Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Fine, yes! It was meant to provoke you. We weren’t going to use it.”
Crunch.
“Who’s we? Who are you working with?”
“Patricia. It was her idea. She said you would cave for the girl. She’s the one who wanted to use her for collateral.”
That greedy bitch. Hearing her name makes my rage boil. I turn to Kade. “Where is she?”
Kade nods toward my office. I turn and lift my eyes to the window. “I locked her in your office. She was a bit to handle.” I turn back, now noticing the long scratch from her nails down his face.
“Damien, I swear, I wasn’t going to hurt her. It was all just to—”
“Have you been following her? Where the fuck is she?”
“No! I have no idea!”
Crunch.
“I swear! The information I had was only because of when you had me research her. Listen to me, Patricia orchestrated this whole thing. She’s obsessed. Your daddy made promises to her. The second she got wind of you selling, she lost her senses. She hired some goons. Bad guys to make sure the sale didn’t go through. Your life was a casualty if needed. I want the club, I’ve earned it, but not the way she wants it. I told her I was out. I was leaving when Kade grabbed me.”
I don’t believe him. I pull my fist back again, and Fredrick pleads, “Please! I swear. I told Kade the same thing. I had nothing to do with her kidnapping! You’re wasting your time with me. I just wanted what I felt was rightfully mine. I proved myself to this club. I wasn’t willing to let you sell without throwing my hat in the game. I just wanted the club. I had no idea until tonight what Patricia was truly capable of.”
I’ve known Fredrick for years. I know when he’s lying. My instincts are messing with me. He has to be the one who took her. But my gut is telling me he isn’t.
But if he didn’t take her, who did?
“Bullshit. You’ve been behind this the whole time. Trying to get Jensen out of the picture. Sabotage my relationship. I know you intercepted my letter. Gave her the one telling her to meet me at the club. You set us both up!”
“No! It was that girl. She sought me out.”
“What girl?”
“The ritzy blonde. She approached me the day you fired me. She was practically waiting for me when I left. She remembered my name from the night I kicked her out. I was angry and she was just…there…”
Guilt washes over him. “What did you do?” My voice is eerily calm.
“Nothing.”
I raise my fist.
“Okay! Okay. I was angry. She offered to take me somewhere and have a drink to help me calm down. I didn’t think past her perky tits. She was giving vibes that she was easy and wanted something from me. I’m a man, so I went.”
Jesus. Sylvia. “What happened?”
“I talked. I told her how you were being blindsided by some child. I was going to stop after that, but she came on to me. Fuck, she was rubbing my thigh, convincing me to keep going. I did. She smelled good, and the way she was looking at me—”
My hands go back to his collar and I shake him. “I don’t give a fuck about that! What happened!”
“She offered me sex if I helped her. She wanted me to help her get into the club.”
That explains how she got there. No one would have let her into those private rooms without a pass. “What else?”
“She gave me the best blowjob of my life.”
Jesus.
I release him, shoving him hard enough his chair falls backward. This has all been a waste. He knows nothing, then who the fuck has her?
“Fuck!” I roar, kicking the chair, and Fredrick grunts in pain. Too much time is passing. I have no idea where she is. How to find her. Where to start. My chest is so tight. I feel out of control. I grab at my scalp and yank roughly at my wild hair. If only I could figure out where she is.
Wait…
The phone. I have a tracker on her phone. I step away from Fredrick and dive for my blazer on the floor. I search through my inside pocket before remembering it fell out.
I’m on my knees searching when I see it way under. I stretch my arm—
“Boss, we have a problem,” Kade says, his voice etched with concern.
“I know how to find her,” I say, reaching but still finding an inch between my fingers and the device.
“No, we have a real problem. There’s smoke coming from the storage warehouse behind the building. I checked the monitors. Someone’s setting fires, blocking all three of the exits.”
His words barely register. I just need to get to my phone.
“Boss, I think we need to—”