I want to physically shake this woman because she is not thinking straight, and I resist from tossing her over my shoulder and leaving immediately.
“Now, for your own well-being and because you have obviously lost all sense of reasoning, we are going to leave this building and tell Ingrid we will make our own way to Edward’s house. We have the address and don’t require a car. Then we will head to the hotel and wait for my jet to arrive. When it does, we will travel to New York, and I will arrange a meeting with your grandfather as I should have done in the beginning.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because you insisted on coming here and I’m the fool who didn’t think it through properly.”
“So, you failed.”
Her smirk does little to douse my irritation with myself because I took my eye off the proverbial ball and placed her in danger.
“We must leave—now.”
For the first time she appears anxious, and when Ingrid returns, she forces a smile onto her face and speaks to her in fluent French.
I hate not knowing what they are saying and placing my hand on her shoulder, I hiss, “English. It’s rude.”
“I’m sorry.” Alice smiles sweetly as she adds, “I forgot you only speak the one language. Never mind, there’s always night school.”
She turns to Ingrid.
“So, if you don’t mind passing that message on, we will leave you in peace and wait to hear from you.”
Ingrid nods, a hint of panic in her eyes that she quickly closes off.
“Of course. You may call me any time.”
As she hands Alice her card, I decide its time to leave and stride to the door, pulling Alice behind me.
My phone buzzes, and I note Jack’s text.
Get out of there—now!
I waste no time and as soon as we are in the elevator, I press the button for the corresponding floor and Alice gasps, “What’s happening? Why are we going up?”
“You’ll see.”
My heart is thumping because it appears I was right, and as we reach the roof, I pull Alice out of the exit toward the chopper that is readying to take off.
“Oh my God, what is happening?” Alice gasps as I push her into the helicopter and jump in with her, along with two of our men.
“Put these on.”
I hand her the headset and as we do the same, I breathe a sigh of relief when the bird flies into the sky, leaving shit behind us that appears to follow me around.
CHAPTER 22
ALICE
I’m in shock. What just happened? I kind of understood Simeon’s concerns, but considered he was merely being dramatic. But this. When did a helicopter arrive to transport us out of here? I fail to see the danger, and where are we going?
Simeon’s expression is angry; his deep frown warns of no conversation, and as we speed through the skies, I wonder where we are going now. It’s as if my life has become a movie and I never read the script. Events are happening around me that I have no control of, and I’m struggling to keep up.
The flight takes an hour, and we don’t speak for the entire time. Instead, I distract my attention to the spectacular view of the Alps that lie majestically below us.
As we approach our destination, I gaze with interest at the unfamiliar airfield we are hovering above. I notice a fleet of black cars waiting and wonder how he does this. Do they have them in every city in the world? I wouldn’t be surprised.
It’s only after we land and are safe in one of the cars that I attempt to speak.
