I took a few drags until it glowed, then stubbed it out on Sophie’s cheek, ignoring her muffled screams.
“What is?”
“On one table, we have her father. On the other, Sophie—someone we can use to show her what happens when someone betrays me.”
“So you’re not going to tell her about me and Alec?”
“Call it entertainment,” he said with a shrug.“Or an experiment.”
“I was at the hospital when you called.”
His brows lifted.“And?”
“She’s even better in person. Hopped away like a scared rabbit.”
A slow smile spread across his face.
“The only good news I’ve had all day,” he murmured.
“Why do you want to change things?”
“What makes you think anything will change between us?”
“It’s bound to.”
“I highly doubt it. We won’t change, but she sure as fuck will.”
I suppose time would tell.
Chapter 7
Alec
I saw her apartment light on as I’d parked my car. That meant she was home.
I stared at the red door for a moment before knocking again. Footsteps crossed the wooden flooring on the other side. There was a peephole, so I took a step back—far enough that she’d see a well-dressed, unthreatening man instead of a silhouette pressed too close.
“What do you want?” she asked through the door.
When did people stop opening their doors?
“Are you Ella Constantine?”
Silence.
Then the chain rattled. The lock snapped open.
Oh. This just got better and better.
She stood there in a peach two-piece pyjama set covered in cartoon avocados. Soft cotton. Domestic. Completely at odds with the situation. Her face was smeared in a thick layer of lime-green paste—some kind of mask—with only her nose, lips, and eyes left bare.
She looked ridiculous.
And disarmingly human.
“How can I help you?” she asked.
I pulled out the fake warrant card and flashed it just long enough for her to register the bold Metropolitan Police.
