Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Her eyes go wide at my words.
I gauge her reaction before continuing, “Why did you say that?”
“I don’t want to talk about before. We’re good now.” She goes to move away from me, but I place my hand over her stomach.
“Stop, Payton.” I take her hand, hoping it gives her the strength she needs. “I need to know. This is important.”
She frowns, then huffs. “My stuff.”
I shake my head. “Not following.”
“In my house. Before you took everything . . .” Her hands tremble in mine. I squeeze them, encouraging her to continue, and she does. “I thought someone was in the house. Going through my stuff.”
My teeth clench. The idea of anyone harming or stalking her puts me on edge. I’m not dumb. I know I have a role in her hiding it from me. She probably thought it was me and didn’t want to show her fear.
You’re a fucking asshole, Trent.
I school my features. I need to know everything, and if I lose it, on myself and the stalker, she won’t tell me any more.
“Go on, please,” I say softly.
“My computer was opened. I know I left it closed. It was on purpose. I didn’t want to drain the battery, it was dying, and I couldn’t find my charger. I went to search for it in my car, but when I came back fifteen minutes later, I saw someone I knew from class and got to talking.” Her free hand palms her face before dropping. “When I finally walked back into the house, the computer was open. A decoration was misplaced. My computer bag was open, too, but my wallet wasn’t missing, so I thought I was being overdramatic.”
“Was anything used?”
“No, that was the weird part.”
“What else?”
“I always felt eyes on me.” She clears her throat. “Then there was the time I found the metal tracker you left in my bag.”
I pull my hand from hers, rearing back a bit.
What. The. Hell.
“What?” She shrugs, looking away.
I reach my hand out, touch her jaw, and make her look at me. “Payton, I never left a tracker in your bag.”
“Then how . . . ?”
Her mouth drops open, and her eyes go wide.
“Did anyone ever have access to your place?” I ask, more urgent this time.
She’s been in danger this whole time.
Her nose scrunches. “No.”
“Did anyone ever bump into you, maybe—”
She gasps, snapping her fingers. “Yes. It was that time I fell by your apartment. That man.”
It wasn’t an accident.
Payton starts to chew her lip, nervously. She’s come to the same conclusion. He bumped into her to drop the tracker.
“Did you see the man’s face?” I stare into her eyes, studying her. “Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
She shakes her head, frowning. “No.”
I grab her hands and bring them up to my lips. “I have to go, but I promise I’ll be back soon. I have to go take care of something.”
A man I must kill.
“Can I come with you?”
“No.” I stand and press a kiss to the crown of her head. “I can’t have anything happen to you, princess.”
It doesn’t take long to pull up the address of Lorenzo’s warehouse.
It’s located on the dock.
Cliché as fuck.
But since he now runs the mafia, I’m not sure what else I should have expected.
As I pull up, it doesn’t look like anyone is inside. It appears to be abandoned.
But I imagine this is exactly the idea Lorenzo is going for, and since I know Lorenzo, I also know there are snipers on the roof. He doesn’t fuck around. Not when it comes to the safety of him and his men.
I’m not involved in this part of the business.
The guys gave me a way out. They texted, saying they could do this without me. That it’s nothing they haven’t done before.
In the past, I probably would have agreed to that offer. But after what happened to Ivy and now Payton, hell yeah, I’m all in.
I make fantastic money, and this violence comes with the territory. It’s why I pay a shit ton for my security system and the security team Jax recommended. But despite all of that, I’m not okay with any of the women in my life involved with this shit.
I trust Cyrus to take care of Ivy and even my mother.
But Payton? She’s mine to care for.
And I failed.
It won’t happen again.
Ever.
Throwing my car in park, I step outside. It’s cold and dark out. The perfect setting for what we’re doing. I stroll up to the building. The door is shut, but I know before I turn the handle that it’ll unlock for me.
Someone is always watching the cameras hidden around the property. Lorenzo is too careful not to take every precaution. Dozens of his men guard the building in addition to the technological security measures, probably put in place by Jax.