“You’re safe with me, baby. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw she had turned her head to look at him. Assessing. He remained silent, waiting for her to decide. She’d brought the subject up for a reason. She just had to let go of her fear of Billows and tell him.
“I heard her scream and went to investigate. It’s really dark down there and it’s a maze. The hallways end and you’re just looking at walls. I’m sure there are ways to enter more corridors and find rooms, but I don’t know how. I tried to follow the sounds, and then all of a sudden, she just stopped. Really abruptly. That was worse than the screams.”
Azelie crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself. Maestro was aware of the shiver running through her body. He touched her shoulder, reminding her he was with her.
“You’re doing great, Zelie. I know this is difficult to relive, but you had a point to this you wanted to make. It’s scary, but you’re safe with me.”
She turned those vivid blue eyes on him. “But you’re not safe with me, Andrii. I get that you’re a badass in your circle, but I think Billows is involved with the Mafia.” She sighed and rubbed her temple as if she had a headache. “I think he’s part of it, or something very similar. Whatever it is, it’s bad. His enemies disappear.” She whispered the last.
His gaze slid to hers. She was looking up at him with fear. With dismay.
“He can’t ever view you as the enemy, Andrii.”
His heart clenched in his chest. Softened. Bog. This woman. She lived in the lion’s den, but she worried about him, not herself.
“Are you safe?” He asked the most important question.
Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip for a moment. He was grateful she didn’t just assure him. She thought it over first.
“For now. I won’t be if I try to leave, which is why I’ve never given Alan the slightest inkling that I’m going to leave. He believes I’m working there to pay for my school and that I’ll always work for him. I want him to believe that.”
“You got in young and now you can’t get out.” He made that a statement.
She inclined her head. “That’s true. I had no idea what I was getting into when Quentin first introduced us. It seemed like fun, and I was a bit arrogant in those days, knowing I was good at something most adults couldn’t do.” She gave him a faint smile. “The hubris of the young.”
She was still young. A baby. She certainly had learned quickly.
“I’m working on an exit plan,” she volunteered.
Azelie had a tendency not to share anything about her life, but with him she disclosed personal things. He loved that. He loved that she gave him that. That intimacy was important to him. He needed her trust even when he hadn’t fully earned it.
“Tell me about it,” he invited.
She hesitated. Rubbed her temple again as if the headache might be more persistent than nagging. “It isn’t fully formed yet. Billows is so difficult. Moody. I sometimes wonder what personality I’m going to get when I see him. One moment he’s matter-of-fact, another time he’s rude and abrupt, and then he’s acting possessive and almost jealous.”
Alarm bells went off. Red flags. What the hell? Maestro felt possessive toward her, but Billows had no cause to exhibit that trait. Jealousy? Is that why Billows had a man on her? He wanted to ensure she didn’t date?
“He acts possessive and jealous? Is he into you?” He kept his voice mild, casual even, when he wanted to rip the man apart. He detested that he had to stay in the shadows and not claim Azelie. Not show Billows she was under his protection.
“He never was before. Last night and when he came to my apartment, he seemed…different. And he was parked by my bus stop near the coffee shop, waiting to offer me a ride to school. I was lucky a woman who goes to the college saw me and recognized I was uncomfortable. She played it off as if we were studying together. I don’t understand him, and I don’t want to understand him. I’m just keeping my head down until I can get out from under him safely.”
“Babe.” He waited until he felt her eyes on him. He glanced her way, letting their eyes meet. Letting her see what possessive really was. “There is no safe way to get away from Billows. You’re going to have to let me handle that.”
Her breath caught in her throat. It was audible, and the tension in the car grew so tangible you could cut it with a knife. She began to shake her head. “No, no, absolutely not. You have to promise me you’ll stay away from him. Promise me, Andrii. Nothing can happen to you.”
She hadn’t added “because of me.” She’d simply stated, “nothing can happen to you,” as if he was what mattered, not how she’d feel guilt afterward if Billows harmed him. She was killing him. So perfect when nothing ever was. He needed to talk to her. Make her understand what kind of a man she was dealing with. She might decide to bow out before they even got going, but he wouldn’t be taking off. He would make certain she got away from Billows safely. Billows didn’t have long to live, but that wasn’t something he could confide to her.
“You didn’t find the woman.” He went back to the original topic. They were close to their destination, and he wanted to get as much information as possible to pass on to his brothers.
“No. Once she stopped screaming it was impossible to find her. Billows came out of nowhere, furious with me that I left the office. I’d never seen him so angry. Frankly, he scared me. When I told him about hearing a woman screaming, he told me he was watching a horror movie and he’d left the door to his office cracked open. Does he think I’m incredibly stupid?” There was disgust in her voice. “That was no movie.”
“What do you mean he scared you?” Removing one hand from the wheel, he wrapped his long fingers around her wrist. He needed to touch her. Needed that connection.
“He can get intense when anyone crosses him. And he told me there were bombs down there, built into the floor.” She lowered her voice even more.
“Do you think he was trying to scare you? To keep you from wandering around down there?” He was damned certain that wasn’t the case. At least he had that information, and it would be critical for their mission to know about the floor being wired.
“I believe him, Andrii. I asked if a bomb were accidentally set off, would it be powerful enough to harm the innocent people in the clubs above that floor, but he didn’t answer me. That’s how ruthless he is. That’s why it’s so important that he doesn’t know about you. I really think this is going to have to be the last time we…”
“Stop right there, Azelie.” He poured command into his voice. Firm. Calm. Kept his voice low. He wasn’t a shouter, and he never would be, but he could take control of a room filled with people with his voice alone. Another gift he’d worked at for years.
Again, her breath caught in her throat, the sound audible. Her large eyes fixed on his face immediately. She stopped speaking, pressing her lips together.
“I’m not going to stop seeing you. You aren’t going to stop seeing me. I think you need to take a closer look at me, baby. You don’t seem to get who I am, and that’s important going forward. Do I look like a nice man to you? Really see me, Azelie, not who you’re fantasizing over in your head.”
Her long lashes did that fantastic fluttering thing they did that made him harder than a fucking diamond. His jeans were too tight for his body. It felt marvelous. Exhilarating. Real. For the first time in years, he felt alive. His woman. She didn’t even know she could put steel in a cock that had been trained to never respond unless he commanded it. She took him over with that innocence in her gaze.
“I don’t fantasize.”
He lifted one eyebrow. “Babe. You do.”
She pressed her lips together. Yeah. She knew she did.
“I’m going to tell you something about me, something that might scare you, Azelie, but I hope instead of that, it reassures you.”
She flashed him an uneasy, anxious look. “I’m listening.”
