Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
The passenger’s side window rolled down as I walked past the truck. My stomach flip-flopped as a bolt of panic rolled through me. But then a familiar drawl reached my ears.
“Tori, get in the truck. I need to get you out of here.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Bennett
I knew I was getting close. I didn’t have all the pieces together yet, but things were swirling inside my mind, and I knew I was nearing the truth. After Reed’s comments at the bar about Richie trying to buy Parkston’s, I realized there was more going on behind those doors than I’d initially thought.
What had seemed like a convenient meeting place was something more. I didn’t know how much Reed knew about what was happening inside his club. Did he know who Richie was? If so, he must realize that if Richie wanted the club, he’d find a way to take it. One way or the other.
The biggest question was why Richie wanted the club in the first place. Sure, it was probably lucrative as hell. But the Sanderson’s already had more money than they knew what to do with. So why would they need another business to run? In my experience, crime families usually preferred something benign to use as a front for their illegal dealings. Surely a notorious sex club wasn’t the best locale for an under-the-radar business.
None of it made sense. Yet.
I forced myself to shove it all aside as soon as Tori climbed into the passenger seat of my truck. Her eyes were wide. Startled.
“Tori—”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, closing her door. “You scared the shit out of me!”
“I’m sorry, baby.”
She folded her arms, silently refusing to buckle up. “What do you want?”
Her frostiness surprised me. I reached for her hand, trying to get her to loosen up, but she resisted. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Tor.”
“Just answer my question. What are you doing? What do you want?”
A flicker of heat seared through me. “I want to make sure you’re okay. But, for fuck’s sake, Tori. What do you think I’m doing? What’s with the ice queen routine all of a sudden?”
She released her arms and raked one hand through her hair, tearing out the pins as she went. She shook her head, and the thick waves fell around her shoulders. The image of her bent over the bench inside the sex room, with her hair falling down her bare back as I’d fucked her got me rock-hard again. I didn’t care how cold she was acting. I could hear the echo of the sweet sounds she’d made and shifted in my seat. I still wanted her. And I knew she wanted me too. What Tori and I shared was something more than lust and sex.
Which made it even more critical that I keep her safe.
“Tori, I don’t think you get it. The shit you’ve landed in.”
“Then explain it to me,” she flung back, pursing her full lips. “I’m tired of living like this.”
I couldn’t stop staring at her red lips and wishing they were wrapped around my cock. Pissed off—mostly at my own inability to concentrate, I growled and threw the truck into drive. I whipped out onto the street, cutting it too close for the cab behind me. A loud horn blared. Tori gasped and craned around to check out the back windshield.
“Fuck, Bennett!”
“Buckle up,” I demanded.
I could feel the heat from her angry stare but ignored it as I wove through the endless curves heading up Mulholland Drive to break away from the madness.
Tori remained frozen in stubborn silence for about fifteen minutes before she cracked and asked, “Where are we going?”
“Away from the city.”
She sighed. “Bennett, I have a life, you know. Did you ever consider that I might have other plans tonight?”
“It’s practically one in the morning. What could you have to do other than get to sleep?”
Tori scoffed. “It’s really none of your business. Is it?”
I pulled off the road into a lookout with no other cars in sight. We had a picture-perfect view of the Hollywood sign and the entire Los Angeles basin tucked along the Pacific Ocean. The sounds of the city had melted away, and I took a deep breath, threw the truck into park, and ripped off my seatbelt.
Tori didn’t react to my jerky, terse movements. Instead, she remained calm, her expression almost bored as she stared at the Hollywood sign.
“I’m going to tell you something, Tori. Something that’s probably gonna scare you shitless. But I’ve been putting the pieces together and think you deserve to know just what kind of danger you’re in.”
She turned slowly, still refusing to show any emotion. “I’ve been in danger since the night the feds forced me to pack up two suitcases of belongings and dragged me halfway across the country to live like some kind of Amish person in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere.” She stared at me, her eyes blazing with heat. “Do you even know what that was like for me? To lose my friends and contact with my family? I had to leave my dreams behind, a job I busted my ass for, to become some librarian. Can you even begin to imagine that?”