Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60018 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Raven’s gaze shot from Angel to Remy. “Please? I’ll just be near the stage and you can watch me the entire time.”
He groaned. The fact was, he had a view of the entrance and the stage was nearby. “Fine, but do not go out of my sight. No bathroom, nothing.”
“Yes, sir.” With a cheeky grin, she saluted him.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Do that again and I’ll be more than happy to kiss that smile off your face.”
Cheeks pink, she turned and followed Angel.
The young girl’s turn came soon and she clomped onstage in her heavy boots. Angel’s words came from both the heart and experience about her time on the street, her feelings of solitude, and was filled with enough emotion to give Remy a lump in his throat. She ended to a standing ovation and ran off the stage, giving Raven a hug.
Afterward, Raven started to walk back toward him. Without warning, her expression morphed into one of horror and fear. Her eyes grew wide, mouth parted in shock. She glanced from him to the side door and pointed, gesturing wildly.
Remy turned his head but all he saw was an entrance to the hallway leading to the bathrooms. And the fire exit.
“Why didn’t you go after him?” she asked, slamming into Remy and wrapping herself around him. He loved when she did it with exuberance. Not so much now when she was afraid.
“I didn’t see him,” he said, anger at himself for somehow missing the bastard settling like lead in Remy’s stomach.
“I saw Lance. I swear!”
He moved her away from him, keeping his hands on her shoulders. “Shh. I believe you.”
But Lance was smart. He was following her, and even Remy, for all his experience, hadn’t seen a tail. Lance had picked a hidden exit that Remy scoped out last time but the door had been permanently locked, according to the manager. Remy had asked.
No doubt Lance had gotten in by charming a female employee. It didn’t matter enough for Remy to bother asking around. Raven wouldn’t be coming back here.
“Let’s go home.” He grasped her hand, intending to keep her tight against him until they were in an Uber.
“What if he’s outside when we leave?”
Remy groaned. “He won’t be. He accomplished his main goal tonight. He rattled you. Now you’ll be looking over your shoulder everywhere you go.”
“How can you be so sure you’re right?”
“Experience,” he said grimly. His time as a detective and later, looking for missing women, had taught him more than he wanted to know about the mind of a sociopath. “As for Lance, knowing you’re wound up tight and thinking about him will keep him satisfied until… I mean, for a while.”
Thankfully she didn’t ask until what. And Remy didn’t let himself think about the answer. Because, he thought, as he pulled out his cell to arrange for a ride, they wouldn’t be in the city when Lance was ready to make his move.
Chapter Thirteen
Now that Raven was safe in Remy’s apartment, she’d calmed down, certain she’d overreacted to seeing Lance at the coffee shop. After all, she’d been safe, surrounded by people, and he couldn’t have hurt her even if he’d wanted to. But the moment she’d seen him for the first time, her gaze meeting eyes that were so similar to Caleb’s but lacked the warmth and humanity of the brother she loved, she’d panicked. As Remy said, she’d fed his need to scare her. But she was safe. At least for a while.
“Raven, I need you to pack your things.” Remy entered the room, a large suitcase in hand. “We’re leaving town.”
She blinked, stunned. “What? No. I have work. You have work.”
“I’ve got that covered. I put Stevie in charge of the bar and we have Pamela for the restaurant,” he said of the sub-manager under Raven.
She blew out a breath and did her best not to engage Remy in an argument when he obviously had a plan she wasn’t aware of. So she’d talk rationally, then she’d engage. Hadn’t she said she didn’t want to run but live her life? But she couldn’t deny she was scared of Lance, worried he was escalating or planned to. Remy might be a detective but she’d watched enough television shows and real true crime documentaries to know Remy was right.
“Where are we going?” she asked, as he lifted the empty but large piece of luggage, placing it on the bed.
“My family has a compound on Cape Cod.”
“Of course they do,” she muttered. The Kanes had money and were wealthy in their world but the Sterling financial situation was beyond her wildest imaginings. Maybe when she’d lived in Cassandra and her father’s home in Chappaqua she might have felt a little more comfortable at the idea of going to a compound but now? She’d been supporting herself on her salary and pinching pennies like the average New Yorker for so long, Remy’s type of money intimidated her.