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)
He remained still. He was listening.
I ran with it. “I know you guys have a lot of beef between you, but there’s love underneath all the bullshit. I can see it when he talks about you. I can see it when you think about him. You’re brothers. You can be close again…but not if you do this.”
His eyes shifted back and forth as he looked at me.
God…please.
His breaths deepened, his nostrils flaring like he was mad.
But then he got off me.
It worked… It fucking worked.
I gasped for breath like I’d been drowning. The cuffs came free, and I yanked my arms to my chest to cover the naked body he’d already seen so many times. With his eyes focused on the window, he dressed himself, covering his muscular frame with his clothes. He didn’t look at me before he approached the door and shoved all the furniture out of the way in one push. What took me at least ten minutes of work took him less than ten seconds.
TWELVE
CAULDRON
I hadn’t slept.
It’d been a week, and throughout all that time, I slept maybe an hour or two every night. Sleep-deprived and pissed off, I was an angry bull out of the chute.
They removed the bullet from my arm when I made it to the hospital. Thankfully, none of the bones were shattered, so I wasn’t stuck in a cast for months. Still couldn’t believe that motherfucker shot me.
And eye for an eye, my ass.
Adrenaline pumped in my veins around the clock, because every day that I didn’t find her was another day she was in danger. I thought I knew my brother well enough to know what lines he wouldn’t cross, but after being pumped with lead, I really didn’t know anymore. He took my woman…and who knew what he was subjecting her to.
Didn’t want to think about it.
His French estate was abandoned. So was his apartment in the city. I called him several times, but it appeared he blocked me so I couldn’t connect. And if I could connect, I could trace his cell phone tower and get a general radius of his location. But he wasn’t gonna let that happen.
“Fuck.” I sat there and rubbed both of my temples with my fingers, leaning forward over the desk with a ball of rage stored inside my chest.
Hugo entered the study.
“You got anything?”
“Jeremiah says Grave’s crew is no longer present in Botswana.”
“Motherfucker.”
“All of our contacts haven’t seen him. Haven’t spoken to him.”
“What the fuck?” I snapped. “Is he living in a cave?”
“I suspect he’s off the grid. Confined to a property listed under a different name.”
“But he’s gotta be working.”
“It seems as if he’s put someone else in charge in the meantime, and of course, he gave them no personal information.”
I planted my head in my palms then slowly dragged them down my face. “Jesus Christ.”
Hugo approached my desk and took a seat, the first time he’d ever done such a thing. “Can I say something?”
“Why not? We don’t have a single lead, so we’ve got nothing to do.”
He studied me for a moment before he spoke, as if second-guessing his lecture. “It was going to end this way, regardless of your actions. Maybe you’ll get her back, but he’ll just steal her again. It’ll go on forever…and she’s not worth it.”
I gave a quiet chuckle. “Still don’t like her, huh?”
“I think you could do better.”
“Better?” I asked incredulously. “Have you seen her?”
“I’ve seen lots of beautiful women in your company, Mr. Beaufort. She’s not that exceptional. And what’s more, Camille is disobedient and disrespectful. You need a woman who knows her place.”
I laughed when I imagined her face if she’d heard him say that. “You got me there. She’s definitely not subservient.”
“Then she’s not right for you.”
Her spunk was a pain in the ass, but honestly, I couldn’t imagine her any other way. “I understand your reasons for not liking her, but I actually like her for those reasons. I like to fuck a submissive woman. But I like to be with a woman who’s more than that, I’ve come to realize.”
Hugo dropped his gaze in disappointment. “If that’s the case…I have an idea.”
“What idea?”
“How to find her. But I know you won’t like it, so maybe I shouldn’t bother.”
“I’m desperate, Hugo.”
“Not this desperate…”
I stared hard into his face. “Hugo.”
He gave a dramatic sigh. “You could ask your father.”
My father still had a larger-than-life lifestyle. He had an estate far too big for a single person, and he had staff to wait on him hand and foot, probably wipe his ass too, just on principle.
He knew I was coming the moment I pulled through the gates because security had cleared it. I must have been granted unconditional access because there was no issue letting me pass. The butler greeted me at the door, and then I was ushered to the rear patio.