“Sit down, or I’ll knock you down. ” His eyes turned a mean blue Lex remembered well.
“It’s okay, Mom. Just sit down,” Lex said gently, giving her father a look of warning.
He glared back.
She glanced over at Masterson leaning against the wall and asked him, “How much blood is on your hands?”
He snarled and returned to his discussion with Yuri.
She returned her focus on her father. “What’s the plan here? You’re really such a bastard you’d watch your own kid get killed?” An ache she’d deny to her grave welled inside her chest.
He shrugged. “We’ll trade you for this Daire fellow Yuri wants so badly.”
She snarled. “You’ve always been a shitty liar, you know that?”
He reached out almost casually and cuffed her on the side of the head. Pain flared through her skull, but she didn’t flinch.
Jennie jumped up. With almost a happy roar, Parker stood and shoved her back into the chair. She flopped, crying out, trying to catch her balance.
Lex snarled and half-stood. “Touch her again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
Jennie huddled closer to her, tears streaking down her face. “Parker? I don’t care about me, but you wouldn’t let them kill Alexandra, would you? She is your daughter.”
Lex shook her head when he didn’t bother to answer. “Mom, if they let us go, we’ll tell the police. No way are they letting us go.” She narrowed her focus to the oxygen molecules around them, beginning to reshape them and draw on fire.
“Stop it, or I’ll shoot your mother in the head,” Demidov called out.
She stilled.
Jennie glanced around, her eyes wild. “Stop what?”
“Nothing.” Lex tried to send her a reassuring smile. “Just working on the hand restraints. Unfortunately, they’re strong.” There had to be a way she could manipulate fire without Demidov knowing.
Kell would move mountains to find her, but she’d left her phone back at the station. Demidov had talked a long time. The enforcers had some pretty damn scary connections. Maybe there was a chance they could’ve traced the call from Kell’s end. Maybe not. Either way, she had to be ready to fight at the first opportunity.
Her mom turned toward her. “I’m so sorry, Lexi. I had no clue.”
Lex nodded. “It’s all right, Mom. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”
Parker sat back and patted his big belly. “How’s your cunt of a sister? Did she tell you she visited me? Yelled right in my face.” He leaned toward her, his gaze narrowing. “I’m looking her up the first second I get.”
Jennie gave a soft cry of distress. “You’ll leave her alone, you bastard.”
Parker turned and half-stood.
Lex coughed, searching desperately for a way to stop his advance. He’d kill her mother if he hit her hard enough, which he appeared more than ready to do. “Where’s the money?” she threw out quickly to prevent the assault.
He paused and turned. “Huh?”
“All this money you think you have.” Lex glanced around and forced a look of disdain onto her face. “I mean, it’s not here. Are you sure they saved you some of the money?”
His chest puffed out, and he sat back down.
Lex relaxed and tried to still her thumping heart.
He nodded. “I have bank accounts, several in my name. I’ve already checked them.” Pride filled his voice before he scowled again, leaning toward her to whisper. “If you hadn’t been such a bitch, I would’ve shared with you. You could’ve been my connection instead of that grease ball over there.”
He smelled like mint and cheap whiskey. She’d forgotten that.
At the memory, her stomach lurched. “I hope you checked the actual accounts and not just what they sent you on the computer. And I hope you changed the passwords immediately, so they couldn’t take the money right out after showing the balances to you.”
His bushy eyebrows drew down. “What do you mean?”
She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “If they have the passwords to the accounts, they could’ve transferred all the money out after showing you the balances. Surely you thought of that.”
He rubbed his smooth chin. “Yeah. Yeah, I thought of that and changed the passwords.”
Damn idiot. Lex sat back and nodded. “Well, then I guess you have nothing to worry about.”
Yet worry fanned out from his eyes all of a sudden. He took out a shiny new smartphone. “I think I can find the accounts on the phone.”
Moron. His attention diverted, Lex glanced around. It appeared as if one full wall could open, so there were two exits—the wall-door and the only regular door. Two exits, three armed men to fight, and her mother with unsteady legs to rescue.
As odds went, they sucked.
It was a bad time to deal with her father since she’d just gotten him distracted, but something in her, deep down, had to know. “Will you really let them kill us?” she asked softly.
He looked up from his phone, blinking to focus. Then he shifted his large bulk in the chair, his face turning red. “They’re gonna trade you.”