“My men will handle the situation.”
“You tell your men to get them up here at once,” Farnsworth snarled. “My daughter has waited long enough.”
Hancock gave Farnsworth a chilling stare that immediately took some of the belligerence from Farnsworth’s stance.
Grace rose, her fingers fisted at her sides. She stared expectantly at the doorway, and after whiat seemed an interminable wait, Rio appeared.
His gaze immediately found Grace and he would have started forward but she reached out to him.
Don’t. Don’t give him any reason to believe I’m anything more than a mission to you. Just as Hancock’s is to Farnsworth. Don’t give him anything to use against you or me.
Are you all right?
Even as he murmured the words in her mind, he relaxed, glancing around the room, his gaze cool as he seemed to take in any potential threat. He finally settled on Hancock and his lip curled in distaste.
“Is that any way to greet an old friend?” Hancock mocked.
Farnsworth’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You know each other? What’s going on here?”
“Nothing you need concern yourself with. Merely renewing an old acquaintance,” Hancock said mildly.
One by one, Rio’s team filed into the room. Elizabeth shrank into her pillow, and Grace reached down to take her hand.
“It’s all right,” she soothed. “No one here will hurt you.”
Soon the room was filled with men. Hard warriors. Armed. Expressions harsh as they seemed to weigh the opposition.
“This is how it’s going to play out,” Hancock began.
But Grace slipped her hand from Elizabeth’s and boldly stepped forward, staring Hancock in the eye.
“No, you aren’t calling the shots here. This is the way it’s going to happen. I want everyone out.”
She felt Rio’s immediate protest, but she shut him down with a quick mental rebuke.
“I won’t have this little girl intimidated by a bunch of hulking Neanderthals. You can all wait in the hall.”
“I’m not leaving my daughter,” Farnsworth said tightly.
“Of course not,” Grace murmured.
Then she looked to Rio. “Make sure he isn’t armed. He only stays if he has nothing on him that threatens me.”
“How the hell could you defend yourself against anything at all?” Rio ground out. “You’re going to be defenseless. He could kill you with nothing more than his bare hands.”
Elizabeth made a sound of alarm and then stared questioningly at her father.
“He and I have an understanding,” Grace said calmly. “He’s well aware of the consequences of him trying to kill me.”
Farnsworth whitened but he nodded. “All I want is for my daughter to be well again. What happens after is of little consequence to me. I’ve given her my guarantee that she and whoever accompanies her will leave the island unharmed.”
Rio looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he looked at Grace.
I love you. The fierceness in the declaration gave Grace the strength she needed for what was to come. Don’t you dare leave me. You hang on.
I love you too. Trust me.
I do, honey. I do. If I didn’t, I’d be tearing this f**king place apart from the top down. I don’t want you to worry. The entire KGI team is here. We’re not going to go down without a fight if that’s what it comes to.
Grace looked pointedly at Farnsworth. “We’re wasting valuable time.”
Farnsworth jerked in reaction and then barked the order. “Everyone out.”
Hancock waited until Rio made the first move, and when Rio and his team retreateÀteam retd from the room flanked by Hancock’s men, Hancock left last, turning one last time. But it wasn’t Farnsworth he looked at. It was Grace. His gaze was intense, and she was sure it held some meaning she wasn’t able to pick up on.
When everyone had left, Farnsworth closed the door and then turned back to Grace, hurrying to the bed. “Hurry, please. Whatever it is you need, just tell me.”
“What I need is for you to take a seat over there,” she said, pointing calmly to a chair by the window. “And don’t interfere. I don’t care what you see, what you hear, what happens. Do not interfere.”
Farnsworth leaned over the bed, gathered his frail daughter into his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, little one. Daddy loves you. I want you to always know that.”
Elizabeth smiled faintly. “I love you too. Now go so Grace can help me. She promised she would and I trust her.”
He looked startled by his daughter’s words, but he backed away, taking position on the very edge of the seat.
Grace took a deep breath and then she settled onto the bed next to Elizabeth, took both hands in hers and tried to infuse as much confidence into her smile as she could. She dreaded what she was about to do. She knew it could well be too much. The child was too far gone. So much cancer. Maybe they’d both die. But at least Grace would try. She had so very much to live for, and she knew if she failed, Rio and all his men’s lives would be forfeit.
“Close your eyes,” Grace said softly. “And I want you to concentrate hard. You’re going to feel me. Don’t fight it. But what I need you to do for me is to focus on being better, on fighting this illness and on getting better. The stronger you are, the stronger I can be.”
Elizabeth nodded and squeezed Grace’s hands. Grace smiled at the child’s obvious effort to give Grace reassurance.