Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 126564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Maybe he did, but he also patronized me constantly, and I didn’t know why. Keller couldn’t possibly run an actual business by himself, right? That was a thing only grownups did.
“Hey, Hal.” Keller frowned, looking out my window as he lit up his joint. In front of him sprawled the stunning view of the Hollywood Hills and my neighbors’ Olympic pool. “There’s a strange car sitting in the back of your neighbors’ driveway.”
“Strange how?” I yawned.
“Strange…like, there’s a person in the passenger’s seat taking photos of me through the window.”
I jumped out of bed, charging toward the window. Shoving Keller aside, I saw a huge, black Escalade parked in front of my neighbors’ garage. A man was sitting in the passenger seat, taking pictures of my window, his face hidden by the huge smartphone he was holding.
My nostrils flared.
“Can you see his license plate?” I tugged my phone out of my pocket, taking pictures of the guy, just in case. Where was Ransom? How did he not see this?
“Nope.” Keller frowned, grabbing his phone. “Let me go to the spare bedroom and see if I can take a picture of it from a better angle.”
“Thanks.”
While Keller tried to get the license plate, I ran toward Ransom’s room. He wasn’t there. I heard the water running in the bathroom next to it. So this was why he hadn’t seen that car. I pounded on the door, my lungs scorching with fear.
Who were these people?
What did they want?
Was this why Ransom didn’t want us to go back to Los Angeles? But it made no sense. I’d never had anyone follow me before.
The bathroom door swung open. Ransom was standing there, condensation rolling off of his glistening, muscular chest and shoulders. He had a small towel wrapped around his waist.
“Sweet Jesus,” I heard Keller groan behind my back. “The man is unreal.”
“What is it?” Ransom demanded, ignoring Keller.
“There’s a suspicious car parked right in front of my bedroom window. And some jackass inside it took pictures of me just now.”
He shouldered past me without another word.
Flying down the stairs, nearly buck naked.
I jumped into the stupid Hipmobile, hitting the accelerator and rounding Hallie’s mansion. The plan was to block the assholes from leaving the neighbors’ driveway. Too late. The perp was already flooring it down the street, careening toward the main gates. I followed them, naked, soap bubbles still sliding down my wet skin.
The Russians showed up as soon as Hallie and I hit California ground, making their intentions clear. They hadn’t forgotten about me, what I did, or where I was.
I was hedging my bets on the front gate being closed. I’d hopefully be able to corner them, beat the crap out of them, and find out where Kozlov was. I wanted to get real nice and personal with him and settle our beef once and for all.
The Escalade zinged past the manicured lawns and excessive Spanish Villas, careening downhill before the gate came into view. Unfortunately, it was wide open. Some YouTube star who lived in the neighborhood snailed his way inside in his H1 Hummer.
The Russians laced through the open wrought iron gate and out of the neighborhood. Still on their heels, I slammed my bare foot over the accelerator.
I flicked my phone and called Max.
“Boss?” he answered immediately.
“You need to get to Hallie’s house right now and keep an eye on her.”
“What’s happening? Is she okay?” He sounded worried, and that made me feel…no, fuck that. It didn’t make me feel. Because I didn’t feel. But I wondered why the hell he cared about a woman who used him to get to me.
“She’s fine. Someone followed us home from the airport and I’m chasing their asses down. I don’t want her alone.”
I didn’t want her with him, either. But life was about compromise.
“Who could it be? Didn’t we run a background check on her before starting the post?”
Well, Max, this actually has nothing to do with her and everything to do with me, not that you’re paid to butt into my shit.
“Not sure yet,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Armed.”
“Of course!” Max said. “I—”
I killed the call. My eyes were still zeroed in on the Escalade. The license plate was covered in reflective tape, probably to shake off speed cameras. I could make out some of the numbers, but not all of them.
The two-way road from Hallie’s neighborhood snaked along a mountain. The entire right-hand side was a cliff, bracketed by a low guardrail. The Escalade zigzagged dangerously between the two lanes, trying to throw me off. No cars came from the opposite direction. But when one did appear from the side of the mountain, I floored it and got as close to the Escalade as I could, nearly kissing its bumper. They were trying to lose me. Well, motherfuckers worked really hard to get to me, the least I could do was grace them with my presence.