I completely and utterly fucked up. What the hell was I thinking, leaving her alone? I didn’t even see that guy she just told me about.
Kalista’s eyelids grow heavy. “Let me take you upstairs. You need to go to sleep, sweetness,” I urge her.
But not surprisingly, she refuses. “No, I don’t want to stay here. I want to go home.”
Running my hand over my jaw, I consider the vehicle options we have at our disposal right now, because there is no fucking way I’m putting her back in the Mustang until it’s been cleared and I get that seatbelt fixed. Zak is already on his way in, and so is Alec. I’ll snag one of their cars and they can ride home together.
They stride through the revolving door, coming directly for us. I give Kalista’s shoulders a gentle squeeze, reassuring her as they approach, “These are some of my boys.”
Zak stops in front of me and Alec barrels forwards, lifting Kalista into his arms for a hug. “Damn, girl, you had us worried for a minute there,” he tells her as he places her gently back onto the lounge.
She gives him a nervous smile and tugs on her earlobe. “Sorry,” she murmurs.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t you fucking dare apologise. None of this is your fault,” I tell her, just as the man whom I deem responsible for all this stops on the other side of Alec. My eyes narrow on him. “Senator, I think there may have been a few things you left out when discussing potential suspects who would want to hurt your daughter.”
He has the nerve to stiffen and act insulted. “I beg your pardon, Mr Jamieson, but you are speaking out of turn. Watch your tone in future, and remember with whom you are speaking.”
Alec turns on the senator, glaring at him. “So you’re the prick who allowed his business dealings to put his daughter in harm’s way. I’d say nice to meet you, but I’d rather break your surgery-altered nose.”
Zak shoots me a the-fuck-did-he-just-say-to-a-senator look and I shrug. This is why I don’t put Alec with politicians or ambassadors and such. Alec has no filter or respect for these kinds of men, whereas the rest of my employees know when to hold their tongue.
Senator Astor is spluttering in disbelief. “How dare you speak to me like that? Do you know who I am?”
“Yeah, I do. And I wouldn’t be proud of that right now. Look at your daughter,” he says, lifting a hand in Kalista’s direction. She’s huddled on the lounge next to me, mascara streaking down her pale cheeks. A blue tinge tints her lips and her whole body trembles. “Does she look okay to you right now? No? Exactly my point. You, Senator Astor, need to get your priorities right.”
Astor takes a step towards my younger brother and I stand. “That’s enough. Alec, go check what the bomb squad has found. Zak, I need you to stay with Kalista for a minute while I speak with the senator,” I instruct and begin walking away, knowing Astor will follow and the boys will comply.
I stop ten feet from Kalista and Zak, making sure I have a clear view of her at all times. “This evening, when I was about to escort Kalista home, a young valet handed me a note that was supposedly from you. However, it was in the same kind of envelope as the previous ones that had been left for Kalista. It’s only because I went with my gut and opened the note before getting in the car that we avoided what quite possibly could have been your daughter’s murder.”
Astor pales. “Murder? What—? I don’t—what are you talking about?”
“Bomb squad is checking the Mustang now. The note implied the presence of a bomb so I got Kalista out of the vehicle and at a safe distance immediately.” I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose, furious at myself for leaving her alone, but I continue. “While I was questioning the valet, a man called Michael approached Kalista and told her that if you, Senator, don’t back down, she would be the one to pay the price.”
Sweat breaks out across his upper lip, but he attempts to play it cool. He’s a terrible actor. His eyes are everywhere but on me when he speaks. “I don’t know any Michaels and I certainly don’t know what I’m supposed to back down from.” Then he changes tactic, puffing his chest out, raining his self-important I’m-a-senator-and-you-must-respect-my-authority stare on me. “And where did you say you were when my daughter was being accosted by this man?”
Fury burns in my veins. That lying sack of shit. He knows exactly what is happening here and he’s going to let whoever he’s pissed off do what they like to his daughter. If I could strangle him without being arrested, I would.
My eyes narrow in on him, my pulse pounds behind them, and my muscles strain, “You have some nerve trying to turn this around on me, Senator. But I’ll let it slide this time because you’re correct—I should never have left her side until reinforcements arrived. That’s on me, I accept responsibility for my actions, and I will do what is necessary to ensure she is never in that position again. Even if that means replacing myself.”
I’m breathing heavily and straining to keep myself in check when I step forward, bringing myself just inches from Astor’s sweaty face. “And there’s the difference between you and me. I admit my errors in judgement, where you try to sweep them under the rug and refuse to acknowledge that this is all on you.” I walk away from the pathetic excuse for a father, but brilliant example of a corrupt politician, before he can attempt a reply.
I need to hit something, get rid of this excess energy and overflowing anger before I do something irrational, like turn around and pummel the senator until he admits his role in this. I approach the reception desk again, this time with a different demand. “Where’s the hotel gym?”
After the little brunette has given me directions to the gym, an access key, and returned my credit card from earlier, I glance over my shoulder, making sure Kalista is okay. Zak has one big arm wrapped around her shoulder, with the other rubbing her arm. I was right to trust Zak with her. Then I disappear inside the elevator and hit the number three, and go work out some of my aggression.
