Page 96 of Lure

“What’s up?” Alphabet’s neutral voice betrayed none of the ferocity burning in his eyes.

“I need to speak with Miss Black for a few minutes—alone,” I stressed before he could object. “I need you to check that website. If there is some auction site that lists her, it’s a good starting point to track it back to the source.”

That would give us a target. Gallo was just the start. Frankly, I didn’t get “mastermind” off him in the slightest. He was a wealthy, spoiled man used to getting his way without giving a single fuck for a consequence. I doubted he knew much more than he was saying, but we had time to get the rest of it out of him.

Frowning, Alphabet glanced at Grace. “Are you fine with talking to him? I can be just in the dining room.”

“Your faith moves me,” I told him, then looked at Grace again. “I’d rather take Miss Black for a walk.” Away from all three of them. I needed answers and I was fairly certain she could give them to me if they weren’t all trying to shield her constantly.

As it was, she stood there with her arms folded and her eyes huge. While she was pale, I thought that had more to do with the contrast of her dark hair and bright eyes than anything else. She was also shivering. It was faint, but it was present. “Is ‘take me for a walk’ code for take me out behind the wood shed or dispose of me?”

There was the barest hint of sarcasm underscoring her humor.

Barest hint.

“I seem to have misplaced my sap,” I told her drily. “You’ll be fine. We’re going to take a walk, warm you back up, and I have a couple of questions I want to askwithoutyou worrying about someone else listening or throwing in their two cents.” The last I gave Alphabet a hard look before looking back at her.

For his part, Alphabet sighed. “You probably could use the air.”

She chewed her lower lip then looked from him to me then to where Goblin watched us from the sofa. He’d been snoring when we got up here, but now he was in wait and watch mode.

That was good. It meant despite Alphabet’s tightly fisted temper, he wasn’t struggling.

“Okay,” she said. “Let me get my shoes.”

“Get sunglasses too.”

“Take mine,” Alphabet told her as he diverted to the dining room. I didn’t miss how he made sure to tuck her phone into the back pocket of her shorts.

Keeping her trackable was a solid idea. Fortunately, he didn’t make our leaving an issue. I guided her out the back door then toward the gate that separated the pool from the garden proper. After that, we descended steps to another gate that was tucked into a wall and hidden by overgrown flowers.

“This is kind of neat,” she said as I held the gate open for her. The sun was high, and the breeze strong. It was barely ten inthe morning. We hadn’t been down there that long or at least it hadn’t felt like it.

I scanned the area before I secured the gate then motioned to the right. “If we go this way, we’ll take the long way around but we’ll be back at the villa. Fifteen minutes. Probably less.”

She studied me for a beat, or at least I thought she did. The sunglasses hid her eyes. With a nod, she turned to walk in the direction I indicated ,while using both hands to gather her hair up into a ponytail that she secured with a band she had around her wrist.

The heat felt good.

I let her set the pace. If I did, she’d have to take two steps for every one of mine and we’d be back a lot faster.

“You wanted to ask me questions?” The prompt was as unexpected to hear as it was to actually need it.

“I do,” I said, getting my thoughts in order. “You haven’t been a fan of our choices so far.”

“I haven’t been a fan of you just deciding everything for me without involving me.” There was an edge to the words, almost like she wanted to rap my knuckles with a ruler for daring to say otherwise. “That said, you guys have all gone out of your way to protect me. I know I haven’t exactly been easy.”

“That’s an understatement,” I muttered the words and she stopped dead to stare at me. “What? You are difficult, sometimes childish, incredibly fragile, dangerously vulnerable, and you don’t want to listen.”

Oh, I couldseethe virtual steam rising from her ears.

“Before you get angry,” I said, holding up a hand. “I accept that you have improved and that I could also learn to listen better.”

It was a concession.

Her mouth fell open. Whether she was merely speechless for a few seconds or just preparing to launch into a tirade, I shiftedto nudge her back into walking. The affluent area had homes scattered all over the hillside. But it was still better to not linger too long in one space.

“You’re not wrong,” she finally said on a huff of breath. Well, maybe we could get to detente. “I’m working on it.”

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