Chapter 2 #4
I go to the dry bar and pour the overpriced scotch into three glasses. Carrying a glass to her, I work my tie loose. “It’ll have to be a little longer.”
She grabs the glass from my hands. “How long are we talking about?”
I throw the tie onto a chair. “As long as it takes.”
She dumps the drink in the flowerpot that holds a plastic fern and slams the glass down on a side table. “For what?”
“Excuse me?”
She huffs. “As long as it takes for what?”
“For getting Tatiana and Noah settled in.”
Her back goes rigid. “Settled in where?”
“Where they belong.”
“You mean in New York City.” She adds with snide, “In your house, I assume.”
“Correct.”
Her lips part as if she expected me to deny that statement. “You can’t. You can’t take her back there.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Come on, Jasper. You’re cleverer than that. I can put her and Noah up in any place of my choosing, and the same goes for you.”
“You just want to make sure I don’t run to the police and report this kidnapping, because this is what it is.”
“Correct, again.”
She points a finger at me. “You have no right to do this.”
“I can do whatever I want. I can make you do whatever I please, and I think you know that.”
Her cheeks pale. She lowers her hand to her side.
“Go to bed, Jasper. We’ll talk about what comes next in the morning.”
“I want to see Tiana.”
“Tatiana is fine. You’ll see her in the morning.”
“If you hurt her—”
“If you want to sleep without zip ties around your wrists and a gag in your mouth, I suggest you retire to your room now.”
She looks ready to jump on me and scratch out my eyes.
I speak before she can act on any violent ideas that may be running through her head. “And if you have to sleep bound and gagged, so does your friend.”
Her eyes grow round. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
“Bastard.” She walks backward to the door. “If you lay a finger on Tiana—”
“You’d be wise to shut up now.”
Reino enters from the lobby. “I double-checked the rooms. They’re clear.”
Meaning free of bugs and cameras. You never know who’s following you. I don’t have many enemies, having eradicated most of them, but there’s still one who won’t mind putting me six feet under. Blackmailing or threatening hotel staff to spy on me isn’t below him.
Reino points toward the door at the far end of the lounge.
“The main bedroom is through there. It has an en-suite bathroom. The other two rooms down the lobby share a bathroom.” He waves a hand toward a door that stands ajar next to the main entrance.
“Guest toilet. The door on your left leads to a study where you can work privately.”
I nod my thanks. “Escort Jasper to her room.” I meet her narrow-eyed glare with a smile. “You better lock it.”
She cuts Reino a seething look as he takes her elbow. “Get your damn hands off of me.”
Reino removes his hand from her arm and indicates the hallway. She glances at me from over her shoulder as, with no other choice, she follows Reino.
He returns a moment later, scratching his jaw where a five o’clock shadow is showing. “That one scares me. She threatened to tie me up in my sleep and castrate me with a butter knife.”
“Did you lock her in?”
“The doors lock with a push button from the inside. I had to move the cabinet from the lobby in front of her door. At least she has access to the bathroom in case she gets thirsty or needs to use the facilities. I made sure to lock the door to the bathroom from Noah’s room before you arrived.
I wouldn’t want her to slip into his room and escape.
” His lips quirk. “She may go looking for a butter knife.” He lowers his voice.
“A word of advice? Check that Miss Teszner hasn’t unlocked the door when she’s done with putting Noah to bed. ”
“Fire exit?”
“I put two of our men in front of the door in case one of the women or the kid gets out. Four are guarding the stairs on the ground level. Not a soul will get past them, if you know what I mean.”
Yes. I ordered them to shoot first and ask questions later.
“Men are stationed outside the hotel as well as in the lobby downstairs,” he continues. “They’ll rotate at different times, as you instructed.”
“Good.”
I can’t risk a gap in the watch if the guards change shifts simultaneously.
“The landlines are in the bedrooms.” Reino brushes his fingers through his hair.
“I’ve already disconnected them. No one can ride the elevator up without a key card, but you don’t need the key to go down.
You can however lock the elevator on the control panel next to the door to prevent anyone from using it, including from going down. ”
“The code for the safe?”
He rumbles off four numbers. “I put their IDs, purses, and phones as well as the gun inside.”
“That’ll be all for tonight. Go catch some sleep. I need you fresh in the morning.”
He gives me the keycards and salutes before leaving.
Once the elevator reaches the ground floor, I bring it back up before blocking the access on the control panel. Then I lock the keycards and my phone in the safe in the study. I won’t put it past Tatiana to try and snatch a card or my phone when I’m in bed.
