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“Yeah.” The syllable came out meekly. “That was ordered by him. I’m sure of it.” She pulled away from Toth’s chest but stayed in his embrace. “I need to see my dad. Now.”
Toth’s hands were warm on her back. His fingers twitched, and she watched as his gaze slid around the room then back to her.
“Probably not a good idea right now,” Dare said from the couch.
Annoyance simmered inside her. She glanced over her shoulder. “I did what you guys asked. I sat here and waited. Well, I’m done.” She zeroed in on Toth. “I don’t need your permission and you don’t have to come. I’ll go by myself.”
He rubbed his palm over his beard. A spark lit his eyes. Appreciation, maybe. He cupped her chin. “You’ll be the fucking death of me.” Amusement played in his words.
She fought a grin. “Let’s go.” She turned and shoved her feet in her shoes. “Who’s coming?”
Toth crossed the room to rest his hand on the door handle, but his face was grim.
“I need to get Bella from Bart’s,” Sophia said, glancing at her watch.
“I’ll take you,” Cole offered.
Dare grunted. “Guess that leaves me.” A smile softened his statement.
Toth waved him off. “We’re good.”
Minutes later, nerves jumbled in Savanna’s stomach as she and Toth drove in silence through the downtown area. Night had long since fallen and dim stars glimmered over the harbor. If it weren’t for the bright city lights, the stars would have been more visible, as the sky was now free of clouds.
“You sure he’ll be at the warehouse?” Toth’s question pushed through the wall of anxiety in her head.
“Yeah. He’s always there Saturday nights. He likes to oversee distribution on weekends. Product gets picked up on Sundays.” As unsettling as it was to be part of Sinners Cartel’s workings, it was what she knew. She could no more easily learn to fly a plane than forget her dad’s business schedule.
They soon approached the familiar red-brick building. Toth steered down the alleyway behind the warehouse to the parking lot. Several cars were stationed beneath light poles, confirming that work was proceeding as usual.
He pulled into one of the reserved stalls near the front door, next to her dad’s luxury sedan. She got out and Toth followed. The memory of him tossing her over his shoulder when they left the building two nights ago hit her, and she fought a smile. Had it been only forty-eight hours ago that she’d wanted to kill this man? She’d found him infuriating, handsy, and annoyingly sexy. Now, she wanted nothing more than to return to the little cabin in the woods and get lost in ecstasy and forget the ugly reality of her world.
He opened the door and she went in ahead of him, but Toth quickly reached her side as they breezed down the lit cement hallway.
Her time with Toth had been a dream. For once in her life, she’d been someone’s everything. He’d made her feel adored, wanted, and, dammit, loved. Which was ridiculous. But in all the years she’d been with Jace, he’d never made her feel valued the way Toth had. She’d been nothing more than a convenience to him, and someone he’d barely respected.
Now that Brett was dead, she no longer needed Toth’s protection. That realization hit her like a bolt of lightning, zapping away the fuzzy warmth. She’d stupidly believed her world was no longer the dark, sordid place in which she’d been raised just because some guy had gone down on her and held her while she cried in front of a crackling fire.
“What the hell do you want?” Mark’s glowering stare met them when they entered the main floor of the warehouse. He stood watch, hands clasped in front of him. A cast covered his knuckles to his elbow.
Beside her, Toth snickered.
Savannah swallowed over the rock forming in her throat and straightened her shoulders. “I’m here to see my dad.” The explanation rang with a note ofobviously.
Fury grew on Mark’s face as he stared at Toth.
“Looks like that hurt,” Toth said with a chuckle.
Savannah groaned and sent him an abolishing glare over her shoulder. “Let’s get through tonight without any fights, okay?”
Toth held up an innocent hand. “Me? I’m cool, ’slong as he doesn’t lay a hand on you.”
Mark rocked his jaw back and forth and took a step away from the doorframe. “You know where to find him.”
Savannah hooked her arm through Toth’s and pulled him past the rows of shipping containers packed with drugs. A group of guys sat at a table playing cards, and the acrid stench of cigarettes burned her throat. One man shouted and another laughed. The clank of beer bottles echoed through the room.
“Hopefully we can make this quick.” She led the way down the hall, passing another of her father’s men, Frank, who recognized her and nodded.
They reached her dad’s office, and she rapped her knuckles on the door. “Dad, it’s me.”