Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“How did you manage to get that past security?”
No outsider gets inside the clubhouse without passing through the security checks.
“It’s amazing what good tits and a pair of boots can do for you,” she says with a victorious grin I want to ruin with my mouth. Hell, I want that wicked grin wrapped all the way around my dick.
I stand and cross the room in four quick strides and have the knife out of her hand before she even realizes what I am doing.
She gasps as I lean down and brush my lips to her ear. “Nice try, firecracker.”
When I straighten, her big blue eyes gaze up at me. Her plump lips are parted, and I can’t help myself, I slam my lips to them and kiss the last of her lipstick from them.
She groans, and damn, it is the sweetest sound in the world.
But in a flash, she shoves me away and reaches for the doorknob, yanking the door open and fleeing the room.
Something hits the top of my boot. Looking down, I see diamonds glittering on the floor and scoop it up.
Her mother’s watch.
I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost it.
I smile because things just got interesting.
I don’t know much about the woman who just turned my night upside down.
But I know she will come looking for this.
And when she does, I’ll be waiting.
CHAPTER 12
Ella
There is a car waiting for me when I flee the clubhouse. One of Viktor’s men is driving. He says nothing when I slide in and close the door. Simply ignites the engine and we leave. His silence is welcome. It gives me the peace I need to process what just happened. I reach up and touch my lips and realize I’m smiling like a goofball because Lars’s kiss lingers on them like sugar.
But my smile fades as my home appears in the distance.
Not home. Prison.
Behind those walls, Luca is waiting for me, and when I tell him I don’t have the recipe he will make me pay.
I glance at my wrist to see the time and notice my mother’s watch is gone. A surge of alarm slams into me, and in a panic, I twist my body each way to see if it’s slipped off in the back seat somewhere. But I can’t see it anywhere.
Tears prick at my eyes.
I mentally retrace my steps to when I saw it last. I was in the library with Lars. I remember glancing at it to make sure I wasn’t going to miss curfew. But then Lars caught me looking through the books. And then I climbed on his lap and kissed him stupid.
I swallow thickly. Lust swirls through me, but panic and fear nip at its heels.
I must’ve dropped it somewhere between the library and the car.
Oh God. What if he figures out who I am?
Luca will lose his mind.
When he finds out I didn’t get the recipe and left evidence behind, he will probably lock me up forever.
Or kill me.
Fear snakes its way down my spine. I won’t tell him. I will figure out a way to get the watch back, so he never has to find out. Maybe sneak out via the secret passageway and return to the party.
But before that, I have to face my brother.
The car comes to a stop at the front door, and I brace myself for Luca’s reaction.
He’s waiting for me in the foyer. I see him, and the little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end because just his presence is enough to evoke fear, but knowing I have failed the assignment and left proof of who I am behind me when I fled means he is going to let his viciousness run wild.
He looks at the Rolex on his wrist. It’s new. Just like his suit and expensive shoes. “Sister, it’s good to see you made it home before curfew. Where is the book with the recipe?”
Fear throbs at my temples. I swallow hard and brace myself for his reaction. “I don’t have it.”
“What do you mean you don’t have it? You mean you failed? You didn’t do what you were sent there to do?”
“I was caught by their enforcer before I could retrieve it.” I swallow thickly. “But if you let me go back—”
He slaps me so hard my teeth rattle, and I see tiny stars dance in front of my eyes.
I didn’t even see him move.
I fall to the floor, but he pulls me by the hair and drags me to the stairs where he shoves me down and the first step slams into my hip.
He leans down, his face enraged, his eyes wild, little drops of spittle forming in the corners of his mouth. “You incompetent, useless bitch. You had one task. One fucking task."
My cheek throbs, and my heart races, and I speak in quick, hushed tones. “It wasn’t my fault. They have a lot of security, and the enforcer was suspicious the moment he laid eyes on me.”