Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
“I don’t like it.” Mikael Rush’s voice was strained.
Scarlet sighed, grasping her phone tighter. She’d been working up the nerve to call her parents and tell them the bad news when her father beat her to it.
The Chronicle reported the whole story below the fold, which angered Scarlet, since she hadn’t even seen a reporter nor answered a single question.
North Pointe’s New Prima Attacked! It was a great headline, ripe to draw people in or send a father with a weak heart right into his grave.
“It’s fine, Dad,” she insisted. “I’m safe.”
Scarlet wanted her dad to say something—anything that wasn’t riddled with worry and anger.
“Safe?” His voice rose. “I had to read about my daughter escaping would-be kidnappers in the morning paper! Safe isn’t the word I’d use!”
“Darling.” Scarlet heard her mother’s soft voice in the background. “Please watch your stress-level.”
Scarlet took a deep breath, trying not to get aggravated with her father. “I’m okay,” she insisted. “They caught one of the men who did it. It’ll only be a matter of time before they catch the other. Until then, Mr. North hired me a bodyguard.”
“The fact that you make having a bodyguard sound like an everyday occurrence is what worries me,” he snapped.
Scarlet’s eyes traveled around the room of the fancy restaurant. She was supposed to be eating lunch, but the call from her father derailed the social hour.
“If I thought I was in any real danger, I’d quit,” she said.
“Don’t lie to me, Scarlet Iskra Rush,” Mikael responded. “I know what this promotion means to you. I know you’ll disregard your safety to keep it. I can’t believe you didn’t call us when you were admitted to the hospital!”
“I didn’t want you to worry!” Scarlet defended herself. “I know how you get. You’re upset. This is what I wanted to avoid.”
“You just don’t understand how precious your life is, do you?” Her father asked. “Even after our own personal losses, you act reckless.”
Scarlet clenched her jaw, wanting to snap at her father. She understood just fine. He was the one who refused to move on.
“This isn’t some foreign country, Dad.” She kept her voice steady.
“Yet you still got kidnapped,” he barked back.
Standing there arguing with her father was pointless. He wasn’t going to be appeased no matter what she said. “Listen, I’ll have to call you back later.”
“Scarlet.” Mikael’s voice was stern.
“And,” she added. “You’ll see me next week for the opening gala.”
She hurriedly told him she loved him before abruptly ending the call. If she didn’t, he’d keep ranting. Ranting wasn’t good for his health.
Scarlet sighed as she made her way over to the table where Nora and Andrej were looking at menus.
“How angry is he?” Nora asked without looking up.
“Furious.” Scarlet sat down. “But it’s not like there’s anything he can do to help.”
Andrej looked up from his menu, casting a look at Scarlet. “You can’t blame him for worrying. Even if one man is in custody, who knows who or where the other one is.”
Tightness in Scarlet’s chest elevated her breathing. The discomfort was sudden, and Scarlet willed it to pass before anyone noticed.
“Did they tell you anything about him?” Nora inquired.
Scarlet shook her head. “No, and I can’t identify him. The men who saw the van called in the plates to police. It was registered to this guy, and when they caught him, he apparently confessed. Wouldn’t give up his partner.”
“Sounds too easy.” Nora sniffed.
Andrej put the menu down sighed. “You want this to be some sort of movie, don’t you? You have your mother’s imagination. It’s as much a fault as it is a charm.”
Nora pursed her lips, focusing on her menu. “I think I’ll have the roasted cauliflower and steak tartare.”
Scarlet watched her friend’s face as she changed the subject. Nora didn’t like talking about her mother.
Nora looked up at Scarlet. “You should get the ni?oise salad so I can try it.”
Scarlet made a face. “I guess I can do that.”
“So, tell me.” Andrej placed a napkin in his lap. “How’s the new ballet?”
Scarlet glanced at Nora, who put the menu down to look at her phone, ignoring her father. She cleared her throat. “Well, it’s the first day, so we don’t know how it will look. But it sounds interesting.”
Nora’s father had insisted on taking them to Fleur, a fancy restaurant a few blocks away from North Pointe.
Lunch at the five-star establishment wasn’t busy.
Not the humblest of rich men, Andrej liked people to know that he had money and that English wasn’t his first language.
Although a bit arrogant, he was always pleasant to Scarlet, and liked taking his daughter out to lunch as often as possible to compensate for his long work hours.
“What is it?” Andrej waved a hand in front of him. “Mr. Onesti makes it sound like reinvention of wheel. Usually makes for bad investments.”
Scarlet was used to Andrej’s near-constant state of irritation, but he seemed distracted on top of everything else. She feared her attack was making him question his patronage to the company. She hoped it wasn’t the case.
