Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Halle?” I called, knocking on her door. “Halle, open the door,” I demanded, then turned, ready to shoulder it open.
“Let’s not give the neighbors a reason to call the police, huh, Boss?” Miko asked, grabbing my shoulder, and moving me out of the way.
He reached into his pocket for a lock pick set, and made short work of the lock.
He moved aside, letting me rush in first.
To find… nothing.
Nothing but the sad, dark little apartment I’d seen before.
“Fuck!” I snapped, swinging out an arm, and sending a book flying off of her kitchen counter. “Damnit,” I growled at myself, stooping to grab the book, and putting it back to place.
I wasn’t going to fucking lash out.
That was too much like my father.
“What the fuck?” I said, raking a hand through my hair.
“Boss, what about the hospital?” Miko suggested, clearly the only one of us who had his head on right.
Of fucking course.
“Call the guards,” I demanded of Miko as I rushed back out of the apartment, down the stairs, then into the car.
“Not gonna wait to see if they say she’s there or not?” Silvano asked, climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Drive,” I demanded, needing to feel like I was doing something, not standing around like a fucking idiot.
“She could show, though,” I said when we got to the hospital, and Miko told me the guards hadn’t seen Halle.
“They said she called yesterday,” he added. “That’s… what is it?” he asked as I straightened.
“She has one of my burners,” I said.
“You hooked it up?” Miko asked.
Fuck.
“No. She’s gotta be using it on wifi… the library,” I said, remembering that she frequented it there.
It was public.
To her, it would feel relatively safe.
I ran around like a fucking fool all afternoon and evening, even going back to The Empress to see if she was staying there again.
Just… nothing.
“She’s gotta have someone, right?” Silvano asked, looking at me. “Aside from her grandfather, I mean.”
She did have someone else.
Her fucking best friend.
“Christ,” I hissed. “Miko!” I called.
“What’s up, boss?”
“The best friend. Lauren-something. Where can I find her?” I asked.
As it turned out, work.
We found her at work.
In fact, we waited outside of her building until she made her way out, her focus on her phone as she typed rapidly.
So she missed us.
Until we were all flanking her.
She tensed even before her gaze lifted. And when it did, it found me.
“This… tracks,” she decided, nodding at me.
“Where is she?” I asked, wincing a bit at the forcefulness in my tone. This was her best friend. Her knee-jerk reaction would be to protect her from aggressive men. Which was exactly how I was coming off.
“Oh, big guy, what’d you do to her?” she asked, her gaze moving over me, seemingly unbothered by the men all around her.
“I fucked up,” I admitted.
“Pretty big, if she ran away while in danger,” Lauren said.
“She is, Lauren,” I said. “In danger. She can’t be wandering around the city alone. She was attacked while she had a guard.”
“Hence the overkill now,” she said, gesturing around.
“Yes.”
Lauren sucked in a deep breath, then released it slowly.
“There are four men after her,” I pressed. “Men who almost killed her grandfather and one of my guards. I need to get her safe again.”
Lauren held my gaze for a moment, and I swear to fuck, it felt like she was seeing shit that I wasn’t intentionally showing her.
“She’s at my apartment,” she told me. “But I want to see her,” she added, voice firm.
“I’ll bring her to my apartment. Miko will take you there,” I said, waving toward Miko.
“You know… as pretty as all of you are, I think I will take my own ride there. Give me the address,” she demanded, surprisingly firm despite knowing she was talking to the mafia.
“Okay,” I agreed, waving toward the street, but giving Miko a nod.
He rushed to follow her as I turned and got in the car with Silvano, Tony, and Joe.
Lauren lived in a nice building with a doorman.
I wasn’t surprised, given where she lived and how she dressed. And I tried to remind myself as I waited for Joe and Tony to distract the doorman, that she was much safer at Lauren’s place than she’d be at her own.
I’d lucked out when a resident made their way out, holding the door open for me, then made my way up the elevator with anticipation sizzling through my veins.
I was careful to make my footsteps light as I got close to Lauren’s door, hoping she would think it was her friend, or possibly dinner getting delivered.
I even tried to knock more quietly than I normally would.
As I hoped, Halle seemed to be expecting Lauren or food, because she didn’t even look through the peephole.
She just slid the locks, and pulled the door open.
Then there she was.
Looking tired, a little red-eyed, and completely fucking shocked to see me standing there.