Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
“You’re either perfect or psychotic,” I mutter.
“Aw, you do say the most romantic things. Do you need me to maneuver in a way that gives you better vision?”
“No, babe. What you’re doing is perfect.”
The flash of green is only a speck, so far behind us I can’t see much. I don’t want her to slow down because that could put us in a compromising situation, but I want to see the motherfucker up close.
“Can you see anything at all?” she asks.
“Looks like a sunroof… but I can’t see much else.”
Violet frowns. “That sounds familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“Me neither.”
“Fuck, they took an exit.”
I watch as the green car slows and gets off the highway behind us.
“Maybe they weren’t following us?”
I shake my head. Doesn’t make sense they weren’t. Doesn’t make sense at all.
My phone rings, and I quickly answer it. “Yeah?”
“Boss.” Henri. “I’ve got some information for you that may prove useful.”
Violet takes the exit that brings us home.
“I want to hear it but first, I want you to notify the team at the house that Violet and I are almost there, and we are pretty certain we were followed by a green car.”
“Green, sir?”
“Yeah. Ring a bell for you?”
“I don’t want to point fingers or raise unnecessary suspicion, sir. Is that all you have to go on?”
“Yeah. Henri.” My voice is tight. “Spill.”
“Armand had a green car, sir. Would he be so foolish as to follow you without bothering to get another car?”
“I don’t know.”
Foolish, maybe. Lazy, definitely.
“What did you find, Henri?”
“I’ve found a record of Violet’s mother, sir. And it’s… let’s just say it’s interesting. I have to investigate further though.”
That tells me nothing. “You have nothing else to tell me?”
“Not yet, sir.”
We’ll have to double down our efforts. But we’re making progress. We’re getting somewhere. I hang up with Henri, and Violet looks my way.
“What?”
“Armand drove a green car.”
“Well that doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have green cars.”
I nod. “Yeah, but I’ve heard it on good authority that he doesn’t let shit go.”
She blows out a breath. “Of course not. That would be far too simple, wouldn’t it?”
Oh yeah. It truly would.
Her stomach growls when we pull into the drive at the house. I check on security, and all confirm—no one followed us here. Surveillance has been doubled. We’re safe here.
“Inside.”
“Cain, you’re acting like a sniper’s just going to jump out at us at any moment.”
“They did at Descamps’ house.”
She snorts. “They weren’t at Cain Master’s private house, were they? Cain, when I hired my first ride here, the driver wouldn’t even come this far.”
“No?”
“No. He found out who lived here and he was done. Dropped me off a mile away and made me walk.”
“Now that’s a form of bullying. I want his name.”
“You can’t beat up everyone that isn’t nice to me.”
“Watch me. And how did you know that’s what I wanted to do?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because you’re super fucking predictable.”
Oh she is in so much trouble.
I practically kick open the door to the house and usher her in. “Get in there.”
“Yes, sir,” she says in that sickly sweet tone reserved for nothing but sarcasm. I slap her ass.
“Cain,” she says, abashed.
“Violet,” I mimic. I take out my phone and dial Henri. “You find anything else out?’
“Was just about to call you.”
“Yeah? Why?”
“We found out some more information. It wasn’t Violet’s father who killed anyone. He was their I.T. guy, not an assassin.”
I blow out a breath as I meet Violet’s eyes. This intel challenges something she’s held as truth for years.
“Any more intel?”
“We’re working on it, sir. I’ll let you know as soon as we have anything. Joe’s got one of the security guys to talk.”
“Excellent.” I don’t ask how. I don’t need to know anything at all.
When we enter the house, the rest of my security detail swarms around me. Violet’s swept out of my arms and inspected; someone swabs antibacterial ointment onto a cut I didn’t even know I had. I grunt my way through updates and get another call from Team Alpha. The investigation is under full swing, and Henri’s trying to get camera footage from the chase we had.
“Okay, kids,” Violet says, shooing away anyone else who tries to come anywhere near her. “Leave mama be.”
I shrug off Skylar, who’s holding gauze in one hand and glaring at me. “Sky, babe, leave him be,” Violet says over my shoulder, but we both know what Skylar’s been through and sometimes we don’t know what will trigger a response.
Skylar’s eyes fill with tears. “You guys scared the shit out of me,” she sniffs, angrily wiping her eyes. “I saw that car come after you, and I—”
“Wait, what?” Violet says.
Skylar’s eyes widen. “What? Did I do something wrong?” She’s not normally this skittish, but something’s got her worried.
“Skylar, how did you see us? What footage?”