The Darkest Chase Read Online Nicole Snow

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Suspense Tags Authors: Nicole Snow Advertisement

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It’s just pens, letter openers, random odds and ends, and a couple photos of Xavier with his brothers. They’re crumpled and stained like they were thrown away and then retrieved. Nothing at all incriminating—

Wait. No.

The bottom drawer.

I instantly regret it.

There’s vintage smut. Old nudie magazines and what looks like a buckled leather strap just the right size around for—ahem. Well, I guess I know what he does in his free time here.

I really wish I didn’t have that image, Xavier choking himself with that strap and masturbating furiously.

But tossed in there on top of what look like more ropes and chains and harnesses, there’s something else.

A digital camera—just what Micah was looking for.

I try not to get too excited.

A lot of people still use digital cameras instead of their phones for photos. Maybe Xavier likes taking nature shots and it’s got nothing to do with the dead hiker.

I should leave it.

I’ll look really silly if I snatch it and it turns out it’s full of Xavier’s nudes while some supermodel leads him around on a leash, and then I’ll have to figure out how to give it back to him without getting groped or something.

But there’s also a strap attached to it.

Just inside the curve, I can make out a faded label.

PROPERTY OF BRI

Holy shit.

I can’t see the rest.

But I know Xavier doesn’t start with B-R-I.

Wasn’t the hiker’s name Brian?

My heart lurches.

My gut clenches.

I glance at the wall between the office and the conference room, then glance around quickly for something—anything—the Kleenex dispenser on the desk!

I hold the tissues like a shield so I can snag the camera by the strap without leaving any fingerprints. Gingerly, I lift it out.

It takes a few awkward fumbles, but I manage to flip my bag open and lower the camera inside without letting it touch my skin.

Just in time for the door latch to click.

My heart—oh my God, every organ in my body—leaps right out of my chest.

Good thing I have fast reflexes.

I knock the drawer shut with my knee before I freeze up.

The flap on my bag gives in to gravity and oh God, oh God, there’s a little loop of the camera strap sticking out. I hope the flap covers it.

I don’t dare look down and check because—

Here comes trouble.

Xavier Arrendell strides in with a scowl on his face, his lips drawn tight, his normally pale cheeks flushed with anger.

He doesn’t look as sickly and tired as he normally does.

Those hard tracks of addiction aren’t as deep today in the stark lines of his face and the shadows under his eyes.

I wonder if he lays off his habit when there’s serious business? Or maybe, that little bit of human empathy I cling to whispers, he’s trying to kick it and go clean.

There I go again, having too much sympathy for the monster.

And I feel like that devil can see my sins as he stops mid-stride in the middle of closing the door and gives me a piercing look.

“Planning to take over my office, Miss Grey?”

Yikes.

It must be obvious I was snooping around when I’m standing behind his desk for no good reason, unless—oh.

Oh, right.

I smile sheepishly, holding up the wad of tissues still crumpled in my hand.

“Sorry! These spring allergies are killing me.” I make a big show of pressing the tissues to my nose and blowing until my eyes hurt.

“I see.”

I can’t read his expression as he watches me with that lizard-like stare.

Is he suspicious?

Did Joseph slip up and tell him anything?

I try not to let my nerves show as I pointedly blow my nose again, then look around until I find the wastebasket and toss the crumpled tissues in.

Surely, he wouldn’t go digging around in the trash to make sure I actually used them, right?

I dust my hands off and circle around the desk, smiling brightly.

“Anyway, are you ready to go over the final details?” I ask brightly.

The way he looks at me makes me feel like I’m caged in with a tiger. But I hold on fast to my smile and wait, wait, just hoping he can’t hear my heart pounding.

Xavier stares at me, then sighs.

“Of course. My apologies for keeping you waiting.” He pulls the door open again and steps into the hall. “We’ll discuss this in the tea room. I’m sure Joseph will be happy to bring you something for your affliction.”

My affliction.

I just love how he makes it sound like something far worse than a little hay fever.

As I follow him into the hall, I just hope I can get back to Micah before Xavier realizes that camera is missing.

Ideally, before all hell breaks loose.

16

DARK CLOSET (MICAH)

The closet.

For some reason, my mind spins as I pore over Lucas’ old folder of newspaper clippings, searching for clues about the Jacobins and Xavier. It’s all old info Lucas gathered about Montero Arrendell’s shady past during his obsession with his sister’s death.

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