Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 104127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
The second thing is that there are no words on the note. Just a series of numbers.
Is it trash? Something left over from the factory. Or is this something more? I place the paper in my pocket, and with a clenched jaw, I set off.
She couldn’t have gotten far.
There’s no way off the property without me knowing. By the time I stalk down the hall, my fear has amplified, and I’m unhinged, frantic to find her. A caged beast, desperate and unpredictable.
“Where the fuck is she?” I bellow from the top landing of the stairs.
No one answers me because no one knows. The silence trickles around me, a mist that covers and cloaks until it blinds me.
I doubt they even know she’s gone. I want to kill them all.
Maybe I will.
Where the fuck is she? How did this happen?
Sean.
This isn’t the first time he’s made a mistake regarding my firefly.
But it will be his last.
My footsteps thunder down the steps as I make my way to the control room. Finding Sasha needs to be my first priority. Then I’ll deal with Sean.
“Where did she go?” I address the room. Rick swivels in his chair until he’s facing me.
“I’ll check the monitors.”
“Check the one in her room first, from about—” I pull out my phone from my pocket, looking at what time I received the call after she overheard Sean. “Around four.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“You had me disable the feed from her room.”
“Fuck, I’ll watch it later.” When I’m alone.
Sasha tends to talk to me. On the off chance that she said something today, I don’t want my men hearing.
It’s bad enough that Sasha makes me weak, but having my men know it will be the nail in my coffin.
“Then bring up all the monitors across the property. How did she get out without anyone seeing her?”
A few seconds later, on the monitor in front of me, Sasha can be seen going in the opposite direction she did the last time she tried to escape. This time the camera switches to the back hall, the one only the servants use.
I let out a breath. She’s still in the house.
All the doors are locked in that wing; the only way out is with a key. No one on my staff would be dumb enough to help her.
Together, Rick and I watch as what I knew would happen comes to pass. She struggles with the door, but it’s locked. I’m about to tell my men that we have to search the basement when a shadow appears from the corner, making its way to Sasha. The door swings open, and out Sasha goes.
My firefly flies away right before my eyes, and there is nothing I can do.
Now that I know she’s gone, I need to come up with a plan.
First things first, the paper. What the hell is so important about the damn paper hidden in her cello?
Snapping a picture, I fire off a text to the Hell chat. The smartest and most ruthless men I know, but more importantly, the only men I can trust right now.
Gideon
Anyone know what this is?
Tobias
Numbers.
Lorenzo
Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to leave the business to Gideon, bro.
Gideon
I don’t have time for your bullshit right now, dick. I know they’re numbers, but to what?
Trent
Maybe a bank account? Where’s Cyrus?
Lorenzo
Best bet, fucking his hot wife.
Trent
Hey, fucker, that’s my sister.
Cyrus
Do you have a death wish, Lorenzo?
Dealing with these men is like wrangling cattle, especially when Lorenzo is involved.
Gideon
I don’t have time for your shit, assholes.
Gideon
Cyrus, do you know what these numbers mean?
Cyrus
Looks like a bank account. I’ll look into it.
With that settled, I fire up my computer, open the surveillance app and look for the video time-stamped around four p.m.
A sinking feeling pits in my stomach as I watch an obviously distraught Sasha storm into the room.
I feel ill as I watch her throw her clothes around, curses firing out of her mouth like a drunk sailor.
Then I see the moment she locks eyes with the cello.
My heart pounds in my chest as she unlatches it, pulls it to her chest, and then, like she’s possessed, she throws it across the room.
She sits in silence for a second before tilting her head up.
Turning up the volume, I wait for her to do something. Say something.
“I wish you left me to the Russians. Congratulations, Gideon. You didn’t just kill Roman; you killed me too.”
Her words are venom.
They hit their mark.
Straight into my heart.
48
SASHA
What a stroke of luck.
But now that I’ve gotten out, I have to find a way back to the city.
That’s going to be the hard part.
I have no idea where I am.
The ride wasn’t that long, maybe thirty minutes at most.
If I had to guess, I’d say I’m somewhere in Jersey.
I feel the blades of grass tickling my bare legs as I walk through them. I should have changed into leggings, but I was too angry.