“A horde. Apparently none of them believed I was your assistant.” He rolls his eyes in a hugely exaggerated motion that makes me giggle. Abruptly, he grows serious. “They’re very protective of you, Lizochka, as they should be.” He sighs. “I should’ve never let you come here alone.”
I start to speak, but the door bursts open again. I tense, wondering if the nurse decided to call in reinforcements to get rid of Tolyan after all.
Instead, it’s Dominic.
His hair tousled and his eyes shooting death from their vivid blue depths, he looks like the Hulk without the green skin. He zeroes in on Tolyan. “How the hell did you get here?”
* * *
Dominic
Elizabeth starts at my outburst, while Tolyan looks amused. I swear the man has a crocodile’s sense of humor.
“By plane. It’s the most efficient,” the Russian says.
I grind my teeth. “There’s no way you could’ve known so fast and made your way here.”
“Couldn’t I? I already knew something was amiss when she didn’t show up at LAX yesterday afternoon …like she was supposed to.” His gaze slides to her. “When I contacted the resort, they told me what happened. I only let her come here alone because I thought she’d be safe. Obviously, I misjudged. It won’t happen again. And she’s going with me.”
Bullshit. The Russian had an inside tip, and it doesn’t take long to figure out. Fucking Antoine.
“Get out,” I say.
“So you can play her fiancé? I don’t think so.”
Bastard.
“Tolyan…” Elizabeth begins.
“You don’t know what he is,” he says. “Let me handle him.”
“No.” She turns to me. “Dominic, let me talk to Tolyan in private. He travelled all the way out here, so that’s the least I owe him.”
“You didn’t ask him to come,” I point out.
“Please?”
I bite back a curse. I can’t read the Russian at all, and I don’t trust him. “If you need anything, I’ll be right outside,” I say.
“Thanks.” Her smile does little to reassure me.
Pacing in the hall, I pull out my new phone to call Antoine. “You son of a bitch,” I say the moment he answers. “You didn’t have to call in her dog.”
He doesn’t bother to deny it. “The guy’s faster than I thought,” he says.
“That’s not something to be impressed by.”
“Sure it is. Not everyone can be so quick. Look, even if I didn’t tell him, he would’ve found out and made his way to the island. Is that what you want? And do you want her family to worry about her disappearance?”
“Her parents don’t give a shit.” I know that for certain.
“She and her brothers seem close. Wouldn’t you freak out if your sister vanished?”
God damn it. If Kristen were to disappear without a word, I wouldn’t rest until I found her.
The door to Elizabeth’s room opens, and Tolyan walks out, his stride long and unhurried. He stops for a second, then makes a crisp turn and walks toward me.
“Where are you taking her precisely?” he asks.