Chapter 21
Spy me a River
The second the van door slid shut Dante released a frustrated sigh behind me and then warned,
“Now, I am going to let you go, so please don’t try anything that would only end up getting me killed.”
I frowned wondering what he meant by this.
“You gonna be good, yeah?”
he confirmed making me nod considering my lips were still covered by his big beefy hand.
Then he released me, and I quickly scrambled to the bench seat opposite.
I realised now that we were the only two in the back of what looked like a surveillance van, as there were screens and computers framing either side.
“Wwwhat’s going on?”
I asked wide-eyed looking from him to the screens, one of which showed the front door of my flat and another of the front of my building.
“I’m sorry, sugar, but I am not the one who can answer that,”
Dante said before his phone started to ring.
I watched as he answered it and said,
“Yeah, we got your wildcat.”
I didn’t know whether to be insulted or class it as a compliment.
Then he passed me the phone and when I didn’t automatically take it, he nodded reassuringly down at it in his hand.
So, I took it and put it to my ear where my shock became complete.
“I thought I told you to stay out of trouble.”
It was Lucius.
“Lucius?! What the Hell, you had me kidnapped!?”
I shouted making him growl back at me.
“You are free to go, Sweet not my fucking prisoner, although it would be a lot fucking simpler if you were, then you might do as you’re told for once,”
he snapped, sarcastically.
“Then why have men following me and then Dante grab me?”
I shouted before the truth of my situation came to light, and it did this in the form of one pissed off Vampire telling me so.
“Because those two men following you weren’t my men and Dante and his men got to you before they did!”
“Oh…Oh!”
I said first in a deflated tone, before then realizing what he meant.
“You had me saved…again?”
I asked, making Lucius sigh as if this was all very frustrating.
“It would seem that way wouldn’t it?”
he replied, once again being sarcastic.
“But why are they still after me if they know that you have the box?”
I asked, confused.
“I thought that was one question you could answer,”
he told me in a sceptical tone as if I was keeping something from him.
“I don’t know!”
I defended, but then even after I said it I was doubting myself because I was starting to replay my actions over the last five days.
“Don’t you?”
Lucius asked in a sarcastic tone, as if he could hear for himself my thoughts playing out on rewind.
Which was when an idea came to my mind.
“Do we know when they trashed my flat?”
I asked him.
“They somehow managed to tamper with the surveillance footage in your building, so we don’t know who they are but a vehicle we suspect they were driving was seen near there at twelve forty.”
“Which means they trashed my flat after the attack,”
I mused aloud before asking,
“You said there were men that you heard asking about me, acting as a diversion…what happened to them?”
“Are you asking me if I killed them, Sweet”
he asked in that controlling way that meant he was acting calmer than what he felt.
Don’t ask me how I knew this, I just did.
“Yes Lucius, that’s what I am asking,”
I snapped, and I swear I could almost see his grin for myself.
“No, I left them both unconscious in a cleaning closet, one more broken than the other, which is how I found out what they had planned for you,”
he told me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he must have been feeling in that moment when he raced to my aid.
How he must have thought when opening the door and seeing me about to get shot.
Did he panic?
“And were they both still in there after the attack?”
His growl told me what his words only confirmed,
“No, my men only found one, who we still have in our custody.”
“So, it is possible that he told whoever he worked for that you now had possession of the box,”
I said, talking aloud.
“If not obvious, yes,”
Lucius replied in such a way that I would have rolled my eyes if I had[sh13]n’t been currently too occupied freaking out.
“Meaning that they went to my flat after it,”
I muttered which was when it hit me why.
Unfortunately, it was too late as I had already led Lucius to the same line of questioning.
“Which leaves the biggest question of all…why would they do that, Amelia?”
he asked in such a way as if he knew I was keeping something from him and of course I was.
Because there was only one reason why they would have broken in…
I still had something they wanted.
“I don’t know,”
I said, making Lucius growl his displeasure…he knew I was lying.
I knew then when he issued me a warning,
“Don’t lie to me, Sweet, you won’t like where it gets you.”
This was when I hit my limit on being threatened.
So, like any normal person insane enough to piss off a Vampire, I bit back.
“Well, lucky for me you’re in Germany aren’t you, so unless you’re going to ask Dante to spank me for being a naughty girl, then I really don’t see what you can do about it!”
I snapped back and if I thought he was pissed off before then, now I knew I’d just made him enraged.
I heard his roar of anger and then the sound of something smashing in the background along with a few shocked and startled screams.
Needless to say, this made me quickly hang up the phone and hand it back to Dante as if it was a bomb about to go off.
“Uh, not a wise move that, Darlin’,”
Dante said in an unsure voice.
But what’s done was done and there was no going back.
Now, if someone told me that the first time I would speak to Lucius, after all he’d done for me in my flat, was going to be an argument, then I would have been shocked.
But right now, all I wanted to do was go home and look at the reason they had broken into my flat.
“What sign is on the side of this van?”
I asked making Dante frown before answering me.
“Telecommunications, why?”
So, it wasn’t a plumbing company like the other had been.
“Has it always been that?”