Twenty minutes later, my phone rings in my pants pocket. Wiping the fresh blood from my knuckles on my trouser leg, I pull out my phone, “Yup,” I answer without checking the display. I should be getting back anyway. I pick up my under-shirt and button-down from the bench I dropped them on earlier and slide them on as I exit the gym.
“Bomb squad found a small device under Kalista’s seat. It wouldn’t have been enough to kill her, but it would have landed her in hospital with some pretty serious injuries,” Alec relays the information.
Fucking hell. I swallow past the lump in my throat. The elevator doors slide open and I step inside. “I’m about to lose you,” I tell him. “Elevator. I’ll be there in a sec.”
I had gotten complacent. There hadn’t been any notes in over a week. I knew they would be thinking up their next move but a fucking bomb? That’s one hell of a leap, from threatening letters to a fucking I.E.D. Something must have happened between now and then to have them stepping things up this quickly.
As soon as I step into the lobby, I find Kalista exactly where I’d left her only now there’s a petite redhead on the opposite side of her, holding her tightly. I frown. She’s obviously not a party guest since she’s wearing hideous green leggings and a tiny shirt that doesn’t quite meet the waistband of said hideous leggings. I also have no idea who she is. But Zak looks okay with the situation—entranced with the tiny redhead even. Fucking awesome.
Clearing my throat, I stop in front of them. The redhead lifts her head from Kalista’s shoulder and glares at me. “You!” she accuses. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” she says as she detangles herself from Kalista.
My brows shoot up. “Excuse me? Who are you?”
She stands in front of me and begins to poke at my upper abdomen. Apparently, my chest is too high for her, and she’s a feisty fucking midget. I slap her hand away but she ignores it and goes back to poking me. “Knock it off,” I demand.
“Not until you apologise for putting her on lockdown,” she says.
I frown. “What are you talking about?”
She throws her hands in the air, dramatic little thing she is. “I haven’t seen Kallie in weeks! All because of your big, stupid face appearing.”
More confused than ever, I wrap my hand over hers, engulfing her tiny one inside mine. It makes me feel like fucking Goliath. “Listen, pixie girl, I have no idea what you’re talking about or who the hell you are.”
Her face reddens until it matches the tone of her hair, and I hear Kalista mutter, “Uh-oh,” before the midget launches for me.
“You did not just call me that!” the crazed elf hisses, knocking me off balance, since I wasn’t expecting the attack, and she climbs me like I’m a goddamned tree until she perches on my shoulders and her tiny thumbs trying to gouge out my eyeballs. “Take it back!” she screeches.
What the fuck? I grab for her and start pulling her off me, but she’s quick. She just readjusts herself in a new position, still clinging to me like a koala. Make that a fucking savage koala.
Alec’s laughter filters in from my right, and I turn to him. “Help me!”
The bastard just laughs harder. “I think you’ve got it under control, brother,” he tells me, and continues laughing.
Goddammit! “Will someone please get her off of me?” I’m pissed, and I don’t want to hurt this chick. I’ve never harmed a woman in my life, that’s why I didn’t stop her in the first place. But now, now I’m beyond humouring her.
Zak reads my tone and stands up, wraps his huge arms around the little devil, and detaches her from my body. He sits back down next to Kalista as the rabid demon spawn struggles in his lap, trying to come at me again.
I glare at her. “There’s something wrong with you.”
She renews her efforts trying to break free from Zak’s hold, going as far as to bite him. He just sits there and takes it. Doesn’t even flinch. In fact, I move my head to the left a little and yep, he’s stroking a lock of her long red hair.
Looking around, I ask, “What the hell happened while I was gone? Who is the possessed midget, and why is Zak looking at her like that?”
Abe shrugs, the midget growls, and Kalista speaks up. “I wouldn’t call her that unless you want a spanner lodged in your skull. I’ve seen her do it before.”
Is she kidding? She’s kidding, right?
Kalista grins for the first time since I dragged her out of the car earlier. “Abe, this is my best friend in the whole wide world, Ellie. Ellie, this is Abe, my bodyguard slash housemate for the foreseeable future.”
Ellie continues to glare at me, but she’s settled some since Lissa started speaking.
“I’d like to say any friend of Lissa’s is a friend of mine, but I don’t think we’re going to be friends.” I quirk a brow. “You’re ferocious. Ever consider becoming a bodyguard?”
She perks up at this. “No, you think I can do it? I totally had you, so yeah, I guess I could,” she muses to herself, seemingly oblivious to Zak still twirling the ends of her hair around his fingers absently.
Shaking my head as I rub my jaw, I think about which car to take Lissa home in, but then she shrieks and jumps to her feet. “What happened to your hands? Your knuckles are busted.”
I shrug. “They’re fine. Let’s just get you home.” I smile down at her, then stroke her cheek. I could have lost her tonight, if things had gone differently. That thought rips me to pieces inside, and apparently outside too, because a single tear seeps from the corner of Kalista’s eye and she pushes to her tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispers, but that’s not how I see it.