Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
“We were just considering whether or not one of our enemies could have come for Ella,” Viper prevaricated, choosing his words carefully.
Mia’s brow creased. “What, you mean the strix?”
Huh. Apparently Dice had warned her about them.
“I can’t see that being the case,” Ella said to Viper. “Unless they’ve seen you and I together—which is highly unlikely—they’d have no reason to come near me. The only time we were ever together in public was the night at the Red Rooms. But since I’d imagine you debauch people often in dark corners of the club, I doubt it would have stood out to any who took notice.”
“Well, apart from Neta,” Mia chipped in. “Could it have been her who came for you?”
“I don’t think I matter enough to the woman for her to risk her life trying to harm me. And it would be a risk to her life. If I didn’t kill her, someone else would in my defense.”
Yeah, Viper would do it.
Mia looked at him. “Does Neta care enough for you that she’d try to eliminate Ella?”
“Neta doesn’t care for me at all.” Viper cut his gaze to Ella. “I had a conversation with her earlier; informed her she’s to stay away from you, keep her mouth shut, and that she’s barred from the club, the bar, and the pool hall.”
Ella blinked. “Wow. Okay. I wasn’t expecting that big of a response.”
He gave her a pointed look. “Like I told her, I won’t tolerate someone trying to come between me and what’s mine.”
“So you were clear—again—that she has no chance with you?”
Some of the tension in his muscles slipped away when Ella didn’t object to being his. “Very clear.”
“That could be a reason for her to come at Ella,” said Mia. “Are you sure Neta doesn’t care for you?”
“She doesn’t even know me. She turned her attention my way because she badly wants to leave her lair and liked the idea of switching to my club.”
“Why does she want to leave?” asked Ella.
“I looked into it earlier,” Dice cut in. “Turns out her ex-long-term partner recently took a mate and moved her into their lair.”
Realization played over Ella’s face. “Ah, so she doesn’t wanna see them together. Understandable. If she was a woman scorned, I’d say yeah we should be looking at her for the attempted break-in. But”—her gaze slid to Viper—“as you said, she doesn’t know you. You’re not important to her. And it isn’t as if getting rid of me would solve her problems. It would actually make them worse.”
Mia nodded. “Seems safe to conclude that your pen pal made another move.”
Ella blew out a breath. “What bothers me most is that, if this asshole is following me around, they saw me come back to my complex. They had no reason to think I’d be at Mia’s place. Which means that when they tried to break in, they wanted to physically get to me, not just nose around or leave something for me to find.”
Rage boiled in Viper’s blood. No one was going to get near her. Fucking no one.
“Why do you think they left so fast?” asked Dice. “Could they have sensed the tripwire?”
Ella frowned, pensive. “I doubt it. It’s more probable that the electric shock deterred them from trying again. They then had no reason to stick around.”
Dice blinked. “Anyone who attacked your wards would get an electric shock?”
“Yup.”
Viper’s entity grinned, liking her ruthless streak. “If you had been inside the apartment but there’d been no tripwire, would you have sensed that someone was taking a shot at the wards?”
“No.”
“Then that’s what they were expecting. They thought they could dismantle your security measures right beneath your nose.” Bastard.
Mia puffed out a breath, shaking her head. “Luka’s gonna freak, you know, El.”
She gave a flat smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I do know.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Arriving at the private area for staff in the Red Rooms, Ella smiled up at Ghost. “Thank you for the ride.”
He’d first teleported to Ella’s place and then Mia’s to collect them. He would have taken them straight to Viper’s office, but the president was apparently having a meeting with Dice and Jester there.
Ghost gave a slight bow, his mouth curved. “My pleasure.” He pointed to a door nearby. “You can access the main club area through there. I’ll let Viper and Dice know you’re here,” he added, poking his temple as he backed toward the restrooms.
Once he disappeared out of sight, she and her sister began heading for the door he’d indicated.
“It sure is handy having teleporters around,” said Mia.
It was also a good way to ensure that not only was it hard for Ella’s pen pal to track her movements, but also hard for Kasper and Arman to report her whereabouts to Luka. As predicted, her anchor had gone apeshit on hearing about the attempted break-in at her apartment two and a half weeks ago. From now on, whenever she was inside, one of her guards stood sentry outside the front door.