Page 122 of Whiskey Wednesdays

I answered and immediately started talking. “Elodie is safe. A little shaken up and traumatized, but fine.”

She put her hand on my thigh. “Is that Daddy?”

I nodded. “She wants to talk to you. If I were you, I’d send police to your house as soon as you can. Noah and Amelia walked in together not long after Geneviève dropped Elodie off.”

He let out a long low string of expletives. “I already called the police, and I’m on my way. Thank you for keeping her safe.”

My throat threatened to close, but I held it together. “Here’s Elodie.”

I sat back, half listening to her murmurs and Connor’s voice over the phone. My cheek and nose throbbed, and my feet tingled and stung as they slowly thawed out. Elodie nudged me and handed my phone back, then laid her head on my arm.

“Hey.”

“Elodie said something about Titus.”

“When you didn’t answer, I called Titus. We’re in an Uber headed to his apartment right now.”

“No. Give me a few minutes, then meet me back at the house. I need to see Elodie–”

“No way.” I cut him off. “We are not going back there. You don’t know what happened, you weren’t there. When you get done with whatever it is you need to do, we’ll be at Titus’s apartment.”

“Isabella–”

I was scared, drained, and suddenly I’d had enough. Hanging up on him, I turned my phone to mute and shoved it in my back pocket. I felt it vibrate a few times, but I ignored it.

Ahmed double-parked and walked us into Titus’s sleek, modern condo building, making sure the doorman was there to take care of us.

I turned to Ahmed and gave him a little bow, putting my hand to my chest. “Thank you for your kindness. And the wet wipes.”

He smiled and bowed back. “It was my pleasure to assist you. Be safe.”

He left us with the stocky, middle-aged doorman named Keith.

“Titus told me to expect you, Ms. Cruz.” Keith looked down at my feet. “He also said you’d have Ms. Elodie, and you wouldn’t have shoes on.” Then he studied my face and shook his head. “He didn’t say anything about you looking like you’ve been in a WWE match.”

I smiled faintly, then winced. My face felt bruised and sore, and I worried I might end up with a black eye.

“I wish I could say ‘you should see the other guy’, but I just needed to get her out of there.”

He looked down at Elodie and nodded. We took the elevator up to the top level, and walked out into a penthouse suite. Keith gave us the codes and told us he’d tell Titus we’d made it to the condo.

“Let me know if you need anything,” he said as he walked toward the elevator.

“Elodie’s dad, Connor McCoy, may be coming later. Can you let him in if he does?” I asked.

He smiled. “Yes, I know who he is. You two have a good night.”

Elodie and I used the bathroom and got cleaned up the best we could. I grabbed a dishtowel and put some ice in it, then laid it on my face.

Titus’s condo was modern and well-appointed, but it had a stale, unused feel to it. I grabbed one of his t-shirts to change into since my shirt had blood all over it, and we raided his pantry. I heated up a can of tomato soup and microwaved two frozen burritos.

I called Titus back while we ate, and gave him a brief explanation of what happened.

“You left out the part where Amelia hit you,” he growled. “I heard Elodie screaming her head off. Where the fuck is Connor?”

Rubbing my eyes, I slumped on his couch. Elodie had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, and I’d taken off her shoes and covered her with a throw blanket.

“He left the house late this morning. We were supposed to go out tonight.”

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