Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
“I suppose you could say that.”
“That’s not actually fair,” Brody piped up. “The Fox has always looked out for Sunny. For all of your women, and when have you ever thanked him?”
“Yes. Where are my thanks? No muffin basket. No giant cookie with thank you written on it. No chocolates. Where’s the love for the Fox?” he asked. Really, he should have his own statue.
“We thought you’d turned sides,” Reyes said.
“Well, you thought wrong didn’t you? I mean, I could have. They do seem a bit more interesting on their side.”
“Fox!” Autumn and Brody said together.
“Oh dear, I think my babies are getting bored. You all need to stop your chitter-chatter and let me talk.”
Duke groaned, sounding like he was in pain.
“What’s wrong, Duke?” the Fox asked.
“I have a pain in my ass.”
“Hemorrhoids? You need to eat more fiber so you don’t have to strain.”
“Something is a strain,” Duke muttered.
Damn, he was fun to play with. And he thought this wasn’t a game?
“Can we get back to your double cross?” Markovich asked darkly.
“Ahh, right, well I discovered a few things that led me to believe that your bestie, Mr. X, wasn’t the big man in charge that we thought he was.”
“And instead of telling us you decided to go undercover to find out?” Ink asked.
“Gosh, you’re definitely more clever than you look, aren’t you?” the Fox crooned.
Ink just scowled.
“But yes, that’s right. The easiest and quickest way to discover what was going on was to go to the other side. I was getting sick of how long all of this was taking. I do have a life, you know.”
“And you didn’t think to tell us because . . .” Markovich trailed off.
“Trust someone else with a secret? Do I look like Ink?” he said incredulously. “And by that, I mean, do I look stupid?”
“Fox!” Autumn and Brody said again.
“I need to get back to my babies, so let’s speed this up. Try not to interrupt me. Through the power of deduction, along with a bit of breaking and entering and torture, I figured out there was someone higher up the food chain than Mr. X who was calling the shots. I made myself available to this person. He asked me to clean up the mess in the warehouse and I did. But he still wouldn’t show himself. Now he’s given me a test. Failure isn’t an option if we want to find out who this person is.”
“What is the test?” Duke asked.
“He wants me to kidnap one of your women, take them to him, then kill them.”
There was silence.
“Who?” Reyes asked.
He looked straight at Markovich. “Dahlia.”
Brody couldn’t see what was going on. But it sounded like the generally calm Drew Markovich was losing his shit. Eventually, things quieted down and he could hear Reyes trying to talk the other man down.
“Goodness! Never thought a grown man could throw a tantrum like that. If my Pup or Bunny did that, I’d have to spank them.”
“Fox!” Duke said. “I think he’s entitled to lose his mind. Someone is threatening his woman.”
“Hmm. True. I wouldn’t like someone threatening my Bunny or Pup.”
Ink appeared on the screen, staring down at them. “You’re sure you’re safe? And you’re there voluntarily?”
“We are,” Brody repeated. “I promise.”
Autumn nodded. “Is Mr. Markovich okay?”
“He’s calmer,” Ink said.
“You will not touch Dahlia!” Markovich roared.
The Fox sighed. “I just need to borrow her. I’ll kidnap her, take her with me, and then have her home for your morning horizontal refreshment.”
“No. Not happening,” Markovich replied. “You will not put her in danger. And if you try, I will kill you.”
Brody swallowed. That was going to go down like a lead balloon.
“If we don’t do anything then she’ll still be in danger,” Autumn called out.
Suddenly, Markovich was peering down at them. “What do you mean?”
“He must have chosen Dahlia because of you, right? Maybe because you’ve caused him so many problems. If the Fox doesn’t do this, then perhaps he’ll hire someone else to harm her. With no honor. Who won’t warn you.”
Brody held her hand tight. It was probably a good thing they weren’t there. The Fox would likely be losing his shit if Markovich stood this close to them in real life with that look on his face.
“You still can’t take her with you,” Markovich said.
“Then what do we do?” Reyes asked.
“Actually,” Ink said. “I think I might have an idea. It might take me a few days to work it all out.”
“I can stall that long,” the Fox said. “But any longer and he’ll get suspicious.”
“Agreed,” Ink said.
“Don’t keep us in suspense. What’s this great plan?” the Fox asked.
“Well, it has to do with you being a master of disguise . . .”
40
The Fox felt uncharacteristically weary as he stepped into the elevator.
It had been a day since he’d met in the barn with Duke and the others. And tomorrow night they were going ahead with their plan. It better fucking work. He’d been getting everything sorted for tomorrow night.