“Olivia!” William calls as I hurry across the road.
I round the corner and breathe my relief when I spot a taxi pulling over to the curb. I barely give the passenger time to pay and jump out before I’m in and pulling the door shut. “Park Piazza, please.”
I slump back in my seat and spend the journey praying repeatedly that I’m not too late, while shouting my frustration each time Miller doesn’t answer my calls.
* * *
The grand white building looks ominous beyond the trees lining the street. My stomach is in knots, my breathing challenged. I look down the road, bracing myself for William’s Lexus to round the corner. I don’t bother trying to convince myself that William didn’t know where Miller is. He makes it his business to know everything.
I climb the steps to the double doors, the noises from inside becoming clearer the closer I get. There’s laughter, chatter, and classical music playing in the background, but the obvious happy atmosphere within the walls of this building does nothing to lessen my sense of foreboding. I can literally feel the invisible barriers trying to hold me back as I push on, the house seeming to talk to me.
You don’t belong here!
Leave now!
I ignore it all.
I see a bell and a door knocker, but it’s the digital keypad that grabs my attention. Four digits are stamping all over my mind.
Two. Zero. One. Five.
I punch it in and hear the mechanical shift of the lock, so I push through gingerly. The noise intensifies, saturating my hearing and cooling my skin.
“You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
I gasp and whirl around, finding Tony behind me. He’s going to try to stop me, too. My instincts kick in, and I push past the heavy door, soon finding myself in a gigantic entrance hall with curved stairs leading up from both sides to a large gallery landing. It’s ridiculously ostentatious, and I’m momentarily rendered stunned by my surroundings. Then it hits me that I have no idea what to do now that I’m here. My urgency to get to Miller, to stop him from possibly destroying himself beyond my ability to fix him, was all that consumed my mind.
“This way.” Tony’s hand wraps around my upper arm and pulls me off to the right aggressively. “You’re the biggest fucking headache, Livy.” I’m hauled into an extravagant study, and the door slams behind us. Tony releases me and shoves me up against the wall. “You’re going to get him killed!”
I don’t have time to enlighten Tony on the developments because the door flies open with a loud crash and my breath is stolen by the sight of Charlie standing in the doorway.
“Nice to see you again, sweet girl.”
“Fuck,” Tony curses, and rakes a shaking hand over his sweaty, bald head. “Charlie.”
My eyes bounce back and forth between the two men, my heart beating hard enough for all to hear. The sneer on Charlie’s face tells me he can smell my fear. He walks forward casually, keeping his eyes on me, and pats Tony on the back. It’s a kind gesture, but I’m under no illusion that it’s meant to be friendly, and a quick glance at Tony confirms he knows it, too. He’s nervous. “I give you one job,” Charlie muses as Tony backs up cautiously. “Keep the girl away.”
Tony’s accusing eyes land on me with an almighty bang, making me wilt on the spot. “I can only apologize,” he murmurs, shaking his head in despair. “The girl doesn’t know what’s good for her or the boy.”
If I could find my sass amid my fear, I’d be firing it at Tony like bullets from a machine gun.
“Ah.” Charlie laughs. It’s a sinister laugh, meant to terrify me. And it does. This man’s evil is rampant. “The Special One.” He takes one step toward me. “Or my special one.” And another step. “But you want him to be your special one.” He’s in my face now, breathing down on me. I’m trembling. “When people try to take what’s mine, they pay.”
My eyes close in an attempt to block out his closeness, but my loss of sight has no effect. I can smell him and I can feel him. The Special One. I feel sick, my turning stomach and frantic mind quickly telling me that I was delusional in thinking I could stop this. The few seconds I’ve spent in the company of Charlie and Tony are enough to make me realize that I’m not escaping this room.
“There’s only one person on this planet who has tried to take something from me and come out alive.”
I blink my eyes open, finding his face close to mine. Intuition tells me he wants me to ask who and what, yet my brain isn’t loading my mouth with the words to follow through on his silent command.