Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Yes, sir,” he says, nodding to one of his guys. “Is there anything in particular we’re looking for?”
“Oakley. The girl who’s been staying with me. She’s disappeared.”
“Yes, sir. Right away,” he says with a nod, turning around to help his guy. They bring up the footage as I hear Benny on the phone, putting through the order of a full sweep with only minor details, knowing the reason for Oakley being here is privileged information. But whether we find something on the footage or not, my team will get it done and put forward anything they can find.
“Alright, here it is,” my head of security says, pressing play on the footage.
Stepping in closer to the screens with Cross still right beside me, we watch closely as he speeds it up, waiting for something to happen. It takes only a second before we see Benny approach the door with what was supposed to be Oakley’s lunch. She opens the door a moment later and they have a short conversation.
Oakley looks concerned while Benny looks as though he’s about to throw up, but the door is quickly closed and Benny soon disappears out of the frame. The footage is sped up again, and I wait with bated breath, positive someone is about to break through my door while I was too fucking lost in my thoughts, too caught up with grief over what I’d done to Sawyer to even notice.
But then the door opens again and Oakley pushes out into the hallway. She looks left and right as she clutches onto a small piece of paper.
“She ran,” Cross breathes in astonishment. “She fucking ran. After everything.”
“She wouldn’t have run unless she found out something she wasn’t supposed to know,” I say, meeting Cross’s hard stare, knowing damn well that if Oakley has learned what I really want with her, this just became a shitload harder. Fear for her rattles his stare. Oakley is a fucking force to be reckoned with and she has the determination of a pit bull. If she knows, all of our lives are about to be turned upside down. Oakley won’t stop until she gets what she wants. Hell, if she feels her back is up against the wall and there’s no way out, she’s the type to end it herself, just so I wouldn’t get the satisfaction.
I glance at Benny, who looks like he’s about to shit his pants. “What was on that note?”
He shakes his head. “I . . . I’m sorry, I do not know. I was instructed not to open the tray.”
“FUCK,” I spit, nodding back to the screen and watching as she races through the hallway and slips into the fire escape. “Follow her. Where does she come out?”
My security team gets to work, and I hover over the back of their chairs, my gaze locked on the screen as my heart thumps erratically. My fingers dig into the leather of their chairs, and I clench my jaw, certain it’s over. I’ve never felt so fucking antsy in my life, not even before stepping into my father’s home to slit his throat. But this . . . this makes me feel sick.
We follow Oakley right down to the lobby and watch as she breaks out of the fire escape and manically looks around. She looks petrified, like everything she’s ever known was a lie. I suppose it is.
She hurries out to the road, and I watch as she stops to consider her next move. Joe, one of my only trusted mentors within Empire, doubling as my valet, steps into her side and relief begins pulsing through my veins.
“No, this isn’t right,” Benny says, shaking his head as he leans closer toward the screens, getting a better look. “Joe called in sick this morning. Dante was working valet today.”
My brows furrow, and just as I’m about to start defending Joe, start telling Benny that he’s got it wrong, Joe strikes out, a needle plunging into the base of Oakley’s throat. My eyes widen, my chest sinking with betrayal as I watch Oakley collapse into his arms. He shoves her into the backseat of a black car before slamming the door behind her.
The car takes off, much further than the reach of my security cameras, and I step back, my hands flying up to my temples. “FUCK,” I roar, my sudden outburst making Venom stand up from Cross’ hand as though preparing for an attack. She’d be right. There’ll be a fucking attack alright.
Betrayal burns through me as Cross turns to face me, his jaw clenched. “She could be anywhere.”
I shake my head, my mind a mess of fucked-up thoughts. “No, it’s fucking over. If Joe’s working for someone, it’s because they want Empire, just like Nikolai did. They take her out and my claim is done. She’ll be fucking dead within seconds.”