Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“Saint … Talk to me.” Iris’s soothing voice snaps me back to reality. I don’t know if he’s blown his cover or he’s left Danyal, but his comforting tone is the thing I need to pull my head out of my ass.
“I’m here,” I say. “I’m getting out.”
“I’m on my way to the room with Danyal, but I snuck into the men’s room first. Get out now.”
I try not to think about Iris and Danyal coming here. Together.
Their chatter fills my head as Iris goes back to him, but I try to drown them out. I’m in the master bedroom that leads to a balcony, so I slip behind the closed curtains to the door, holding my breath as I unlock it with a click, and try to silently slide the door open enough to fit myself through.
I step out, and the cool air whips at me from twenty floors up. Now comes the tricky part.
“I’m outside. I’m going to try to get next door.”
“Outside …” Ghost says. “You’re climbing over the side?”
“Do I have any other choice?”
The apartments are separated by a partition, but it stretches out to the edge of the balconies. There’s no room for me to squeeze through.
I hope the railing is strong enough to take my weight.
A light in the apartment turns on, and I’m out of time.
I climb over, gripping on as tight as I can with my sweaty hands. I tell myself not to look down as I shuffle my feet toward the next balcony.
As I reach a point where I can jump onto the neighboring balcony, the light to Danyal’s main bedroom I escaped from turns on.
Fuck!
I quickly throw myself back over the railing and flatten myself against the partition separating the two. It has slats in the wood, not big enough to make anyone out but enough to detect movement.
“I made it next door,” I whisper into my comms.
Danyal’s bodyguard slides open the bedroom door wider and steps out. He won’t be able to see me, especially with the light coming from behind him, but I can’t move a fucking inch or my cover will be blown.
I hold my breath.
Footsteps echo in my ears. Getting closer. Closer.
I slowly and silently reach into the tote bag for the Taser, preparing to do whatever I need to so I can get out of here, but then he pauses.
The chatter in my ear snaps back into focus.
“Nice room,” Iris says.
He’s put himself in a spot he might not be able to get out of because of me.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Ahmed, where are you?” Danyal calls out.
“Outside.”
I flinch at the bodyguard’s voice, still way too close for my liking.
“Did you leave the balcony door open?” Ahmed asks.
“Maybe?” Danyal’s closer now too. Movement catches my eye, and I assume both Danyal and Iris are out here as well. “I can’t remember. Can you give me and my new friend some privacy?”
“As you wish.” The bodyguard’s footsteps finally head away, and I can let out a relieved breath, but it’s short-lived.
There’s a whistle sound. “Nice view,” Iris says, and it echoes in my earpiece.
“You can’t see anything,” Danyal says.
“I meant it would be nice during the day. Looking out at the beach. I wish I had my phone to take a photo.”
“Of … the dark?”
Iris is being nonsensical, but as his hand appears over the side of the partition, wiggling his fingers at me, I realize what he wants me to do. I slip the spyware device into his hand.
“I mean a selfie. Can I use yours?”
“Uh, sure. Here.”
A few seconds later, a flash goes off.
“I’m going to send it to myself. You look so hot in my shirt.”
He plays dude-bro so well, but it takes all my strength to rein in my inner caveman. Even though Iris and I have agreed to be friends, apparently my possessive side didn’t get that memo. It’s still reliving the feeling of Iris’s mouth on my skin and the way he gave himself over to me.
“Let’s go inside,” Danyal says seductively, and I almost jump back over there to punch him in the face.
Luckily, I’m not the loose cannon here. Iris is. And I have no idea how he’s going to get out of this one.
If he hooks up with Danyal to keep his cover, I might lose my shit. I don’t have a right to, but that’s not going to stop me. There’s something dirty about sleeping with someone for a job. It doesn’t sit right with me.
They go back inside, and as soon as the door closes, I make my move and climb back over the railing, carefully bypassing two more rooms before I land on ours.
I knock on the door, and Ghost lets me in.
I thought I was fine. I thought I was over the near miss in Danyal’s room.