Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
A bang sounded at the door.
“Yes?” Chase said. There was no denying the aggravation in his voice as he targeted his gaze on my robe’s tie.
“The stewardess told me my sister woke up,” Troy said from the other side.
My mouth dropped open. “My brother’s here?”
“Vivian too.” Chase winked. “Like I said, I had other surprises.”
“Jasmine?” Troy knocked again.
“Yeah,” I called back. “I’m coming out in a minute.”
“Make it sooner. The food smells good. I’m hungry,” Troy said. His footsteps pounded away. Like Vivian, he could never keep quiet when he moved. If he walked, he stomped. If he ran, his feet crashed into the pavement like a hammer slamming against a nail.
Vivian and my brother are on the plane, as I’m held captive? This won’t be good.
“Are you still mad?” Chase brought his attention back to me.
“Yes.”
“Did the mention of Chef Dubois make you less mad?” He leaned in closer to me.
“No.”
He rubbed those soft lips against my ear. “What about my bringing along Troy and Vivian?”
“It’s just going to make this trip more stressful. Those two fill the room with so much anxiety it’s hard to breathe when I’m around them both. I would rather sit on a plane with a Christian zealot and a Muslim suicide bomber, and ask them which religion is right.”
“You’re a hard woman to please.” He nipped at my chin. Sparks shouldn’t have tickled my whole face, but they did.
I moved away from him. “You’re a hard man to be with.”
He grinned. “So we’re back together?”
“No.”
“Because you’re mad?”
“Because too much is going on and I still need time to think.”
“How much time?”
“I’m not sure. We just have to figure out if a relationship with you is even possible.”
Silence came next. In those quiet seconds he seared me with a gaze that was hard to maintain. Every inch of me wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. Chase thrived on fear. In all his business deals, he maintained the upper hand and kept all those around him shaken and unsure of themselves. I couldn’t let him know that he had me rattled or confused with everything happening around us.
Chase’s voice held a sharpened edge. “What does that mean? Of course a relationship with me is possible.”
“You’re used to being with three to four women at a time. I’m only one.”
“I know how to count.”
“There’s already so much happening.”
“Not when it comes to us.”
“And—” I gasped as he buried his face into my neck and sucked. “Chase, you’re not. . .going to be able to. . .fuck. . .distract me all the time.”
“We’ll see about that.” He nibbled on the curve of my neck and backed away. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat and then get you back in bed. You need your rest.”
“The way you’re looking at me right now makes me think you’re not going to let me rest when I get back in bed.”
He licked his lips. “I’ll be good.”
“No you won’t. FYI, there won’t be any sex or anything until my captor, which is you, returns me home.”
He grunted and directed his attention back to my robe’s tie.
“I’m serious,” I muttered.
“I hear you.”
Bullshit.
“Where are we flying to?” I asked.
“Atrani. It’s a small town in Italy where my family is from.”
“Stone is an Italian name?”
“It used to be Stonetti, but my great grandfather changed it.” He put his back to me and grabbed his pajama top on the floor. “Dawn’s and Lucy’s families are from there too. It’s how we all grew up together. Our relatives have been friends for years.”
I cringed at the sound of their names. Something nagged at the back of my head. “So we’re not just going there for travel?”
“I have to check something out.” He put on his shirt and headed to the door.
“What?”
He paused. “The cops found some bullets in the alley. The pistol they said it came from sounds like one from my father’s collection. He used to keep it at this house. One summer I buried it.”
“And if it’s the same gun?” I trailed behind him as he left the bedroom.
“Then I can check Wendy off the list. The only people who knew where the gun was hidden were Lucy, Dawn, and I. And there would’ve been no reason to dig it up.”
“Why not?”
“Because. . .” An exasperated breath escaped his lips. “When we buried the gun, we buried a dead body with it.”
Chapter 7
JASMINE
Buried a dead body? What does that even mean?
Chase refused to say anything else, gesturing to Troy and Vivian as they walked ahead of us in the small passageway. Weeks ago, they would have been hand in hand as they walked, Troy fondling Vivian’s behind every few steps as if he was afraid it would detach and fly away. Today, space ran between them. Vivian seemed to stumble forward instead of walk. Troy kept his hands closed into fists at his side.