Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 57121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57121 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
“Did she kick your ass to the curb?”
“Sort of,” I mutter, remembering the flurry of texts, the heat we shared, the ache in my chest and in other places. “But she didn’t outright reject me. She made me promise not to watch her anymore. It just got out of hand so fast. I don’t know what it is.”
“I already told you—smitten.”
“Men like us don’t get smitten.”
“Apparently, we do,” Nikolai says, chuckling. “Maksim Volkov, the scariest man in DC—and that’s saying a lot—obsessed with a random woman.”
“Don’t call her that,” I snap. “And don’t make light of it.”
He flinches, then nods. “Sorry, brother. Damn. I didn’t mean it. You care about her a lot, then.”
“She… interests me,” I say. “Everything about her. For months, those stolen minutes made me feel more… hell, I don’t know.”
“No, go on.”
“More human,” I grunt. “More real. Like I might have a chance at a real life. Fuck, I sound like a goddamn stalker. I know that.”
“Newsflash… you don’t sound like a stalker. You are one. But fuck it, we’ve done worse than that.”
“Not to women,” I say.
“Yeah, no shit, but still. You didn’t do anything that bad. What did you mean by sort of when I asked if she kicked your ass to the curb?”
“She knows it’s wrong, but I think there are some feelings there. Or maybe I hope there are, somewhere in this big mess.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen you like this,” Nikolai says. “You should try to make it work.”
We park, then walk into the restaurant. The security guard stares in disbelief as we swagger in. This is a power play, letting Conrad Vale know we can waltz into his businesses any damn time we want and there’s nothing he can do about it.
He can make moves from the dark, but he can’t challenge us openly.
We sit and eat and stare at the security cameras. Ironic. Now, I’m the one being watched.
Later, I check my texts as we wait for Anton to meet us at my office. Lia hasn’t sent anything else since yesterday.
Anton joins us a minute later, a grim look on his face.
“We vetted everyone,” he says. “There are no leaks at the data center.”
“How did Daniel look in the security footage, like someone was pulling his strings?”
Anton nods. “A Vale hand up his ass.”
Nikolai laughs. “We know this already.”
“How did he get access to the building?” I snap, glaring at my brother. “That phone had an automatic data wipe on it. If the GPS registered it left the building, it was supposed to wipe itself. Considering the trouble that Vale is going to, I’m assuming they somehow disabled that. How did he know where it was, even? Somebody must’ve leaked something.”
Anton nods. “I agree, boss.”
“Then find them,” I growl. “There are millions of dollars at stake. The integrity of our organization. Our whole fucking world. And you’re telling me we know nothing?”
“Relax,” Nikolai says quietly. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Somebody must know something.”
“What about Eli?” I demand, referring to the lowlife who tried to attack Lia in the parking lot.
“In bad shape,” Anton grunts. “But still with his mouth shut.” He says this with a note of respect. There’s no question we’d all do the same in these circumstances.
“So, we have nothing,” I say.
“For now,” Nikolai says. “Take a breath. We’ll work this out. We’re clearly missing something important.”
“Clearly,” I grunt.
“We’ve got this, brother,” Nikolai says. “This is bad, sure. But we’ve been through bad before and come out the other side.”
I nod. He’s right.
Moping won’t get us anywhere.
I wave a hand at Anton. “Check again. I don’t doubt your work, but something isn’t right.”
“Yes, boss.”
CHAPTER 13
LIA
I’m in the break room with Tessa, the doctor I’m closest with here at the hospital. She’s only a few years older than me and a serious inspiration. She’s tall, neat, and extremely smart. She wears her red hair short. I’ve just asked her what she’d do if a man she liked was secretly watching her.
The look on her face tells me it was a mistake. “Watching you?”
“I’m not asking for me,” I say quickly. “I’m reading a book about it and it got me thinking, that’s all. They have crazy chemistry and they feel strongly about each other. But he was watching her without her knowing.” I shrug. “Just curious what you’d think.”
She relaxes a little, buying my lie. I feel bad, but it’s not like I can tell her anything that’s going on. The hospital is experiencing a minor scandal because of Daniel’s sudden disappearance. Patients discharging themselves is nothing new, but vanishing? That’s a different matter entirely.
Now that Tessa thinks we’re talking about a book, she brightens up. “Is this guy hot?”
I think about last night, how reckless I became after reading his messages. It was like I went into a completely different state, every inch of my skin burning. I don’t understand how something as simple as texting can produce that response in me, but it did.