Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 774(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
“Okay. I’ll call you back in a minute.”
“Wish Mommy luck, Laurel.”
“Da,” my baby cried right on cue.
I fought to keep the smile off my face walking in. Serious bitch boss on a serious job to take down a serious guy. So what I was flying high on the sexy make-out session Bane and I had in Harmony Park, then in the back seat of the car, then in the elevator up. I wanted to take it back to his place, but Laurel and her nightly bedtime routine called my name.
I had my baby back, Sunny was an incredible boyfriend in and out of bed, Liam’s punishment heated me up whenever I thought about it, Bane dumped his vow, and we were closer than ever to finding out who tried to kill Liam and Sunny.
Putting on a pissed-off mask was harder than ever these days.
Inside, the guards greeted me at the concession stand. “Boys.”
“Boss,” they replied.
“I forgot something,” I said, compelled to give a reason. “Won’t be here long. Everything as it should be?”
“Yes,” Orlando said. “No trouble.”
“Good.”
I passed by them, moving into the back room. Most of the hustle thinned out, leaving half a dozen people going about their work. One of them was Athena.
“Oh, hello, boss.” She hopped off the couch she was riding with three other women on her team. Each one as dangerous, muscular, and gorgeous as her. Sunny wasn’t messing around when he said he surrounded himself with beauty. “Dropping in on us? What’s wrong? You don’t trust us?”
My teeth gritted. Oh look, there’s my pissed-off mask. “Course I trust you, Athena,” I said, tilting my head. “Why wouldn’t I? Unless... are you planning another secret meeting with a rival of the Merchants?”
The smirk wiped off her face. Behind her, two of her girls stood up. “Secret meeting? What is she talking about, Athena?”
“It wasn’t like that,” she snapped. “He approached us for a deal. All we did was listen. Final decision goes to you obviously, boss.”
Erasing the distance between us, our chests bonked with neither one backing down. “Do it again,” I whispered. “Please. Say my title like that again, so you can find out what’ll happen.”
Her eyes flashed. Fists balling, I felt their ache to bury in my stomach.
“Sunny told me about you,” I said. “Went on about how strong, smart, funny you are. That you’re the best at what you do.”
She blinked, glare fading. “He said that?”
“Yeah, he did. Sunny swore I would like you. Seemed to believe we’re destined to be friends.” I softened. “I get that I came out of nowhere, popping up the day you find out your boss died. I don’t blame you for not trusting me, but if you believe anything, believe this. I’ll do whatever it takes to find the bastard that attacked Sunny. He was the first guy in, well... ever, to treat me like I was worth anything. He didn’t deserve to go out the way he did, and someone’s going to pay for it.
“Tell me right now, Athena. Are we doing this together or aren’t we? ’Cause I’ve got no time to be fighting you in the middle of this war. What’s it going to be?”
Athena studied me for a long time, either searching for the trick in my words or deciding whether or not to punch me after all.
She clicked her tongue, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I’m not who you need to worry about. We want the same thing, boss.”
Boss. No mocking added.
“As long as we do, we’re good.” She went back to her girls.
Bane’s advice was good, but sometimes, the straightforward approach worked too.
I continued on to Sunny’s office, dialing him on the click of the latch.
“I’m here. Where do I go?”
“Go to the bookshelf. Third row from the top. It’s behind Native Son.” I rushed over, taking Sunny’s desk chair with me. He was tall enough to reach the shelf without help, I was not.
Climbing up, I lit on Native Son.
“There’s a switch,” Sunny continued. “Flip it and the wet bar swings open.”
“Seriously? That’s so cool.”
I did as he instructed and, as promised, soft creaks pierced the silence. The wet bar swung away from the wall, revealing a chest-high opening. I ducked inside and stood up within a small room. A steel door faced me, and by its side, a metal keypad.
“You in, Angel?”
“I’m in. What do I do?”
“There are two codes and a passphrase. First code: 14738.”
I typed it in, and heard the faint sound of the bolt disengaging.
“Press and hold zero, then say: All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
I recited it word for word—my reward another disengaged lock.
“Oooh, Edgar Allan Poe. Very literary, baby.”
“You like that? There’s more where that came from,” Sunny said. “I was an English major. Can quote that Shakespeare shit and Poe stuff all day. Whatever gets your thong off.”