“Why are you asking these types of questions?”
he asked me, folding his arms across his chest and it looked like a mighty feat with them being so big.
“Has it?”
I pushed before letting him know anything.
“Yes, in a city based on the backbone of its global communications then trust me, no one blinks an eye when they see this van,”
he told me, sounding proud and I smirked guessing something about him.
“This is your business isn’t it, you’re a spy for sale?”
His lips twitched in what looked like amusement and respect before he answered,
“Among other things.”
“You mean like kicking ass, beating men to a pulp and doing all of this in their sleep, those type of things?”
I asked with a raised brow, being the one to now cross my own arms.
“Clever little Daddy’s girl,”
he mocked, making me shrug my shoulders even if the comment pissed me off.
“Let’s just say that I have a unique skill set and leave it at that,”
he told me.
“And the fact you’re a Vampire,”
I added on a guess and making him frown before saying,
“Fuck no, I am pure breed first hierarchy Drude!”
he declared, proudly.
I gave him an impressed look as they were pretty rare and also more powerful regardless of being turned into a Vamp.
But then, if this was the case, what was this guy doing topside? Well, there was one thing for sure, there was definitely no way I was letting him near my friend again, as Lucius had been right, this guy was beyond dangerous.
“So, you’re a Royal then?”
I asked knowing that I was close to pushing my luck.
“Careful, Sugar, you speak of things you don’t understand.”
Yep, definitely pushing my luck.
“Fair enough,”
I said with a respectful head nod, especially now I knew who I was dealing with.
“Can you take me home, please?”
I asked, knowing there was no way I was finishing out my work day now.
“Sure,”
he said before banging a hand on the cab side of the van that was enclosed, and shouted,
“Back to the apartment!”
“So, just how long have you been watching me then?”
I asked needing to know if it was what I expected.
Had my dad put Lucius up to protecting me all this time?
“I am afraid that’s my client’s private business and therefore I am not at liberty to say.”
“Spoken like a true businessman,”
I replied with a coy grin and gaining a respected head nod for it.
“And just how long has Lucius been your client for?”
I asked in my best innocent ‘trust me I am just a girl’ voice.
But damn him the smirk he gave me told me he saw right through it.
“I wouldn’t give a very good service if I went and gave the person I have been asked to spy on information like that now, would I?”
“No, but you are a spy, so it wouldn’t be like it’s not expected…after all, isn’t spilling secrets kinda like what you do for a living?”
I teased, thankfully making him laugh and not get offended.
“Nice try, Darlin’, but no cigar, besides, that boyfriend of yours isn’t someone I wanna mess with any time soon, if ya get me.”
I frowned and then argued,
“He isn’t my boyfriend.”
At this he chuckled once and then said,
“Oh okay, if you say so.”
I crossed my arms again and asked,
“And just what is that supposed to mean?”
“Only this, why don’t you ask yourself why it is I am still here, under his orders, not just my usual men,”
he said, making me now think about the depth of his words.
“You don’t normally do this yourself?”
“Bingo! Now that’s the right type of question to ask.”
“Then why are you here?”
I asked as he had led me to and making sure to put enough emphasis on the ‘you’ part of that question.
“Because, Sugar, I am the best and for you, he wanted the best, plain and simple,”
he said, shocking me to silence.
“There you go, you just let that sink in there and then tell me that he ain’t your boyfriend.”
To this I had no come back as I could see now why he would think the way he did.
Hell, anyone would, but he didn’t know our past and therefore didn’t know Lucius’ hidden reasons for acting the way he did.
I mean, even I didn’t fully understand them myself, but I just knew that deep down it had something to do with a promise he might have made to my mother.
One that was perhaps to keep me safe.
I hated this idea and to say that it left a sour taste in my mouth was an understatement.
But what could I do about it? Because any other reason to focus on and it would just stupidly give me hope and that was even more dangerous than anything else right now.
I was so lost in my own thoughts I hadn’t realised Dante was now on the phone and we were soon pulling up outside my flat.
“Yeah, it’s all good, we just arrived and one of my guys is coming out now, giving me the all clear,”
Dante said holding another hand to his free ear as if he could hear ‘his guy’ saying this.
It was also obvious that he was talking to Lucius and I wondered if he had calmed down yet?
“No, I will tell her now,”
Dante replied to him, making me wonder what it was he wanted me to know this time.
I tried not to let myself get carried away, as it wasn’t like I expected to hear a sorry for being a dick on the phone, as come on, this was Lucius we were talking about.
The sliding door opened, and I shuffled along the middle aisle of the van in between all the expensive looking tech.
Dante got out first and after giving the sidewalk a once over, he reached out to hold my hand as I jumped down.
I could see now it was a pretty big van, much bigger than the one that had been parked across the street.
But then again, in the midst of my blind panic, it was easy to mistake it for being the same.
“Thanks,”
I said once I was out and steady on my feet.
“What does Lucius want to tell me?”
I asked as I took my handbag off him wondering if my meatball sub had survived? Dante smirked down at me and said,
“He wanted me to tell you…”
Dante paused mid-sentence and then after listening for a few seconds told me,
“To turn on your fucking phone.”