I’m entering the lounge when Tatiana exits from the room at the end of the lobby and closes it softly behind her.
She holds my gaze as she walks on socked feet toward me, swaying her hips like a queen working a ballroom.
It’s not conscious, the swaying. She’s always moved like that, as if she’s floating on clouds while the rest of us scurry along.
She glances at the cabinet blocking the other door. “Where’s Jazz?”
“Where do you think?”
“She’s not a slave you can lock in.”
“As long as she behaves, she can come out in the morning.”
Her demand is sharp. “Let her out.”
“Not going to happen.”
She stops short of me. We face each other in silence, her eyes searching mine, questions running through hers. A warning. A threat. That she’ll rip my head off if I lay a finger on Noah or Jasper. I get all that. I know her well enough to know what’s going through her mind.
“You took my purse and phone.” Her tone is thick with accusation. “I checked my bag. Jazz told me you took hers too.”
As that’s a statement and not a question, there’s nothing to say.
Her nostrils flare. “Where’s our stuff? I want everything you took from us, including my gun.”
“Where did you get that gun?”
She scoffs. “Does it matter?”
“I need to know if I have to do damage control. If you bought it off some shady dealer in the street, it may be stolen or connected to a crime.”
“Don’t worry.” Her smile is cold. “It’s clean.”
“How do you know that?”
“My mom gave it to me.” She holds out her hand. “So give it back.”
To be on the safe side, I’ll have that Glock checked out. “You know that’s not going to happen, darling.”
The line of her jaw hardens. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why? Can’t stomach the memories?”
She drops her arm to her side and purses her lips.
I go to the bar and fetch the glasses. She’s right behind me when I turn around. She looks at the liquor I hold out to her and shakes her head. I put the glass in her hand anyway.
She watches me. “How did you find me?”
I take a sip of my drink. “Face recognition software. Your fake ID popped up when you used it at the hospital.”
She flinches. Sarcasm laces her tone. “My bad.” A beat of silence follows that she fills with a chuckle. “I gave a bogus address at the hospital.”
“Clever.” I trace the crystal studs on the bottom of the glass with a thumb. “But the landlord registered the water and electricity bill for the ADU you’re renting in the false name on your ID card.”
“And you have a contact at the municipality with access to the records.”
“Good guess.”
“I should’ve thought about that.” Her laugh is wry. “Stupid mistake.”
“An unavoidable one.” I study her carefully. “The hospital report said you were admitted for low blood pressure.”
“How the hell did you manage to access my private medical information?” Looking at me as if I’m a puppy killer, she holds up a hand. “You know what? I don’t want to know. My medical history is none of your business.”
“What was wrong with you?” I take another sip of my drink. “Your test results came back normal.”
“Nothing.” She avoids my eyes. “I’d just been on my feet for too long.”
“Doing what?”
“Working.”
“Doing what, Tatiana?”
She makes a mocking sound. “I bet you already know what I do for a living.”
Wise girl. I got all the information I could dig up on her false persona. “You’re a maid? You always said you wanted to be a forensic scientist.”
Her look is piercing. “Excuse me if my job is beneath you. It’s not like I could go to school and follow my dream.”
“I’m not judging you.”
“You shouldn’t, seeing that I am where I am because of you.” She stands taller. “So you can take your judgment and leave me the hell alone. There’s no shame in being a maid.”
“That’s not what I said. I just regret that you didn’t get to do what you wanted. You’re worth more than that dump I found you in.”
Hatred simmers in her eyes, making them glitter like jade stones as she drags her gaze over my bespoke suit and designer label shirt. “I may not fall into a mafia boss’s income bracket, but at least I’m earning honest money.”
“If you waited for me like I told you to do, money would never have been an issue for you.”
She gapes. “You’re joking, right?”
My expression remains serious. “Am I laughing?”
The scotch sloshes over the rim of her glass as she plants a palm on my chest and pushes me. “What do you want from me, Dante?” She shoves me again. “Why did you bring us here? Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”
Her efforts don’t move me an inch. “That’s not going to happen.”
“No?” She laughs, the sound unhinged. “Isn’t that why you put a million bucks on my head?”
“Who told you?”
“The last man who thought he was going to claim that million.”
“Curtis Laing?”
“Wow, Dante. You’re something else if you think he took the time to introduce himself before he chased me down the street.”