Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Elise.”
I stopped and slowly turned around, doing my best to put on my poker face. But once I made eye contact with him, my stomach somersaulted. He was an ordinary guy with an ordinary appearance. No red flags. But it still felt wrong.
“Kyle.” He was in a suit, like he was a criminal banker or someone who fudged the numbers for taxes. He was tall, an Omega watch on his wrist, his cologne smelling like money. He was just like every other client I had, but now, I was utterly disgusted. “I’m really looking forward to our time together. Been waiting eight months for this.”
I didn’t know what to say. I literally froze on the spot.
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah…I just ate something bad for lunch.”
His eyes studied me a bit longer, and that was when I realized he was more just a guy in a suit. He was intelligent, observant, seeing right through my excuse without calling me out on it. “Feel better.” That was all he said—and then he walked away.
TWENTY-SIX
GRAVE
I left the car and walked through the open double doors into the three-story mansion positioned on the cliff. It was November now. Down south, it’d become foggy and cold, the yachts permanently docked until spring.
Hugo let me inside then ushered me to the study.
A roaring fire was in the hearth, and my brother sat behind his desk in a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. His laptop was open in front of him, and he glanced up to see me enter the room.
“Well, that was a fucking shitshow.” I dropped into the armchair facing his desk.
He stared at me for a while before he shut his laptop.
“Nice place.” I’d never seen much of it, just the outside. It would be pleasant to live near the ocean, but I preferred the city life. I’d been spending more time in my apartment than ever before, because Elise lived just a few miles away.
He ignored the half-assed compliment. “We need to hit Roan soon. If we don’t, it’s gonna be your head on a spike.”
I shrugged. “Not too worried about it.”
“No one’s tailing you?”
“Not that I can tell.”
“Then you should get your guard up even higher.”
“It can’t go any higher.”
“What about Elise?”
Just hearing her name out of his mouth made my body go rigid. “What about her?”
“You don’t think she’s a mole?”
Fucking insult. “No.”
“Because the timing—”
“She’s not a mole.”
Cauldron relaxed back in his chair.
“It may come as a surprise to you, but women want me.”
“Aren’t you paying her?”
My eyes narrowed.
“Just saying…”
“She’s not a mole.” That was the last time I’d say it.
Cauldron let it go. “It’s nice to see you move on.”
It was worded as a compliment, but it still felt like an insult. “I moved on the moment she made her decision. And I promise, she’ll come to regret that decision.”
A slight smirk moved on to his lips. “You don’t have a lot of faith in me, do you?”
“Men don’t change, Cauldron. Especially men like you.”
When I got back to the car, I saw a missed call from Elise, along with a text.
Can I come over tonight?
She was the one working for me, but sometimes it felt otherwise. I’m out of town until tomorrow.
Oh.
I could feel so much disappointment in that single word.
Where are you?
I didn’t answer those kinds of questions, but I made an exception for her. Cap-Ferrat.
Well, I’ll see you get back, I guess.
What’s wrong, sweetheart? Living in the criminal underworld had made me more perceptive and intuitive than the average man. I read between the lines, because dead space was more indicative than actual words.
Nothing. I’ll see you when you get back.
I wasn’t buying it. I called her.
She waited three rings before she picked up.
Yep, she was definitely upset.
“Hey,” she said in a quiet voice. “What’s in Cap-Ferrat?”
“Cauldron.”
“It’s good that you guys are spending more time together.”
Despite the tension between us, it was nice to sit across from him in his home, to be an invited guest rather than an assailant. “What’s bothering you?”
“What makes you think anything is bothering me?”
“A hunch.”
She was quiet.
“Sweetheart.”
There was a long pause. “We just don’t have that much time left…”
Five days, to be exact. “I know.”
“And now there will only be three when you get back.”
“Four,” I corrected. “You can come over tomorrow.”
She was quiet again.
I knew her contracts expired all the time, and I doubted it was always this hard. I wasn’t excited about it either, but I’d known from the beginning that this wouldn’t last forever. She was a temporary solution to my wounded pride, and she did a phenomenal job of making me feel like me again. “I’ll let you know when I’m home.”
“Alright.”
“Bye, sweetheart.”
“Bye, babe.”
My butler took my suitcase, and I sent a car for Elise. I jumped in the shower in the meantime, washing off the private plane. By the time I returned to my bedroom, Elise was already there, making herself at home in my bed. Her naked shoulder peeked out from under the sheets, and I imagined how the rest of her body looked underneath.