Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Kim snorted but her eyes were wide as she looked around the place. “That should be interesting. So we hide out in the back room until Levi’s satisfied we’re not here?”
“Oh, I have a much better hiding place than some back room,” Rene said. “This building has been standing for three hundred years. It’s been in my family for the last hundred. Like many older buildings in Europe, it has its secrets.”
He stopped in front of a wall and moved his hand over the wainscoting.
Beck heard a click but saw nothing. “I don’t get it.”
Rene gestured to his left. “The door is three panels down. From what we can tell, the rooms were first used to move around noble families hiding from the mob during the revolution. My great-grandfather was a talented architect. He made some improvements to the secret rooms during the occupation. Originally the latching mechanism was attached to the door, and it would come open even if someone accidently tripped it. Now you have to unlock the mechanism in one place and then push in the door to get it to open. It was how he kept our Jewish neighbors safe from the Nazis.”
Rene walked to another panel and pressed it in, the door revealing itself.
They would be stuck in there together for days. Days alone with her. Days where they had nothing to do.
What the hell was he going to do? How was he going to keep his hands off her?
Should he even try? Fate seemed to be pressing him to finally work things out with her so they could be done.
What if the real solution had always been to spend one last night together?
He shook the thought off as he followed her up the narrow stairs lit by a single flickering bulb.
“Sorry about the lighting. Like I said, the building is old.” Rene moved up behind him. “But you’ll find everything works in the apartments. There are three rooms. There is a living area and a rudimentary kitchen. We connected it to the water and electricity lines forty years ago. I’ve stocked the refrigerator and the pantry. There’s a small bathroom and one bed. There is a security system as well. There are security cameras in the lobby, and several around the outside of the building. There is one in the dungeon, but it only protects the door to these rooms. You’ll be able to see anyone coming up.”
He sincerely hoped there was a comfortable couch. He doubted they would find some massive king-sized bed where they could put up a wall of pillows and find a way to share.
He was going to sleep close to Kim and there wouldn’t be anyone there to keep him from giving in to the urge to climb in beside her, to rest his head on her breast and listen to her heartbeat again.
The stairs were narrow and winding, and he had the best view of her backside.
Fuck, he should be thinking about how to get out of the conundrum they found themselves in and all he could think about was how gorgeous that ass was, how good it felt to cup her cheeks and hold her tight against him.
He was in trouble.
“I’ve made sure you’ve got Internet access with a secure connection,” Rene continued. “You’ll need it to investigate. If you need to call anyone, use the communications protocols on the laptop. They were developed by one of Tag’s hackers, and I’ve found it’s impossible to track it down. You also have access to the CCTV cameras I talked about. You can monitor them all from this system. I’m going to leave you here and get back downstairs so I can open the club for the evening. We don’t want anything to look unusual.”
“How many people know about these rooms?” He followed Kim inside the small apartment. Yes, they were going to be in very close quarters.
“Myself and my wife and a few trusted friends,” Rene replied. “Tag knows about it, obviously, and Charlotte. They stayed here once before her unfortunate death.”
Charlotte’s death hadn’t been real, and he needed to start thinking about that option for Kim if they couldn’t find a way to prove her innocence. The Agency wouldn’t treat her like they’d treated him. They would come after her. He looked around the little room. “Seems so vanilla for Tag.”
A mysterious smile crossed Rene’s face. “There’s always the club downstairs. You should understand the dungeon has no windows. If, say, after the building is secured, you want to come down and use the amenities, feel free. Simply clean up after yourself and make sure you’re back in the safe room before dawn. There’s a light by the door to the safe room. When it’s lit that means the security system is activated and you’re alone here. Use the secure line if you need anything. Good night.”