Page 44 of The Voicemail

“Could you be more specific?” I ask her sarcastically.

“Alex,” she says in a warning tone. “Mr. Bellamy looks pissed. That wasn’t the deal. You need to tell me what the hell is going on.”

I sigh and look down at her. She thinks she wants the truth, but the truth might be worse than she imagines. I can’t shield her from this, as much as I want to.

“We think Claire is the one who gave Tomaso entry into the party,” I tell her honestly. “You need to be careful with her. I’m having Luca pull a background on her, but it will probably be clean. I think she’s just an opportunist, not some criminal mastermind.”

Elena steps back and shakes her head. “She wouldn’t do that,” she says firmly. “She knows about the stalking. She wouldn’t just hand service credentials to someone without vetting them.”

“I think she’d do a lot for male attention,” I say seriously. “Including put you at risk. I think the smart move is to get you out of here tonight, before she can do any more damage. Let her clean up the event on her own.”

“You’re wrong,” she says without any conviction. “You have to be wrong.”

“Let it be tomorrow’s problem,” I encourage. “You’ve done enough tonight. The event is running smoothly, and the guests are happy. One word from me to Bellamy and you can go home.”

She finally nods, much to my surprise. I braced for a bigger fight, but it’s drained out of her entirely. It guts me to watch her take in the news and understand her coworker gave her up that easily. I can’t fix it for her, as much as I want to.

“Fine,” she says in a clipped voice. “Let’s go home.”

13

ELENA

Iwake up to an email from Mr. Bellamy sent at three in the morning. Apparently, last night’s event was a tremendous success. That’s his way of saying he’s taking all the credit for how it went, despite the fact that I did most of the work. He also wants me to come in this morning to debrief the staff.

If your handler allows it, he writes.

I roll my eyes at that. He’s clearly upset about Alex’s interference last night, but he knows better than to take it out on Alex. That would be career suicide.

I read the line twice, sitting at the kitchen island in sweatpants and a cozy hoodie. I’m wrecked from last night, and my coffee sits untouched beside my laptop. Across the room, Alex is on the phone, already dressed for the day.

“No,” he says into the phone, loud enough for me to hear. “I want footage from the north alley and the service corridor. Pull the surrounding businesses too.”

I look down at Bellamy’s email again. Reading between the lines, I realize he’s angry about the extra security. It’s not just that Alex has taken over my life. It’s that he had the audacity to prioritize my safety. Something Mr. Bellamy has refused to do.

Alex ends his call and looks at me.

“Why are you frowning at your computer?”

“I have to go into the office this morning,” I tell him. “I need to debrief with the rest of the staff.”

“Will Claire be there?”

His question catches me off guard.

“She should be.”

“Good.” He nods.

That answer is even more surprising.

“Why is that good?” I ask suspiciously.

“Because you’re going to confront her about last night. I want to see how she reacts to being cornered.”

I blink at him in surprise. “Don’t you want to confront her yourself?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t,” he says, picking up his phone again. “I have a few meetings today I can’t move. Luca will take you.”