Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Perspiration dusts my skin and a fully fledged panic attack is imminent.
“So Colette, are you a local?” Thomas smiles calmly.
“Oui.”
He says something to her in French and she laughs and says something back.
Edward’s cold eyes hold mine; he’s openly pissed.
Well, that makes two of us…get your hand off her, asshole.
“So what did you do today?” Edward asks me.
“Um.” I try to think on my feet. “Had lunch. Went shopping, got a blowout.”
Witty….
Edward’s eyes roam over my hair as if deciphering whether I’m lying.
“What did you do?” I ask nervously.
“Lots of things.” He sips his drink and turns his attention back to Thomas. “So, Thomas, what’s your surname?”
“Oh my gosh, did you see what they have on the menu?” I cut him off.
“Yes I did.” Thomas plays along. “We’re going to have to get it.”
Edward’s jaw clenches as he glares at Thomas.
“Let’s get one.” I grab Thomas’s hand and pull him to the bar.
“Shit. Shit. Shit,” I whisper.
“What are you shitting about, I’m the one about to be murdered.” He opens the menu. “Great knowing you, Alora, we should have had sex before we came down so it was at least worth it.”
My eyes linger on Edward and Colette as they chat. “Do you think she’s pretty?”
“Who fucking cares?” he whispers. “We need to leave. Now!”
“Oh, you think?” I widen my eyes. “And for the record, you are terrible at being discreet.”
“Says the woman trying to piss off the most powerful man in Europe, have you gone completely fucking mad?”
“I’m in the middle of it right now,” I whisper angrily.
“What will it be?” the bartender asks.
“Umm….” I open the menu.
“Do tell what this great thing that we have to order is?” Thomas raises an eyebrow.
“Dead in a ditch looks good.” I smile through gritted teeth.
“Be careful what you wish for, Alora.” He smiles sweetly. “I’m pretty sure his bodyguards kill people for less.”
I look over at them. “You think?”
“I know.” He widens his eyes. “You do not fuck with this man.”
“Oh.” I frown. “Maybe just—”
“Order some goddamn drinks.” He cuts me off.
My eyes scan the choices on the menu. “If you only listened to me, I did tell you not to come.”
“Oh, so this is my fault.”
“Absolutely.”
“For the record.” He continues reading the menu. “If we do happen to survive tonight, we are one hundred percent having sex.”
“Oh my god. Stop talking,” I whisper angrily. “Just get me the fuck out of here.”
EDWARD
I watch Alora and Thomas at the bar, furious.
“Excuse me for a moment, I’m just going to the bathroom,” I tell Colette.
“Sure.”
I walk past my men and give them a subtle nod; they follow me out to the foyer.
“Yes, boss?”
“Who is that man with Alora?”
They exchange glances. “No idea.”
“I want a name and address, you have ten minutes.” I turn and walk back to Colette.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I dig it out.
Philippe
To use facial recognition we need a close photo.
Fucking idiots. I run my tongue over my teeth in annoyance.
This is a first.
“Let me take a photo of you, Colette.” I hold up my phone. “Smile.”
She smiles playfully and I take a photo. I linger with my phone out waiting for them to come back from the bar and I casually glance over.
The fuck are they doing over there?
I keep pretending to take photos and eventually they come back to stand with us. Click. I snap a photo of Thomas and immediately send it to Philippe.
Thomas starts yapping on to Colette again and my eyes go to Alora. “So…what’s the deal here?”
“What do you mean?”
I lean in closer so they can’t hear us. “Who is this?” I gesture to Thomas with my chin.
“He’s an old friend.”
A surge of jealousy runs through my system like a tidal wave.
“What kind of old friend?”
“Edward, this is really none of your business, but I would like to discuss who your date is.”
“An old friend.”
She raises her glass to me and then takes a sip, animosity bounces between us.
Touché.
“We can’t stay long,” Alora says. “We have a dinner reservation.”
I begin to hear my heartbeat in my ears…. If she leaves with him….
“Thomas, we should get going?” she tells him.
“Sure.”
“One more drink.” I try to stall. “My treat.”
“Umm.”
“I insist.” I walk to the bar and order another round.
My phone vibrates with a text in my pocket and I take it out and discreetly read it.
Philippe
His name is Thomas Stone. He’s a male escort.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
EDWARD
What!
My eyes rise to Philippe and he shrugs as if he’s as surprised as I am.
Why would she be on a date with a male escort? As if she needs to pay for sex, every man on earth would give his left kidney to sleep with her. This doesn’t make sense.
I don’t get it.
I text him back:
Me
Are you sure?
An answer flies in:
Philippe
According to our sources.
Hmm….
What the fuck is going on here?