Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
As we gasped and panted.
I edged back, and the girl smiled at me in this way that pierced me all the way through. I leaned forward and gave her the sloppiest kiss. She laughed and wound her arms around my neck.
“I love you,” she murmured at the thrumming point of my pulse.
I held her as close as I could. “You are the meaning of it, Little Star.”
I jolted when my phone rang from the pocket of my jacket. I didn’t let her go as I scooted to the edge of the bed. I banded my arm around her waist to keep her against me as I leaned over so I could dig for it.
She giggled and held on tighter. “You can let me go, you know.”
“Nope, I can’t. You’re stuck with me now.”
My smile was too big.
She touched it like she felt the impact of it, too.
I glanced at the screen.
Dean.
My heart climbed into my throat, and anticipation beat a frenzied path through my veins.
Accepting the call, I pressed my phone to my ear. “Dean, what do you have?”
I didn’t waste any time with pleasantries.
“It might be nothing, but you said you wanted everything and anything.”
I could feel the worry travel through Aster’s body. I wound my arm tighter in a silent show of support.
My brave girl who’d only needed someone to remind her of who she was.
Of what she deserved.
“I do. Anything that could possibly be of use.”
“Jarek Urso has a pseudo…found the connection a few days ago. Jack Werner. It didn’t look like there was much associated with it. A checking account and a couple rental properties.”
I didn’t realize my teeth were grinding in restraint until Aster started running her fingers down my spine to soothe me.
“And?” I pressed.
“I dug deeper into it and found some flight records from this last summer. At least four trips to Russia. It might be nothing, but it seemed worth mentioning.”
Blood thickened and stormed.
“It’s definitely worth mentioning. Do you know who he visited while there?”
“That I haven’t been able to uncover.”
“Keep digging,” I told him.
Ending the call, I tossed my phone to the mattress.
I edged back so I could look at Aster, my hands vises that curled around her waist like I could keep her from floating away. “Does your father have business in Russia?”
I only knew what I’d known then—there were no alliances.
Only enemies.
Worry crept across her face. She blinked as she processed.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Would he send Jarek there for any reason?”
Disconcerted, she swallowed. “I can’t believe that he would. I think I would at least know that. This last summer, Jarek was supposed to be traveling to New York. As far as I knew, he was in charge of facilitating a new shipment route.”
But her father hadn’t exactly been forthright with her over the years, either.
Acting like he was protecting her from his bullshit when she’d merely been a bartering chip.
Hope blazed like a beacon in her eyes. “I need to tell my father.”
“I know you’re anxious, Aster. I am, too. The thing I want most in this world is to set you free of his power. But we need to wait until we have more. Until we have something solid and substantial to prove Jarek’s disloyalty. If we do it too soon, it’s only going to give Jarek time to cover his tracks.”
Aster deflated, resignation thick. Then she nodded and blew out a strained breath. “I know…I just want this to be over.”
“Soon, Aster.”
“What happened earlier today when you called? Did you know he was coming for me? I can’t believe he went against a direct order from my father.”
“I left my office for about an hour. When I got back, it’d been ransacked. Place destroyed. They took my laptop.”
That was what unsettled me most.
It’d felt…purposed.
Like they were searching.
The piece of shit would have to search for the rest of his life.
Aster choked. Fear echoed from her depths. From the dark places I wondered if she’d ever fully allow me to go. “He’s coming to his end, Logan. He thinks we’re playing him a fool, and there is nothing that he cares about more than his pride.”
“That’s exactly what we’re doing, Aster. We’re playing him the fool because that is what he is.”
And if the fucker came anywhere near her again? He would meet his end.
My palm splayed over the side of her head, and my fingers weaved into her hair. “We almost have him, Aster. I can feel it. We just need a little time. And during then, I don’t want you out anywhere without me. Do you understand?”
“Logan—”
I cut her off with an anguished kiss.
Praying she would get it. What she meant to me. The terror I possessed at the thought of her being harmed.
Slowing it, I dropped my forehead to hers. “Please, Aster, I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”