“It’s an interpretive imagining of Cassandra’s fall into insanity,” Scarlet explained.
“Who is this Cassandra?” Andrej narrowed his eyes at his wine glass.
Nora looked up from her menu and sighed. “It’s Greek tragedy,” she said. “Everyone dies. You’ll love it.”
Andrej glanced up from the menu, focusing on Nora. She threw him a wide smile.
“The Trojan war, Dad,” she said. “Remember Achilles?”
“Now the ballet sounds expensive,” he retorted.
The waiter arrived, and as Scarlet waited to tell him what she wanted, she stole a glance at Alex. He was sitting by himself at the bar, periodically scanning the restaurant.
Once the waiter was gone, Andrej followed her gaze. “Do you feel safer with the guard?” he inquired.
Question of the week, Scarlet thought, looking back to the table.
“She has a crush on him.” Nora grinned.
Scarlet’s face got hot. Andrej raised an eyebrow at his daughter, then looked back at her.
“I do not.” Scarlet glared at her friend. “I have so much more to think about than some hot guy I barely know.”
“You admit he’s hot.” Nora giggled.
“Cut it out,” Andrej scolded as if she were a small child. “Your friend could have been killed last night. I doubt the last thing she wants is to be teased.”
Nora clenched her jaw, sitting back in her seat. “Sorry,” she muttered.
Scarlet didn’t know what to say. She didn’t like Nora drawing attention to her attraction to Alex when she hadn’t even come to terms with it herself, but also didn’t like Andrej upsetting her friend.
Nora’s relationship with her father was as touchy of a subject as her mother, who died before they left Croatia.
“It’s fine,” Scarlet said. “It keeps my mind off things.”
Andrej looked over at Alex again, watching him for a moment before turning back to his daughter. “What else should I know?” He took a drink of the red wine in front of him.
Scarlet fidgeted in her chair, unsure of what to say.
“Frisco Met is probably to blame for everything,” Nora said, looking at her phone. “Everyone thinks Balthazar Maxim was behind Scarlet’s attack, just like you speculated.”
Scarlet’s hands clenched as she inwardly willed Nora to be quiet.
Andrej pursed his lips at the dry wine. “Is that so?”
Nora nodded. “I mean, it’s still just rumor, so we aren’t supposed to talk about it.”
“And yet you are.” Scarlet frowned.
Andrej thought for a moment, tapping a finger on the crisp linen tablecloth. “Maxim is dirty,” he said. “I don’t know much about his ballet endeavors, but word is he can be dangerous. It’s good Mr. North is upping security.”
Scarlet brought a hand to her chest, rubbing the increasing tightness.
The restaurant suddenly seemed smaller. Hearing a man like Andrej Brevic speak of someone dangerous wasn’t comforting.
Andrej didn’t ever appear to be afraid of anyone, but he seemed a little put off at the rival company.
The more she heard about Frisco Met, the more she was certain they were blame.
“It’s fine,” Nora said. “Mr. North has it all covered. I’m still holding out hope Victoria is behind it. With her gone, I can make principal.”
Nora giggled and took a long drink from her water glass.
The food was delivered, and Scarlet was relieved to not have to speak. She picked at her salad and listened to Nora chat with her father for the remainder of the meal.
After Andrej took care of the check, he glanced at his phone. “Work calls. Shipments are late. It’s always something.”
“Yeah.” Nora yawned. “We have to get back to rehearsal.”
She got up, holding her hand out to Scarlet. “Let’s go, prima.”
When Scarlet reached for Nora, the words “let’s go” kept repeating in Scarlet’s head until they were her own pleading voice.
Please let me go…
Her sore muscles tightened, a chill traveled down her arms, and unexplainable alarm washed over her. Moments from the night before flashed into her head. The darkness, the pain, and the sheer terror felt renewed.
Scarlet forced herself to grab Nora’s hand and stand up. The restaurant walls closed around her, as she followed Andrej and Nora out of the restaurant.
What’s happening? The sunlight and fresh air did nothing to change the tightness throbbing through her body. Scarlet forced herself to breathe fast and shallow, afraid of drawing attention.
“Are you okay, miss?” The soft accent hit Scarlet’s ears. She turned to see Andrej’s driver. His brow was creased, and he tilted his head at her. “You don’t look so well.”
Scarlet swallowed, trying to push back the panic. She had seen the man plenty of times before, yet couldn’t recall his name.
“I’m fine,” she managed. “Thank you.” Scarlet nodded, the tightness in her chest growing worse.
Beside her, she felt the lumbering presence of her new shadow. Scarlet looked over to see Alex frowning at the driver who took a step back.
I’m fine. Everything’s fine.
Scarlet knew it was a lie, but she kept saying it to herself in hopes it would become true.