Total pages in book: 227
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
I step into him, serious. “It really fucking matters.” I feel my gun against my back, my hand twitching to pull it. I get away with a lot around here, thanks to Jeeves. Brandishing a gun in the lobby? I think glossing over that is beyond his concierge abilities. “Who the fuck told you I’m in for a supplier?”
He hesitates, and doesn’t that amplify my concern and heat my temper.
“Listen to me,” I whisper, up close to his face, seeing white residue around his nose. “You need your tongue to talk, and since you’re choosing not to talk, I think I might just cut the fucker out.”
“Mr. Black!” Jeeves sings, coming between us. He laughs, nervous as shit. “Now, now, no need for a scene in the lobby.”
I wave a hand at the creep. “Do you know this dickhead?” I ask, my patience lost.
“Yes, Mr. Black, he helps with certain requests that our guests may make.”
Guests like me.
“This is a friend. Horris.”
“Right. And who does your friend work for?” I ask, discreetly pulling my gun and folding my arms with it in my grasp.
“Oh, Mr. Black.” Jeeves shakes his head, looking around nervously.
“It’s okay, Jeeves. I’ll only kill him if he doesn’t answer my questions.”
The guy’s hands go up in the air pretty speedily. “I don’t want any trouble.” And the sleeves of his cheap suit jacket nearly ride up to his elbows. For fuck’s sake. At least there’s no lint on his two-piece, though.
I look at Jeeves. “Where did you find this prick?”
“I—”
Horris is suddenly gone from before us and, naturally I’m quickly aiming my gun at his back as he makes a mad run for it. Jeeves, brave fucker, pushes my arm down. “No, Mr. Black, please.”
“Fuck,” I growl, watching the slippery little shit run off in his cheap suit. I slide my gun back into my trousers. “Jeeves,” I say, fixing my lapels and brushing off yet more lint. “I don’t think you’ll be seeing that dude again.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will find someone else.”
“Don’t bother.” I start to leave. “I won’t be staying here again.” I look back. “But if you need anything, you know where I am.”
Jeeves nods, and I break out into the sunshine, slipping on my shades, feeling like a new man. I text Pearl while I wait for my Mercedes to be brought up from the parking garage.
What happened on the way back from here?
Let’s see what she has to say, because I have a horrible feeling in my stomach. A shoot out. If it was her family, I expect they’ll abandon their mission to get the land. I want to believe her, yet something isn’t stacking up. Tracking her down in Miami for a bit of land in England?
I get no reply to my text, and she doesn’t answer when I call. My car pulls up thanks to the valet, and I slip him a twenty, getting in and waiting for my Bluetooth to connect. I call Fury. “You okay?” I ask when he answers.
“Yeah, good.”
“And Pearl?”
“A little shook up.”
“But she’s there? At home, I mean?”
“Yeah, she’s here.”
“And the Audi?”
“Otto’s got the license plate number.”
And Otto’s busy on his romantic date. “Thanks, Fury.”
“You shouldn’t be out on your own.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m heading to the club.” I hang up, tapping the steering wheel, my mind working harder than it has for a while, which is why my head is probably aching.
We’re going out for dinner tonight. Maybe then she’ll open up. And if she doesn’t?
I exhale, raking a hand through my hair.
I let myself in the back of Hiatus and find some of the girls practicing on the stage when I get into the main club. Ella is one of them. I go to the foot of the stage and she slows her shimmy down the pole when she clocks me. Thankfully, she’s semi-dressed so there will be no need for me to tell her to cover herself. I check her eye. It’s concealed with a thick layer of makeup.
“Does Nolan know you’re here?” I ask.
She nods. “He said he had some accounts to sort.”
I look toward the office, nodding. “You know you can’t dance anymore, don’t you, Ella?” I say, giving her my eyes again.
Her face drops. “Nolan hasn’t said I can’t.”
“He won’t. Because that’s what your ex did. He told you what to do. And backhanded you if you didn’t do it.”
She flinches. “This is all I’m good at. It’s the only way I can make money.”
I nod, seeming to accept, and walk away, taking a call from Danny. “We’re upstairs,” he says, before hanging up. I look up at the vast expanse of glass that stretches across the club, nodding.
“Looking smart, boss,” Mason says as I pass the bar.
“It’s an important day.” I push my way into the office, and Nolan looks up from his place at the desk. Worried. His eyes drop. Like he might turn to stone if he looks at me. Or I might attack him.