Total pages in book: 235
Estimated words: 227851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1139(@200wpm)___ 911(@250wpm)___ 760(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 227851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1139(@200wpm)___ 911(@250wpm)___ 760(@300wpm)
“It really is a stunning hotel.”
“Yeah, let’s not get into pointless small talk,” I grunt, opening the door for him and letting him enter before I do. “Take a seat.” I point to the chair opposite my desk and take my own. “How much?” I ask, cursing when my phone rings. I wouldn’t answer, but it’s Cook. “Give me a minute,” I say, checking the desk is clear of anything Dan might see that could lead him to concluding my hotel isn’t a hotel. “I’ve got to take this. Make yourself comfortable.” I answer my mobile, leaving the room. “Cook?”
“Your car’s been found.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned at a waste site in the East End.”
I keep walking, my mind in overdrive. I need some more fucking coffee. “So what happens now?” I make it to the bar and point to the coffee machine, and Mario gets straight on it.
“In light of the Van Der Haus news—”
“You mean the fact it couldn’t be him.” Who the fuck was it?
“The tracker’s been deactivated. It’s not had the license plates changed, been sold. Just abandoned. A two hundred grand car, abandoned.”
My coffee slides toward me, and I pick it up, blowing off the steam. “I hear you, Cook,” I breathe.
“This is someone with a vendetta.”
“Right.” I test my coffee and knock it back.
“I’ll need all of the paperwork for your car. Registration, proof of purchase, insurance.” Which means I need to talk to Sarah. “Today, please. Ava hasn’t called me yet.”
“She’s at work.”
“Can I suggest a bit of personal protection?”
I laugh to myself. That’s been happening since I met her. “John’s picking her up.”
“I’m getting your car recovered. I’ll get forensics on it. When can you do a statement?”
“I don’t know. Tomorrow?”
“I’ll come over in the morning. And Ava?”
“I’ll see if she’s free after work tomorrow.” I place my phone down, along with my cup. Fuck.
“All right?”
I turn, surprised to see Drew. “Dandy,” I mutter, waving a dismissive hand. “Are you? Sam said you’re being weird.” I mean, honestly, Drew’s always a little bit weird.
I see his defences rise immediately, a scowl marring his perfect face. And then a hand rakes through his perfect hair. Have I touched a nerve? “I’m fine,” he snaps, leaving the bar. Going off upstairs to fuck? I think it would possibly be Drew who’d suffer the most if I sold this place. The most after Sarah, anyway.
If I sold this place?
I grab my phone and go on the hunt for Sarah. “Hey, Pete, have you seen Sarah?” I ask, passing him in the hall. His eyes point up the stairs. But of course. It’s past her working hours.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter, calling her. No answer. So I climb the stairs, rounding the landing, looking at each and every door as I pass, hearing the sounds from inside. But she won’t be in any of them. I reach the bottom of the next flight, looking up at the communal room doors. Take a breath.
I climb the steps with purpose and push my way in, and the familiar scent hits me now it’s not empty. Sex. Drew’s across the room, his shirt off, a woman with her legs open lying on a fur rug. He frowns at me in question. I wave him off and search the space. I don’t see her first. I hear her. Or the thrash of her whip.
The salacious grin on her face as she inflicts immeasurable pain on the guy before her hits me hard. Sadist.
And I lose my breath for a second when something hits me.
Every man she’s ever hurt . . . does she see me?
Me, for not loving her?
I swallow, feeling stifled, hot, uncomfortable. Get what I need and get out. I go over and interrupt her thrashing session, and she looks me up and down, twirling her whip. “Come back for more before you settle into daddy duties?” she purrs.
My nostrils flare. “I need something,” I say, turning and walking straight back out.
I don’t check to see if she’s coming. I hear the heels of her leather thigh-highs following. I make it down the first flight. “The documents for my car, where will I find them?”
“In the wooden filing cabinet in the storeroom off the kitchen.”
“Thanks.” Carrying on down to the storeroom, I find four wooden filing cabinets and start rummaging through the first, pulling out files, papers, scanning them. Nothing vehicle related. I move onto the next, scratching through every tab, searching for anything to indicate I’m on the right track. Nothing.
Not long later, all four cabinets are empty, all the papers at my feet. “For fuck’s sake.”
“What the hell?” Sarah appears at the door. “Jesus, Jesse, I just sorted all of that out.”
“Go back upstairs,” I order shortly. “Ava’s brother’s in my office, and the last thing I need is him seeing you dressed like that.” Or, God help me, Ava turning up and seeing her. “And Ava will be here soon, so you need to fuck off.”