Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 100680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“This is Aston.” She winced again. Like he’d know who she was. “I’m—”
“I know who you are, Aston,” he interrupted, surprising her. “Is there a reason you’re calling me on Maxim’s phone at three-thirty in the morning?”
“Ahh, yeah, so I need to know how to get to your house, and I also need you to call a doctor now. Though I don’t think doctors do house calls anymore, do they? Can you get one? Please tell me you can get one.”
“Aston, can you do me a favor?”
“Uh-huh, sure.”
“Take a deep breath. Hold it. Now let it out.”
Okay. Wow. She felt calmer now.
“Now, tell me what’s going on.”
“Maxim got attacked. Three guys dragged him away from his car and into an alley, and I ran down to help him. The guys ran off, but he’s been stabbed. He didn’t want to go to the hospital, so now I’m in a car I can’t drive, taking him to a house I don’t have the address for, and he’s not w-waking up.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” he said calmly. “I’m going to help you, all right?”
“That would be nice.”
“That would be nice. Right. Where are you?”
“I don’t . . . I don’t know.” She glanced outside. “Oh, Sal’s Pizzeria. I just drove past. It’s supposed to have good pizza.”
“It does. You make your way safely here with my brother and I’ll buy you a whole pie, all right?”
“All right, but Maxim’s brother?”
“Call me Regent. And yes?” he asked.
“I don’t know how to drive.”
“Are you driving right now?”
“Yes.” She guessed she was.
“Then you can drive, sweetheart. I’m going to give you directions. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
He told her where to go next.
“You’ll have a doctor waiting?” she asked as she turned down a street. All right, she’d managed to successfully turn this thing. Go her.
This was so darn terrifying.
“Contacting him now,” Regent told her.
“You can multi-task? My brothers can’t multi-task. Once, one of them tried to drive while picking his nose and nearly took his own eye out.”
There was silence.
Oversharing, Aston.
“I can see why he likes you.”
“He told you about me?” she asked.
“Yes, sweetheart. He told me. Now, are you all right? Are you injured?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Good girl. Here are the next directions.”
To her shock, she pulled up outside a vast mansion ten minutes later. There had been actual guards at the gate. What the hell?
Maxim hadn’t mentioned that his brother was filthy rich.
Right. Like you’ve told him everything about your brothers?
True.
Her brothers were something she’d rather forget than talk about, though, and it was obvious that Maxim was close to his brother.
Also, Maxim had bought a whole building so maybe it wasn’t just his brother who was filthy rich.
She tried to turn the car off, but it made a strange noise. What was wrong with it?
The door to the house opened and a man stepped out. Nerves filled her. She could barely see him, and yet she felt intimidated. He rushed to the passenger side of the car, opening the door before taking in Maxim, then her.
“Hello, Aston. I’m Regent. Are you sure you’re not injured, sweetheart?”
“I’m really not. Please, help Maxim,” she begged.
“I will.” He looked over his shoulder. “Look after Aston. I’ve got Maxim.”
She jolted. Who was he talking to? Then she saw someone else walk around the car. Holy heck.
She must have been out of it to miss this guy.
The door opened and she shied away from the man leaning down.
“It’s all right, Aston,” Regent said calmly as he drew Maxim out of the car. “This is my bodyguard, Jose. He’ll help you in.”
Bodyguard? Seemed like she’d landed in some strange new world.
“Can you put the car in park?” Jose asked.
“I don’t . . . I don’t know how . . .”
He reached over her and shifted the stick into park before hitting the button to turn the car off. He even undid her belt.
“Do you need help walking? Are you hurt as well?” he asked calmly.
“N-no.”
“Would you like to come inside?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Silence was her only answer.
Yeah. That’s what she’d thought. She looked from his serious face to the huge mansion. And then, she realized that Maxim was in that mansion.
So there was only one place she wanted to be.
“Let’s go.”
22
Aston paced back and forth across the room.
Jose had led her to a really nice living room. It had a big sectional in front of a huge television. The decor was a bit old-fashioned for her tastes, but it suited this house.
But she couldn’t settle.
She’d been there close to an hour and no one had told her anything.
Where was Maxim? Was he all right? What if he wasn’t? Panic flooded her.
“I want to see him.” She whirled to where Jose was standing guard by the door. He might look relaxed, but she knew that if she made a move to leave, he’d stop her.