Demand (Careless Whispers #2)(20)

“You do know that using Giada like this makes you a bastard, don’t you?” I demand, not sure if I’m more furious with him or her.

“So you’ve said, but that just tells me how brainwashed you are, and how important this meeting is. I’m waiting, Eleana.”

At this point, I just need to get off of this phone call and decide what to do next. “I haven’t even gotten in the shower,” I say. “I need forty-five minutes.”

“You have thirty. And in case you get the idea to call Kayden, I’m having a car pull to the front of the castle, ready to take you and Giada downtown.”

My jaw clenches. “I don’t remember where we’re supposed to meet.”

“I’ll text it to you,” he says. “And for the record, Giada didn’t tell me who was in the castle. I know things. And you need to know what I know.” He ends the call with that bombshell, which implies that someone close to Kayden is running their mouth.

I pull up Kayden’s number, but as I start to push the “call” button, I hesitate and grab the note he left. Wrapping up some loose ends from last night. And last night he was with a trigger-happy drug lord. Damn it. I’m not supposed to call unless it’s an emergency, and while Giada and me ending up at the police station would be that for sure, the best way to prevent that from happening is to face Gallo and have a proverbial stare-down. If I do it right, maybe he’ll back off and give Kayden some breathing room while I find out who, if anyone, is betraying Kayden. He protects me; it’s my turn to do the same for him.

Decision made, I throw aside the blankets, rush to the bathroom, and make a beeline for the shower. Turning on the water, I let it warm up, and I’ve just stepped under the spray and tilted my head back when there’s a flickering image of a man’s hand coming down on my arm, his pressed white shirt cuff riding up and uncovering a watch. My head lowers and I stare forward. Kayden’s watch.

What the heck did I just see? That wasn’t Kayden. It couldn’t be Kayden. It’s always felt familiar, but never, ever has it come to me in a flashback.

“It’s not Kayden,” I say firmly, reaching for the shampoo. “So who is it?” It’s a question I still haven’t answered when I step out of the shower and towel off, then quickly apply light makeup and dry my hair, which now shows signs of red roots. It’s a reminder that there is a small possibility that Gallo might really know something of my past. And that past might, in some way, make me the enemy of The Underground, as I feared last night. Kayden might handle that well enough, but I’m not so sure about his men, especially with me in The Hawk’s bed.

Suddenly eager to get to this meeting and just know what is before me, I quickly dress in dark jeans, a navy sweater, and black knee-high boots. Once I’m dressed, I grab my black Chanel trench coat and head back to the bedroom, where I toss it on the bed and slip on my cross-body purse before reaching for my gun. The minute I touch it, I flash back to standing in a firing range, firing a weapon with my father by my side. Charlie, I think. His name was Charlie, and my eyes lower with the wholeness of that memory. Bit by bit, my father is coming back to me.

I decide right then that my gun is now named “Charlie” and if anyone messes with me, they will know his wrath. Placing my newly named bodyguard in my purse, I’m about to zip it up when my gaze catches on my journal. Since my memories are active today, I grab it and settle it safely next to Charlie. Then I put on my coat, shove my phone in my pocket, and head for the hallway.

On my way downstairs I think about how carefully Kayden has guarded me, and I’m not sure I can leave without Adriel following. Not to mention the fact that the castle security system seems to send an alert to everyone’s phone. There has to be some way everyone leaves without driving the other residents crazy. Stopping at the bottom of the steps, I fish out my phone and dial Giada, hoping she’s gotten her phone back.

“Ella,” she answers. “Hi. I wanted to call you, but I just got my phone back, and you were angry and—”

“We need to talk. Alone. Where are you?”

“My tower.”

“And Adriel and Marabella?”

“Marabella’s in our kitchen, baking. That’s her way of coping with last night. And Adriel is holed up in his office upstairs. That’s his way of sparing us all his bad mood.”

“Is his office in your tower, or the store?”

“My tower, but I can come to you.”

I punch the button to lift the door between our tower and the main lobby. “The walls have ears in this place,” I say, ducking under the door and entering the foyer. “Can we go out to lunch?” I glance up the central tower stairs, where the huge wooden door to the store is closed. “Or will Adriel not allow you to leave after last night?”

“Why does he have to know?”

That’s not the answer I want from her, but it’s a good opening for the information I need. “I thought all the doors pinged his phone.”

“Not the garages or the store.”

Bingo. I start walking across the foyer toward the central tower steps. “We aren’t going to piss everyone off more by sneaking out,” I say hypocritically, since that’s exactly what I’m about to do. “But we need to talk and eat.” As I start up the stairs, I remember Gallo’s threat and ask, “Did you send Detective Gallo any text messages?”