“Of course she is,” Sherry said wearily. “You two basically adopted Stephanie, from what I can tell, and now she’ll have to leave and it’s all my fault.”
“No,” he said solemnly. “It isn’t, and Elvi will realize that and feel bad for what she said the moment she calms down.” He hesitated and then added, “And Basil is right, it may not have been Leo you saw at the service center. We know his sons are always with him. According to Basha, he never travels without at least a couple of his sons at his side. In fact, the only time he has been without them was when we captured a handful of his boys and he was trying to free them. So, if you did not see any of the other Leos at the service center, then it probably was not him that you saw, just someone who looked like him or reminded you of him.”
Sherry bit her lip, but then pointed out, “Maybe, but then if I’d just remembered seeing him at the mall today, you would have known not to come back here, and Stephanie wouldn’t have to leave.”
“You are determined to take responsibility for this, aren’t you?” Victor said with a faint smile, and then shook his head. “You did not remember seeing him when you regained consciousness, Sherry. You still do not recall it. How could you tell us something that you do not remember?” He shook his head. “No, Sherry. You hold no fault here. Leo is the only one at fault. Now,” he added, his smile fading. “You two need to pack.”
“Pack?” Basil asked.
Victor nodded. “Harper sent for his helicopter. He and Drina are taking Sherry and Stephanie back to Toronto to the Enforcer house. I a.s.sume you will want to accompany Sherry?”
“Yes, of course,” Basil said at once.
“Then pack and come downstairs. If you are quick, you might even have enough time to eat before the helicopter gets here.” Smiling wryly, he turned to the door as he added, “Otherwise the rest of us are going to be eating tacos for a week.”
Ten
“All right?”
Sherry glanced back at Basil as he followed her into Harper’s apartment. She forced a smile and nod but couldn’t resist adding, “I really don’t think I like helicopters, though.”
Stephanie patted her arm sympathetically as she moved past her into the large entry. Shrugging out of her jacket, she said, “Yeah. I didn’t care for it myself at first. But you get used to it. Sort of.” She grimaced and then admitted, “Well, not really. I still get nauseous myself, just less nauseous.”
“That sounds encouraging,” Sherry muttered, taking both her overnight bag and Basil’s from him and then moving past him and out of the way as he removed his overcoat. She didn’t have a jacket to remove. Bricker hadn’t packed her one and it wasn’t something she’d thought to buy on their trip, so she’d done without. It hadn’t been that big a deal. While it had been nice out that day, it was fall, and the temperature had dropped at night. Fortunately, she didn’t have to walk far, merely crossing the street from Casey Cottage to the schoolyard where the helicopter collected them, and then crossing the roof to enter the building here, when they landed.
“Sherry,” Drina called, following them into the apartment with Harper on her heels.
Pausing, she glanced back questioningly.
“Don’t jump out of your skin in surprise if Lucian is in the living room,” Drina warned.
“Lucian?” she asked with confusion.
Drina nodded. “Harper called and left a message that we were coming back. Last time he did that, we found Lucian waiting here when we arrived.” She shrugged. “I just didn’t want him giving you a scare if he’s done that again.”
Nodding, Sherry turned and continued forward, taking the four steps that led down into a large open living room. This time she looked around curiously as she went, expecting to find the grim-faced Lucian Argeneau somewhere, his hard eyes full of accusation and inspecting her as if she were a bug under a microscope. Instead, she found a glorious room empty of people, but filled with beautiful furnishings. Most of the large s.p.a.ce was set up as a seating area by a large fireplace, but the far end held a dining room table and chairs.
“Wow,” she breathed, setting the bags down beside one of the couches and moving to the windows. The apartment was apparently the whole top floor of the building, but this large room took up at least one corner of the floor. Windows made up the wall in front of her and the wall to her right, presenting a view of the city that was absolutely stunning.
“Nice,” Basil commented behind her, and Sherry turned to peer at him with disbelief.
“Nice?” She turned back to look out over the city skyline and asked, “You think this is just ‘nice’?”
“It’s hard to beat the New York skyline at night for making an impression.”
Sherry glanced to her right at that dry comment, to see Lucian coming out of what was obviously the kitchen. The man had a drink in one hand and a wax-paper-wrapped submarine sandwich on a plate in the other. He carried both to the sunken sofa in front of the fireplace and set them on the coffee table as he sat down.
“Sit,” he ordered, and then glanced back the way he’d come and barked, “Bricker! Do not forget the—” He ended on a grunt of satisfaction as a bag of potato chips flew through the kitchen doorway and sailed across the room toward him. Lucian caught the bag and dropped it on the table next to his plate, then glanced to Sherry as Basil urged her to sit on the sofa opposite.
Lucian’s gaze was sharp and direct. It was also penetrating. The man didn’t mess about. He went straight into her thoughts. Sherry could feel him ruffling about in there, sorting through memories and thoughts and raking up what he was looking for. When he found it, he grunted with seeming displeasure and immediately turned his attention to opening the chips.
“Dinner?” Basil asked with amus.e.m.e.nt.
“Leigh had just put dinner on the table when I got Harper’s message,” Lucian said. “So I had Bricker stop for sandwiches on the way here.” He blinked and wrinkled his nose as the chip bag opened, and Sherry could only a.s.sume the smell that wafted out surprised him. He tilted the bag to read the label. A curse slipped from his lips then and he glanced toward the kitchen door and barked, “I said barbecued chips, Bricker.”
“They didn’t have barbecued chips,” Bricker announced, coming out of the kitchen with a drink, a sandwich on a plate, and a bag of chips of his own. “So I got you Salt and Vinegar. Trust me, Salt and Vinegar rock with subs. You’ll like them.”