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“Then it’ll have to wait. I’m too tired to discuss anything now.”
She maneuvers around me without actually touching me. As Polina approaches with Nina in her arms, I reach for her.
“Nina’s hungry,” Laila calls back, surprising even Polina. “And it’s past her bedtime. I need to feed her and put her down for bed.”
Translation:I don’t want you going near my daughter.
Dominik’s warning rings in my head. I decide not to push my luck today.
The women proceed through the house, and I watch my daughter until they turn a corner and she’s gone.
“Fucking Christ on a cracker, man.” Dominik’s voice carries from the shadows of the hallway. “That was a trainwreck.”
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” I mutter.
“Well, what did you expect?”
He follows me into my office, and I “accidentally” hit him with the door as I try to close it. He yelps, but rolls his eyes.
Gedeon is already sitting in front of my desk, nursing a glass of bourbon. “On a scale of one to Laila is currently in her room summoning a vengeance demon, how bad was it?”
“A solid eight. Drawing the pentagrams as we speak, I’d imagine.”
Gedeon groans. “I was hoping for some rest once we finally got back here, but looks like I’ll be manning the fucking windows again.”
I snatch the glass from in front of him and down it, enjoying the burn. “What does that mean?”
“She was in the process of her third escape attempt the night you called,” he explains. “I never let on, but she was getting pretty sneaky there by the end. A couple more tries, and she might’ve slipped away.”
I consider how I’d react to a call that Gedeon lost Laila and immediately stop considering it. I don’t want to murder one of my best friends, so it’s best not to dwell on the possibility.
“Where was she trying to go?”
“Back here is my best guess.” Gedeon shrugs. “She wanted to be with her mother. For obvious reasons.”
I don’t miss the judgmental glares I get from both myvory.
“If you want to look at anyone like that, look at Alessandro Calcagno,” I spit. “He was the reason she couldn’t be here. Now, things can go back to normal.”
“Speaking of normal…” Gedeon clears his throat. “Did you read her new contract?”
I grit my teeth. Speaking of killing one of my best friends, I was close to doing exactly that when I got that email from him this morning.
“That’s not a contract—it's a joke.”
“It’s a joke she’s pretty serious about. She’s not going to let it go.”
“Aside from the name-calling, it looked pretty official,” Dominik adds.
“You’ve read it?”
He wriggles uncomfortably. “She sent me a copy to proofread.”
I slam my fist on the table. “Delete the damn thing. No, actually, print it up and use it to wipe your ass with.”
Dominik purses his lips. “I can do whatever you want me to do with it. But I’m not the one that matters.”
I pour myself a glass of Gedeon’s bourbon.
