Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 65948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“That place looks familiar,” Kobe, one of Bain’s friends that I’d just met, said. His familiar accent—and his Japanese lilt in his words—made it to where I didn’t have to turn around to confirm. “I think I was there Friday.”
“You think you were in a sex club, but you can’t confirm?” I heard another of the men say. “How do you think that?”
“Listen, Louisiana,” Kobe snarled. “I don’t have enough patience today to be dealing with your shit. I was there consulting on a security issue, but I can damn well guarantee you that shit wasn’t going on at the time. If it had, I could tell you for sure. But right now, it’s just a guess based on the teeny-tiny little fuckin’ cameras I have to go on.”
Etienne, I guessed, snorted.
He was the only one who would be construed as ‘Louisiana,’ seeing as he was Cajun and I’d heard a hint of the Cajun French leaking into his speech throughout the time he’d been in Bain’s home.
“All right,” Etienne said. “I guess I’ll give you that.”
“You guess you’ll give me that?” Kobe asked. “How about I give you a fat lip to go with your black eye.”
“I don’t have a black eye,” Etienne corrected him.
“Not yet,” Kobe muttered darkly.
I couldn’t help but smile at that one.
“Well, this’ll be the first thing I’ll ask him about then,” Bain grumbled. “When he heads this way for his wallet.”
“You think he’ll come to you?” I asked quietly.
Bain placed his hand on my hip and squeezed, comforting me.
Spoiler alert: it didn’t comfort me.
Honestly, it did the opposite of comfort me. It set me on fire all over again.
“Jesus,” I heard someone say.
I looked over to see Wake bending down to look at a particular screen. “I think that’s the new building downtown by the wharf. I remember that particular window right there.”
I squinted, barely able to make out that there was a window in the frame.
I needed to get my eyes checked.
I brought my fists up to my eyes and rubbed them.
It’d been a long damn day, and I’d followed it up with an even longer night.
“We should finish eating before the food gets cold,” I said, reluctantly pulling away from Bain’s heat.
I went back to Dutch, who hadn’t bothered to stop eating as we’d all made the discovery.
“Is that all that was in the wallet?” Dutch asked. “Did you look through the rest of it?”
I nodded. “Other than a couple hundred dollars. Which I already deposited into my bank account.”
Dutch smiled. “I think he got off easy, if you ask me. I would turn in my porno card to escape getting beat up by Bain.”
“You won’t ever be touched by another man,” I heard Wake growl from where he was still looking at the computer screen. “Either in a good way, or a bad way.”
Dutch smiled a private smile that almost made me want to look away.
She turned back to me and said softly, “I think he likes me.”
I snorted. “There’s no doubt about that one, girl.”
CHAPTER 6
Roses are red, violets are pink. Today sucked balls, I need a fuckin’ drink.
-Bain to Luce
BAIN
“You’re staying here for the night,” I ordered again.
“I already agreed with you.” Luce rolled her eyes. “Multiple times. I just don’t want to take your bed. If you want me to stay, you’ll allow me to take the couch.”
The idea of her taking the couch wasn’t a good one.
I didn’t know why, but I felt that she needed to be in my room. Where it was safe and there wasn’t direct access to my front door.
I couldn’t explain why, I just had this feeling, though.
As if I needed to keep her protected and safe.
“In my bed.” I crossed my arms. “I’ll sleep there, too. It’s a massive bed and you’re tiny. I just don’t want you out here with all these windows.”
“You have an alarm system now.” She repeated the same thing she’d said for the last five minutes. “Come on, man. Work with me!”
“Bullets can travel through glass, honey,” I pointed out. “I just have this feeling. Please?”
She sighed. “I’ll stay. For tonight. But you have to promise that you will let me go to work tomorrow.”
My eye twitched. “I’m not going to agree with that until I find the dumbass that tried to kill you tonight.”
“He wouldn’t have killed me.” She paused. “I don’t think.”
I almost rolled my eyes at that comment.
I wouldn’t have thought the little man had the balls to even do what he did, so I wasn’t going to misjudge him a second time.
“I’ll probably have him found by the end of the night,” I shared. “Kobe’s good at what he does.”
Kobe found people for a living. He’d done it before he went to prison and did it even now. Though he’d started out as a security consultant and technically still advertised as that, people all over the world came to him to find missing persons.