Page 27 of Devilish Prince

“I told her to call the cops. I know Gatti has to have some on his payroll, but not the whole force. They can help her get out of this arrangement and?—”

“No.” Baker cuts her off and I look up at him in surprise. His scowl isn’t one of anger. He looks stuck, frustrated, and defeated. “You can’t call them.”

“What—why?” Jen slides into the chair next to me as my phone buzzes in my pocket. I don’t even look at it. I pinch the fabric around it, finding the power button to silence the call.

“Because I know this game. Gatti is pulling strings. It’s the reason you’re getting that promotion, right?” He pauses briefly but I can’t even give my answer before he continues. “He’s a powerful man. If you push back by calling the police you’ll be dead before you sleep tonight. Cops are off limits.”

“Then what do I do?” My fingers knot themselves in my lap and my phone buzzes again. I ignore it again, pinching the button through my slacks pocket.

“You go to the cabin,” Jen says, turning to face me. She rips the wooden arm of the blue leather chair and purses her lips. “It’s a good plan. You can contact the FBI or something, get witness protection. You’d be relocated away from here and get a new job…”

I sigh and let my shoulders droop. Calvin can only receive the level of care he needs in this city. The trial he’s supposed to do starts in less than a month, and I can’t take that from him. He needs the chance to walk again. If the trial works, he could be on his feet by Christmas. I could give him his life back in a way surgery would never do for him.

“Cabin?” Baker asks and Jen tells him all the details about her cabin in the Catskills. I’m numb though, only partially hearing the plan they're cooking up for me while I stew over how to care for my brother. If I left and he stayed behind, Antonio would kill him. I know it. I can’t do that. But I can’t take him away from NYC. There is no better option for care.

And while Antonio terrifies me to my core, Lorenzo isn’t altogether evil. He has his charm about him. Sure the way he controls me, the physical domination may prove to be a bit too much, but I know he will do as he says. He keeps his word. He will make sure his father gives that million dollars for research and I know Calvin can benefit from that research. My heart is torn right down the middle and my phone buzzes again.

“Maybe you should get that,” Baker says, leaning back in his chair.

Reaching into my pocket I dread the sight of the screen. My gut tells me it’s Lorenzo. I haven’t accepted the promotion as he warned me to. When I left his place yesterday I told him I was out. And I mean it. I’m out. I can’t go back there. I can’t operateon one more person outside of this hospital. I can’t have sex with him as glorious as it is, and I can’t date him openly anymore. Most of all, I will not submit to his father ever again. Any man who strikes a woman is worse than the Devil himself.

But the caller ID doesn’t say Lorenzo’s name. It says NYPD is calling. My heart leaps into my throat as I swipe right to answer.

“Hello? It’s Sofia Carter.” My hand trembles a bit worse now as I hold the phone to my ear. I close my eyes to shut out every external stimuli that I can, focusing on the baritone that rumbles through the phone.

“Ms. Carter, we received a call at your number that someone had broken into your apartment. We are here now and things are pretty messed up. We’d like you to?—”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes!” I don’t even stop to tell Baker what happened. I lurch out of the seat and blurt out, “I gotta go,” as I race out of the room toward the elevator. Jen follows on my heels like a yapping dog. I stop by the lounge to grab my lab coat and purse, then dart back out to the sound of her asking me questions.

“What’s going on? Who was that?”

“Someone broke into my unit. I have to check on Calvin.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“You have to work.” I punch the elevator button and jam my arms down the sleeves of my lab coat. My heart is racing. I won’t even bother with the subway. I used to be a runner. I can just run the seven blocks or so to my place faster than the damn train.

“You’re not thinking clearly. What if he’s there? What if they do something to you?”

“It was the police,” I tell Jen, turning to face her as I sling my purse over my shoulder, cross body. “They’re not going to pull something when the cops are around.”

“You don’t know that.” Jen stands in my way as the doors slide open, but I push past her.

“Go work. I’ll call you.” As soon as I’m in the elevator I push the door close button and it dings. In minutes I’m on the street running. I weave through the foot traffic and dart across streets when they are clear of traffic, not waiting on the walk sign. My only thought is Calvin.

What have they done to him? Is the nurse safe? Did they take anything? I know this was Lorenzo. It has his stench all over it. I never took the promotion, so Kline never called to confirm that Lorenzo’s little scheme is working. So they’ve acted now. They’re going to bully me, make me feel like I’m not safe in this city again. They’ll continue to push and push until I do what they want and I’m not fucking doing it. Holder deserves that job, not me.

By the time I get to my apartment, I’m winded and sweating. I see the splintered wood scattered in the hallway and step over it into my unit. The place is trashed. Sofa cushions are sliced up, dishes broken over the entire kitchen floor. The cops stand in the middle of the chaos talking as I enter and look surprised to see me. My bookshelves are emptied onto the floor; every surface where something was laid is empty. I wade through it on my way toward the hallway.

“Where’s Calvin?” I ask, numbly, but I can’t even hear a response if they say one.

I turn into his room and see it’s empty too. His bed is torn back, covers on the ground. His dresser drawers are empty, television screen shattered. I cry out a deep, heart wrenching sob, and fall to my knees. “No!”

“Ma’am, we’d like to ask you some questions?” The officer standing behind me touches my shoulder and I flinch and crawl away.

“Where is he? What did they do?”

“Ma’am the unit was empty when we arrived. Only the mess here…” The man, he’s the same one who was here for the first break in. The one who was at the car-jacking attempt turned mugging. His sardonic eyes and sadistic smile twist the knife deeper. He’s working for Lorenzo. I know it. “You…” I hiss, lurching off the ground. “It was you. You’re working for him.”

---