she does.
I make sure my nine is loaded and I've got a spare magazine as I try to clear my head. I can’t be thinking about Daisy, or what I’ve done wrong. I need to be on my game tonight. No distractions. I don't know what I'm going to be asked…toldto do. Maybe this is just a meeting.
Before I leave, I bend down, and I brush a kiss to Daisy’s cheek. She doesn’t stir.
My heart thuds in my chest as I go down to the basement and sneak out of the hotel through the secret passages. I come out at the cemetery, through the Banderville crypt.
Our truck is parked just down the street.
I take it and drive slowly to an abandoned warehouse outside of town, the location I was sent by a number I don’t know.
At first, it looks like the place is derelict and there's no one there, but as I get out of the truck, I feel what can only be the barrel of a gun pressed hard to the back of my head.
'She's waiting for you,' he says.
An American. So, I'm not the only gringo in the cartel's employ in Richmond.
