Chapter 10 #2
It certainly would be something, but there are too many gaps in my knowledge right now to believe that Katarina and I could ever work towards the same cause. But if I don’t help Katarina, she might choose a more permanent way of dealing with the competition for Barrett’s affections.
I cut through a perfectly cooked scallop and chew on it a while.
“Here’s what I think,” I say at last. “You’re a young woman who’s being used as a pawn in her uncle’s business deals, but you’re no victim.
And I would be a fool to underestimate you.
” When her eyes light up, I quickly add.
“And I’d be an even bigger fool to trust you.
My brothers and I aren’t in the business of stealing women, but we do our best to empower victims of exploitation.
Maybe that’s Clarabelle Simmons. Maybe that’s you. ”
Katarina rests her elbows on the table as she leans in. “And how do you propose to empower me, Ash?”
“Truthfully? I don’t know yet.”
I’m wiping lipstick from my cheeks for a second time when Rory appears. Having my best friend near was also a deciding factor in choosing to dine at the Excelsis. He slides into the booth, taking the seat Katarina recently vacated, and sets down a bottle of whiskey and two crystal glasses.
“Whatever that was, Ash,” he says, “she won.”
“It was so much easier dealing with Ilya,” I complain. “At least we knew we were dealing with a psychopath.”
Rory serves two fingers of whiskey – a Griffin special reserve that all the Moncrief hotels stock. “Are you saying Katarina isn’t?”
I’m still processing our conversation, and as I stare across the emptying restaurant, I spot the server who’d been yelled at earlier. “What happened to the guy she was ready to castrate with her fingernails?”
“He handed over a very generous tip and left.” Rory eyes me over his glass. “Do you think Katarina is the first Barkov to actually have a heart?”
“She certainly has a brain,” I reply. “And right now, she’s busy thinking up the most devious traps to snag herself a husband.”
“Shame you’re the only eligible Griffin left.”
I stare at Rory, deep in thought. His russet hair has hints of silver at the temples that weren’t there when we first met.
I’d met Rory a year after Belle had broken my heart, when I was at a crossroads in my life.
John McConkey wanted me to join the firm full-time, but I was resisting, if only for my brothers’ sakes.
It was Rory who led me down a different path, introducing me to business partners who didn’t trade in drugs, weapons or people.
But it was our mutual obsession with whiskey that truly forged our friendship.
Rory runs his fingers through his hair self-consciously. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re a good-looking guy who’s about to go back on the market,” I muse.
He quirks an eyebrow. “I hope you’re not hitting on me.” I’m fighting a smile when he catches on. “Fuck off, Ash. No way. Absolutely not. She’s a child.”
“She’s twenty,” I counter. In truth, if a man in his thirties went anywhere near my twenty-year-old daughter, I’d rip his head off, but so would Katarina if any man dared disrespect her.
I push on with my argument. “And you were happy to see me married off to her. But if not you, what about one of your brothers? I haven’t noticed any wedding invitations lately with the Moncrief logo on them. ”
“I’m sure at least one of my brothers would fancy his chances with her, but seriously?”
“No,” I concede. “I wouldn’t wish a Barkov on my worst enemy. Oh, that’s right, the Barkovs are my worst enemy.”
“Not Barrett?”
“He’s a close second,” I growl.
For the last twenty-four hours, I haven’t been able to shake the image of Barrett digging his possessive claws into Belle.
“They checked out this morning,” Rory says. “But I expect you know that already.”
“I did.”
He waits for me to take another sip of my drink. “Did you also know that the happy couple were staying in a suite with two bedrooms?”
“So what? Piper’s five. She’s a little too big for a crib.”
My friend circles the rim of his glass with the pad of his finger. “When you work in the hotel industry, you learn a lot about people’s sleeping habits.”
I hold my hand up in warning. “If this involves stains on sheets, I’d seriously advise you to keep it to yourself. There’s been enough breakages in here for one night.”
“No stains,” he assures me. “But housekeeping did report that Barrett had occupied one room. Mother and daughter kept their things completely separate in the other. And the interconnecting door was locked.”
“They’re not sleeping together?”
“I’d say that’s a question you should be asking Belle.”
I feel the tightness that’s been crushing my chest ease just a little. They stayed in the hotel for one night. It proves nothing. “It’s none of my business. She still married him.” I shake my head. I won’t go down that rabbit hole. “My only interest is Piper’s welfare.”
“My dear friend, anyone with eyes can see your interest isn’t confined to your daughter.”