Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
He was right. I knocked on Alina’s door. No answer. I knocked again. Still no answer. “You’re sure she’s in there?”
“She better be. Open it.” The concern in his voice sent a shiver through me. I turned the knob and swung the door open.
Alina was sitting cross-legged on her bed, typing away on a laptop, but she jumped up, and suddenly, there was a knife in her hand.
I held up my hands. “It’s just me. I knocked and called you.”
She set the knife down and pointed to her ears. “Headphones.”
So she was fine. She just hadn’t heard me. “I came to see if you wanted some dinner.”
She shook her head. “I made myself a sandwich a little while ago.”
“Lorenzo is making stir-fry. It smells really good.”
“Hmm,” she said. “That sounds good, but maybe I’ll eat some later. I’m trying to hack into my father’s security cameras, and I’m close.”
“Wait, how did you learn to be a hacker?”
“Some connections I made back home, videos on the internet, a little bit of innate computer skills. I thought it would be a useful skill.”
“That’s incredible. You must be as good as a professional if you can break into your father’s cameras.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. If I could’ve figured out a way to get paid and my father not suspect anything, I would have. But no, so far, I’ve only done this for myself.”
I realized Lorenzo was standing behind me when he said, “If you’re that good, then we might have a job for you when all this is over.”
She smiled. “We’ll see what happens. Now, go. I’ll let you know if I get in.” She shooed us out of the room.
The stir-fry Lorenzo made with chicken, broccoli, and peppers was as delicious as it smelled, and I was thrilled at the idea of Lorenzo cooking for us in different circumstances. If things worked out. If we all survived. If Lorenzo didn’t die while trying to protect me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m just thinking about what’s going to happen when we leave here.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“But how?” I wanted to believe he would, but no one crossed Remington Theriot and lived to tell about it.
“Don’t worry about that right now. I need to clean up, but then we’ll have to find something to do.” His salacious smile told me he already knew what he wanted to do. I loved the idea of more time in bed with him, but I was exhausted.
“I’m still tired from before.”
“We’ll see if you revive.”
He’d already come twice. “What kind of stamina level do you have?”
“Around you? Superhuman.”
I insisted on helping Lorenzo clean the kitchen. He said if I was really too tired for anything else, we could watch a movie.
When we were seated on the couch, I reached out, took the remote from him, and set it back on the tiny coffee table.
“You said you chose to come here with me instead of staying. Does that mean Remington didn’t send you?”
“At first, he expected me to stay and attack Ivanov with him, but after Alina showed up, he decided it was actually better for me to go with you. Ultimately though, it was still my choice.”
“You could’ve stayed with your brothers. I know how much you worry about them.”
“I could have, but they insisted they don’t need me protecting them. And you do.”
I felt a flutter in my chest. He’d chosen me. “I do.”
We sat in silence for a few moments. I could tell Lorenzo wanted to say something, but he was hesitating. “What is it?”
“I told you Remington ordered me to stay away from you and that he wants you sent away as soon as our operation ended.”
I nodded. “You did.”
“My brothers think I should’ve just told him no, and so does Alina, but there’s another reason that I was hesitant to let you stay with me.”
My stomach flip-flopped as my heart rate skyrocketed. “What is it?”
“Before you decide what you want for your future, you need to know about my past, about why I’m so adamant that I’m responsible for my brothers. After you hear my story, you can decide if you still want to trust me or not.”
My fear subsided a little. “Lorenzo, I don’t think there’s anything you’re going to tell me that would make me not trust you.” He was willing to die to defend me. How much more could he do to prove that to me?
“Just listen to my story.”
I nodded, though I didn’t think I could change my mind. A shiver of fear ran through me. What had he done?
“Seven years ago, I was doing some reconnaissance work for Bébé, Remington’s father. That was before he retired from running the family business. I needed to make contact with the Russians. I needed an inside source. So, being very sure of myself, I seduced one of your grandfather’s guards.”