Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 41105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
My used Audi is parked on the far end, an instant standout amidst his custom collection.
I resist the urge to ask how he got it here.
“Here you are.” He places the keys in my hand. “Drive safe, Autumn.”
“It’s only ‘Autumn’ when we’re dating, and ‘Miss Jane’ when I’m working for you,” I say. “I forgot to mention that I need to set some boundaries sooner with you.”
His lips curve into a smile as I slip behind the wheel. “I see.”
“I’ll do the same for you, Mr. Rochester.”
“You’ll call me ‘Ryder’ for everything.” He brushes a few strands away from my forehead. “Those are my boundaries. And you’ll stop holding back the question you actually want to ask, since I can see right through you.”
“Fine. Why did you ask me to pick up your daughter when you barely know or trust me?”
“I do trust you.”
“Why?”
“I’m an excellent judge of character, for one,” he says. “But honestly, you have no one to tell.”
“That sounds dark and disturbing.”
“The truth usually is. Speaking of which…” He leans over me and opens the glove box, pulling out a folder. “I’m sure you’ll need this in a few hours.”
“What is it?”
“It’s for your friend, Kylie.”
“Who?”
“Your best friend that you mentioned.”
“I didn’t tell you her name…”
“You didn’t have to.” He smirks, shutting my door. “She called the health department pretending to be my mother. Apparently, she wanted a digital copy of my birth certificate and a couple of other things that are a complete violation for strangers to get. I’m sure she’ll tell you about that when you see her later, though.”
I can feel all the color draining from my face.
I have no idea what to say.
“I don’t have any living family members besides Adeline,” he says, still looking amused. “The clerk knew it was a fraudulent call and wanted to get the police involved, but I told her to let it slide this time.”
I swallow. “I appreciate that.”
“Good. For the record, you know far more about me than most people do already.” He bends down and presses his mouth against mine, biting my bottom lip before slowly letting go.
“Let me know if she finds anything interesting in her research. I’m intrigued…”
End of Episode 4
An Unexpected Variable
EPISODE 5
Ryder
Adeline snores softly as I tuck her under a blanket.
To my surprise, she didn’t spend our dinner peppering me with different flavors of the “When are you sending me back to London?” question.
Instead, she filled me in on all her classmates’ lives and asked if they could join her in coming home next time.
She knows damn well that the answer is “no,” but I’ve always struggled to say that word to her. I always settle for a “We’ll see.”
As I turn off her lamp’s light, a soft knock sounds against her door.
Looking over my shoulder, I spot Chester, and he motions for me to meet him in the hallway.
“We’ll talk about London in the morning.” I kiss Adeline’s cheek and shut the door behind me.
“Good to see that she’s adjusting well to her life in London,” Chester says. “I won’t say ‘I told you so,’ when it comes to daughters needing their fathers.”
“If you need a friend to bother late at night, let me know and I’ll hire one for you.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He follows me to the staircase. “You’ll need to hold off on the next job for another week or so.”
“Did someone make a mistake or a miscalculation?”
“Yes.” He stops walking. “It was you.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Autumn Jane can’t go to Canada.”
“So, you’re on this again.” I hold back a sigh. “Is it because you don’t want her to?”
“I’ve never wanted her to be here in the first place.”
“It’s not your call to make. She’s going.”
“It’s not fucking possible.” He steps closer. “She. Can’t. Go.”
My chest tightens.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“With all due respect, whenever I give orders—”
“The moment she flashes her passport at customs,” he says, interrupting me, “it’ll trigger an alert if we’re lucky, and someone nice will tell us that she needs to return home. If we’re unlucky, which we will be, because we’re flying private, she’ll be arrested on the spot, charged with an international criminal offense, and then held in an immigration detention cell until she faces a court date. Oh, and… we won’t be waiting for her to get out. That is my call to make.”
What the… I stare at him, stunned as all hell.
“The whole point of her employment is being undetectable, right?” He softens his tone. “So, that’s why she’ll have to go as ‘Sarah Stone,’ and we’ll need to wait and make sure our guys in customs can get her through, since we can’t risk using whoever is on shift this week.”
“And we’re what—three days from departure?”
“Exactly.” His voice tightens. “Which is why you need to listen to me on this.”