Page 32 of Silk Shadow

Viper sighed but eased himself into a chair in the reception waiting area. This was a waste of time. He got that the police had to do their thing, but without a trace on the ship, they wouldn't get anywhere. He gave an impatient summary of what happened and then said he had to go. There was one person he was dying to see.

Robert.

That man was the only one who’d known about the party in advance. It had been his idea to go. His friend who’d hosted it. Viper wanted some answers.

He took a cab to the hospital where Robert was being treated. A flesh wound, the doctor said. They'd stitched him up and given him some antibiotics and painkillers. He should be able to go home soon.

"What do you want?" Robert barked as Viper marched into the room.

A thank you would be nice, Viper thought. He'd only saved the jerk’s ass, but instead he said, "We need to talk."

Robert looked wary. "It was your job to protect her. You failed. What is there to talk about?"

Okay, he was pushing it. Viper took a steadying breath. Luckily he’d been trained to withstand assholes. Besides, he had more important things to do than argue with Robert. Izzy’s life was at stake. "You wanted me to stay behind, remember?"

Robert frowned. "You don't think I had anything to do with this?"

Viper gave him a penetrating look. "That's what I'm trying to find out. You didn't want me onboard. You made that very clear. Why was that?"

Robert stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "Okay, if you must know, I wanted to get Izzy alone. I needed to talk to her about something."

"About what?"

"None of your business."

"In light of what's happened, it is my business. If you don't want to be a suspect in her abduction, then you better start talking."

Robert leaned back on the pillow. "Okay, relax. Izzy and I have been seeing quite a lot of each other over the last few months, and I wanted to talk to her about our relationship."

Viper scowled.

"I wanted to take it to the next level. I was going to tell her how I felt about her, and I didn't want a big oaf like you hanging around when I did it."

Viper studied him. He seemed legit. There was even a faint blush in the middle of his cheeks that hinted of wounded male pride.

We're not together.

Had Izzy lied about their relationship? Was there something between them?

Nah, there couldn't be. He recalled the way she'd been dancing with those men at the club. There was no way she was committed to this guy.

She didn't want to rip his clothes off. Wasn't that what she'd said to Emily?

It seemed Robert's feelings were not returned. Unrequited love. It was a bitch.

"Who else knew about the party on the yacht?" he asked.

"Nobody. It was a last-minute thing. I wasn’t even supposed to be here until next week. After I changed my plans, I rang Casper to tell him I'd be in town, and he invited us to the party. Naturally, I asked Izzy to join me."

"Who is Casper? Do you know him well?"

"Yeah, we studied together at Yale. I can vouch for him. He's a stellar guy."

I'm sure.

Viper thought for a moment. Casper had no reason to kidnap Izzy, nor did he have anything against her father, that they knew of. He could be in it with Robert, but Izzy had said herself, Robert couldn't afford to buy her out. She was more useful to him alive than dead. He had no motive.

Still, he'd given Blade both their names. They would do a more thorough check, including a search for outstanding warrants, previous records, or any other criminal activity. At the moment, however, it looked like this dickhead was in the clear.