Basil glanced to Sherry and saw that she was peering over his shoulder at the scene he’d just taken her from. “Livius,” he said. “His name was Leonius Livius.”
She shook her head. “Not him. My father. I know his first name is Alexander, but I have no idea what his last name is.” She stiffened suddenly, her eyes shooting to his face as she asked, “He isn’t an Argeneau, is he?”
“No. We are not related,” he assured her at once.
Sherry relaxed with a little sigh. “Good. I mean what would it make us if you were my cousin or an uncle or something?”
“It would make us most unfortunate,” he said dryly.
“I’ll say,” she muttered, and then glanced around when he stopped. Seeing that they had arrived at the door, she reached out to pull it open for him without being asked. Basil caught the bottom of it with his foot and kicked it open wider, then ducked inside with her. When she sighed and leaned her cheek on his shoulder, he held her a little tighter, wanting to keep her there, just like that, forever.
Basil had never been more scared in his life than when he’d rushed out of the store and spotted Sherry in Leo’s grip. The moments before it had been stressful as well. First, Bricker had called in to say he’d spotted Leo’s boys in a coffee shop directly across from the mouth of the alley behind the store. Lucian had ordered him to park and pursue them.
Bricker had headed across the store then, intent on reaching Sherry and making sure she was okay. Lucian had followed, calling Basha as they went, and getting ahold of her just as she reached the entrance to the coffee shop and spotted the men inside. Bricker had heard him order her to wait for him and Alexander and then to help them handle the four men. Basil had barely hung up when Elvi suddenly burst out of the door to the office ahead of them. He hadn’t needed her to shout that Sherry was gone or to tell him there was a problem—the woman’s pale face and horrified expression had been enough to make him race past her and up into the office. He’d come to a shuddering halt on the upper landing, however, when he saw that Sherry was indeed gone.
“The back door,” Lucian had barked right behind him, and Basil started moving again, charging down the stairs and out into the alley. He would remember the moment when he’d spotted Leo and Sherry for the rest of his life. It was burned into his mind, into his very heart. The monster had his woman, and he was helpless to do a damned thing to save her. Still, he would have tried. He’d rushed forward, intending to tackle the bastard, which probably would have gotten Sherry killed or at least hurt, but he hadn’t been thinking. Fortunately, Lucian was, and had caught his arm to stop him.
Reaching the office now, Basil moved to the chair behind Sherry’s desk. He’d intended to set her in the chair, but once he got there, he settled in it himself with her on his lap. He wasn’t ready to let her go. He might never let her go again.
“What do I do?” Sherry asked, and he peered down into her face.
“You let me turn you like I wanted to do last night,” he said firmly, and when her eyes widened in surprise, he found himself suddenly angry. “You could have died, Sherry. Leo had you and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. You could have died.”
Sherry hesitated, but then pointed out gently, “Being immortal doesn’t really protect against that, Basil. Leo was immortal and he’s dead now.”
When Basil stared at her blankly, she sighed and admitted, “I was actually asking what I should do about not knowing my father’s last name.”
“Oh.” He frowned, and then glanced toward the door as it opened and Victor ushered Elvi inside.
“Are you okay?” Elvi asked anxiously, rushing around the desk toward them.
“Yes. I’m fine, really.” Sherry started to sit up, but Basil held her in place. She glanced toward him with surprise, and then turned back when Elvi began to speak again.
“It scared the crap out of me when I came back in and realized you were gone, and then I saw that the back door was cracked open, and I just knew Leo must have got in,” Elvi babbled. Squeezing her hands, she added, “Thank God you’re all right.”
“Yes, but more importantly, Stephanie is safe now,” Sherry pointed out with a smile, and Basil could have crushed the woman’s bloody neck. Who cared if Stephanie was safe? Stephanie had been safe in Port Henry. She was the one who had nearly died, dammit!
“Oh, my,” Elvi breathed, her eyes widening. Apparently, that hadn’t yet occurred to her. Now that it had, Basil couldn’t tell if she was going to burst into tears or shout with glee. The tears won out, and Elvi turned to Victor and buried her face in his chest, her shoulders shaking.
Much to Basil’s amusement, Victor peered down at his woman as if she’d lost her mind.
“Honey, this is a good thing,” he pointed out, his arms automatically going around her.
Elvi lifted her head to sob, “I knowwww,” and then buried her face in his chest once more.
“She’s just happy and relieved,” Sherry said, rubbing the other woman’s back sympathetically. “She must have been terribly scared for Stephanie. It must have killed her to let her out of her sight to come to Toronto.”
“It diddddd,” Elvi cried, burrowing deeper into Victor’s chest.
Victor peered helplessly from his woman to his brother. “I . . . er . . . I think I should . . . er . . .” Giving it up, he scooped Elvi into his arms and turned toward the stairs, only to pause to allow Lucian and Bricker to pass him and come into the room. The moment the way was clear, though, he headed down the stairs that led into the store.
“What the hell is going on?” Bricker asked with amazement as they watched Victor carry Elvi out. “First Basil’s carrying Sherry away, and then Marcus is carting a blubbering Basha off, and now Elvi’s sobbing to beat the band and Victor is playing he-man too. Have the women gone crazy or is this an immortal caveman convention?”
Lucian reached out and biffed the younger man in the back of the head.
“Ow,” Bricker complained, rubbing the spot. “What?”
“Show some respect,” Lucian snapped. “Basha just killed the man she’s thought of as her son for two millennia. There was no shame in her weeping over that.”