Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
It looks like there’s some kind of programmed bot set up. At the bottom of the screen, there are a bunch of codes running. I don’t have a clue what they mean, but I’ve got a pretty good guess. The Irish are working with the Russians. Is this what they’re dealing in? Illegal gambling rings?
Before I have a chance to come to a decision on my own, Alexei’s eyes snap open and find mine. He drags himself into an upright position and scrubs a hand over his face. He doesn’t look surprised in the slightest that I stumbled into this room, but I still have to wonder.
“Is this what the Irish are doing?” I blurt.
He gives me a cursory glance before pouring himself another glass of Cognac.
“What did you expect?” he arches a brow at me. “Backyard poker games?”
“Pretty much,” I admit.
“Those are the old ways.” He waves his hand around the room and shrugs. “This is the future.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask suspiciously.
“I’m not telling you anything you cannot see for yourself.”
“I have to go,” I tell him firmly.
He sighs. It’s clear he’s been expecting this.
“You want to go to Lachlan, yes?”
“Yes. And I need a car,” I suggest boldly.
“I wouldn’t recommend that.”
He’s not making a move towards me. He doesn’t even look like he intends to. But there’s something ominous about his words that make me hesitate instead of bolting out the door.
“And why not?”
He grabs a remote and points it towards the monitors, pressing a few buttons. And then my worst fears come to life.
There, on the screen in front of me, is Scarlett. She’s being held inside a hotel room by none other than Rory.
“What the fuck?” I scream. “He promised! He promised he wouldn’t hurt her!”
“She’s not being harmed,” Alexei says and then points. “Look.”
I do. I walk to the screen and take a closer look. Scarlett is curled up on the hotel bed watching tv. She doesn’t look uncomfortable, or like she’s been hurt in any way. But Rory isn’t talking to her. He isn’t even looking at her. He’s just sitting by the door, gun in hand, thumbing through a magazine.
I swallow past the lump in my throat and look at the man across from me. The one I don’t know, but who Lachlan trusts. I want to rip his throat out.
“You said you were going to help me,” I snap. “That’s what you told Lachlan.”
“This is me helping you,” he says. “And that is Lachlan’s insurance policy that you will do what I say. He knew you would cause trouble.”
My eyes water when the realization of my circumstances hits me. Lachlan is using Scarlett as leverage to keep me here.
“It’s entirely up to you whether or not your friend is harmed,” Alexei adds.
“How do I know you’re not just saying this for show?”
“Do you really want to find out?” he asks.
When I look at him, I know he’s mafia through and through. Dark and deadly. And I don’t doubt that he’d follow through on his unspoken threat, but I still can’t believe Lachlan would do this to me. He made me a promise. A promise that he broke. And he expects me to just let him forfeit his life while I’m trapped in this fucking house.
“There’s something else,” Alexei says.
I glance at him, still torn between what to do. I have to get to Lachlan. But I can’t let Scarlett get hurt. What the fuck am I going to do? I barely even hear his next words. Until he says the name that almost always rips my heart in two.
“Talia?”
“What?” I ask.
He points at the screen, and I swivel around again. And then I nearly collapse from the sight before me.
“This is her, yes?”
I stare at the photo on the screen, touching it as though it’s just an illusion. Something that he’s concocted to trick me. But it isn’t. She’s there, and she looks so thin and gaunt, and she’s wearing mere scraps of clothing. It’s just a shot of her body as she stands with her back against a blank wall. Almost like a mug shot, and I barely recognize the lifeless eyes staring back at me. This doesn’t make sense.
“Where is she?” I demand. “How did you get this?”
He doesn’t answer, and that’s when I remember he can’t hear. I swivel around and stare at him while I repeat my questions.
“I said I would help you find her,” he answers.
He stares past me and at the screen, looking at her face. I hate this guy for what he’s doing to me right now, but the way he’s looking at her… as though he’s really seeing her, it’s what I’ve wanted all along. What I begged of every detective I ever shoved this photo in front of. I just wanted them to see her. And for the first time, I finally feel like Alexei is.
“You know where she is?” I whisper.
He studies me before pouring himself another glass of Cognac.
“I’m tracking her,” he says. “But I know she is overseas. And I will continue to help you as long as you do what I ask.”
I ignore the threat in his tone and focus on the small bit of information I’m trying like hell to grasp. “What do you mean overseas?”
His eyes snap up to mine, and after a year of searching, I finally get my answer.
“She has been sold.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Mackenzie
I’m still grappling with what Alexei told me when a barrage of shouting echoes up from downstairs. I glance at Alexei, wondering if he can hear it too.
He’s already got his hand on the remote, flipping through the monitors. My attention darts back to the screen to find Ronan storming through the halls of the house with Franco hot on his heels. Alexei stalks out of the room and I follow, and eventually we all converge at the base of the stairs.
Ronan doesn’t even spare me a glance, and he’s even more stiff than usual. Something is off. He clips out a stream of perfect Russian, or at least what sounds like perfect Russian. I can’t understand any of it, but soon him and Alexei are arguing.