Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
It was less about confusion and more about permission.
“It’s okay, Remy,” I murmured as I began to dip my head. I justified to myself that he was fully awake now. Nothing else in that moment mattered.
Or so I thought.
Because Violet and whatever dick of a bodyguard was knocking on my door chose that moment to demand our attention. The little girl started shrieking from the bedroom she and Remy were sharing and the knocking on the front door turned into heavy pounding. Remy and I quickly separated and right before he took off, the regret I’d been hoping I wouldn’t see filled his eyes to brimming.
“Remy!” I called because I just didn’t want him to completely freak out.
“I’m fine,” he responded. He sounded like the Remy from yesterday morning… the angry, bitter one who thought I was a fool for trying to save some random kid turning tricks in a warehouse full of addicts.
I got up and stormed over to the side table to grab my phone, then went to the front door and practically ripped the thing off its hinges. “What?” I snarled.
The bodyguard had the decency to look apologetic, but I still wanted to rip his hand off.
“I’m sorry, sir, we’re having difficulty keeping him downstairs. Should we call the police?”
“Who?” I asked. Wasn’t I paying these guys a small fortune to deal with the exact shit that was causing this asshole to pound on my door at the crack of dawn?
“Your brother, sir.”
“Which one?” I asked, since it could have been pretty much any one of them except Lex. Lex would have just hacked my phone so he could turn the ringer back on to get my attention.
My phone chose that moment to vibrate in my hand. I glanced at it and nearly growled when I saw Vaughn’s name and the message he’d sent.
Fuck it, I’m coming up.
I swiped my phone to unlock it, then hit my brother’s name. Before the call connected, I saw a second message that read, Get down here, asshole. We’re in the lobby.
Vaughn picked up on the first ring.
“I’m coming down,” I snapped impatiently and then hung up. I was sure I heard a muffled sound on the other side that sounded a lot like groaning, but I doubted it was Vaughn making the sound.
“If Mr. Valentino asks, tell him I’ll be right back,” I said to the bodyguard. I untucked my shirt as I moved to the elevator so I could cover the gun at my back. The hotel was understanding about my security detail, but I couldn’t exactly walk around with an exposed gun and I wasn’t about to leave the thing behind. Maybe if it’d been all of King’s men protecting me, I would have. But aside from Terrence and Stan, the men I’d brought with me from New York, I’d hired these particular guards from a firm in Seattle… and not even the best security firm.
Because it just so happened that Remy worked for the best security firm in Seattle. Or at least he had. He hadn’t been to work at Barretti Security Group in the past week as he’d searched for Violet, so I had no clue what his employment status was. But I hadn’t wanted to risk any of his co-workers somehow finding out what was going on with him, so I’d settled for the second-best firm in the city.
So it was no surprise when I reached the lobby of the hotel and saw one of the bodyguards sitting on a decorative bench near the elevator. He had his hand at his bruised throat and one of his teammates was holding a bottle of water.
I scowled at both men.
“Where’s my brother?” I asked. The man whose ass Vaughn had clearly kicked actually blushed and stared at the floor.
“We put them in a conference room,” the other bodyguard said. “The hotel guests were getting nervous.”
“Them?” I asked, not caring about the other guests. I should have just rented out the whole damn hotel. At least Vaughn had had someone with him to take down the bodyguard. That was remotely comforting.
“A young man,” the bodyguard said. “They appeared to be… together.”
Aleks.
I shook my head at the bodyguard and nearly fired them both on the spot but managed to hold my tongue. Since Aleks didn’t have a violent bone in his body, I knew it was back to just Vaughn kicking ass by himself.
“I’ll escort you, sir,” the bodyguard said.
“Don’t bother,” I snapped.
“It’s the Olympic conference room,” the man called sheepishly. I waved him off and went in the direction of the conference rooms. I had already memorized the layout of the hotel, so I knew how to get there.
When I opened the door, I saw Vaughn standing in front of a visibly upset Aleks. He was caressing his face and whispering something to him. Aleks was holding on to Vaughn’s wrists.